I feel like the purpose of society is short term financial gain

[prototypian]

I feel hopeless and like I know too much. I feel cynically and pessimistically that the whole world is driving toward private equity style funds trying desperately to make as much money as possible in as short a time as possible with no interest in anything else. And the result of this is an ever increasing need to do stock buybacks, cut as much staff as possible, avoid paying supplier and services and book revenue fast before any downstream failures occur. Humans don't matter as workers or even as consumers. They matter only in the ability to be convinced to give up capital immediately or obtain short term financing to own debt that they assume the risk for. I feel like the ultimate goal for a modern company would be incredibly revenue, zero employees and the ability to extend credit to buyers of their product or service with no risk to anyone but the downstream customers ( the risk is completely transferred with no capability to be bankrupt or discharge the debt. Then to constantly have new customers willing to take on more debt. And that's it. That would be the ultimate in profit and corporate success

I've watched companies shedding millions of dollars per month in employee costs just to prove to the market that they can fire people and for them moment keep operating. And the employees and even customers don't matter. Only the share price.

It's depressing

 

[itsgone2]

You've put it so well. All of it is true. It's happening to my company which was a special place. It's tragic.

You understand this so much better than I. A fried and I were discussing it because capitalism is always criticized, but this isn't capitalism anymore. At least capitalism wants competition. This is just about destruction and moving on.

I don't know how society survives in current form. Everything, everything, is so expensive, and jobs are disappearing. It doesn't seem sustainable.

 

[prototypian]

I feel like the world is racing toward a universal basic income that gives 50 percent of people who all live in wealthy parts of the world just enough to live if they don't want any luxury at all and it also gives them enough to spend. 5 percent of people will be employed in the few places where we still need workers. 44.999 percent of people will live in squalor and poverty because they don't matter and don't live in important places and the remainjng 0.001 percent own everything and own all of the debt attributed to the 50 percent and the incomes of the 50 percent and 5 percent are completely taken up by the companies owned by the 0.001 percent. And that's it. A velvet rope closes off all the national parks, the nice places to live, the cultural treasures and the access to education and even voting and healthcare. The rest of the world won't matter

 

[ScarletTanager]

At least these companies ensure when I order rope, or SN, it will be delivered promptly.