this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
240 points (98.0% liked)

Asklemmy

54152 readers
674 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 hours ago

Hallmark Holidays

[–] Freakazoid@lemmy.ml 1 points 12 hours ago

Expensive tips, already calculated into the bill.

[–] modus@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

Societal expectations to move out of your parents' house when you turn 18. It's a scam to get you to become more profitable to corporate America. You're an adult now. You need to buy a car you can't afford, get a mortgage you don't want, insure it all to protect the bank, all to go to a job you don't want, but now need so that you can afford these "nice things."

But if you stay with your parents, even if you actually enjoy it, you're a failure.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] ImitationLimitation@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 day ago

The stock market. It’s not investment, it’s gambling. It’s also rigged by the power brokers and insider traders.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 7 points 1 day ago

Tax filing companies. Individual taxes are pretty straightforward in most cases. Our tax laws are just completely screwed up.

Health insurance and tax information can easily be handled by the government.

[–] GarboDog@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] greendog@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I agree, Big Glass has it out for us

[–] GarboDog@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Exactly, what ever happened to big ass holes in the walls?!

[–] jordanpwnsyou@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago

40 hour work weeks

[–] GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago

Insurance, private utilities, the internet, phones, etc.

[–] sunbeam60@feddit.uk 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Car finance. It’s so prevalent, I think I’m literally the only one on our road that doesn’t drive a 1 year old, brand new, financed car. Literally everyone is like “but it’s only $499/month and I can just hand it back when I want a new one”. Well shit, yes, but try tallying up what you’ve paid for running all these new cars every three years.

Save up instead and continue saving after you bought the car. Then you can afford a different car later.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago

They call it "leasing", but get angry when you point out they are renting.

[–] nomugisan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Save up instead and continue saving after you bought the car. Then you can afford a different car later.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It's literally like renting a car at $499 per month. Nothing really wrong with that as long as the economics work out (there's more expenses than just the monthly payment), because a car is going to depreciate anyway. You can buy it, but it will just get old and fall apart.

Some people feel it's worth $500 a month to always drive a relatively new car, rather than drive an old car for free.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Some people feel it’s worth $500 a month to always drive a relatively new car, rather than drive an old car for free.

Some people are broke ass in debt their whole lives.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ehxor@lemmy.ca 58 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Recycling being the responsibility of the consumer

[–] dom@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

And recycling most plastics. End up in a landfill because its cheaper than actually recycling them.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] greasewizard@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago

Credit card "points" and travel miles. The only "points" that matter are the dollar. (or whatever currency)

[–] orenj@leminal.space 5 points 1 day ago

Pants

Mfs really said "hey lets make skirts but uncomfy" and we ate it up

[–] Delusion6903@discuss.online 1 points 22 hours ago

Termite bonds

[–] LifeLikeLady@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Oh this is easy. Politics, insurance, college. The list goes on.

[–] elbiter@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago
[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 20 points 1 day ago
[–] Bloomcole@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Banks.
Using YOUR money to make a lot of money from investing in horrible companies.

[–] Geki@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

"Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world."

[–] BorgDrone@feddit.nl 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not just investing. Every time banks loan money to someone they steal from everyone.

Fractional reserve banking means that banks only need to have a fraction of the money their customers have in accounts actually in reserve, based on the idea that not everyone will withdraw all their money from the bank at the same time. For example, if people have deposited €1000 at a bank, the bank may be allowed to have €1500 is customers’ accounts, because only a fraction needs to be covered by actual money. The rest is just entries in a database.

Because of the difference between what was deposited and what they are allowed to have as ‘virtual’ money in accounts, they can loan out the difference. So when someone asks for a €500 loan, they approve it and put €500 in the customers account without actually having more money in reserve. They basically create that €500 out of thin air. (Which the customer eventually has to pay back with real money).

Because the total amount of money actually represents the total amount of value created (e.g. by labour and manufacturing), and they just created more money without actually creating more value, the bank just caused a little bit of inflation by issuing that loan. Meaning every time they issue a loan everyone else’s money becomes worth a little less, and this difference eventually ends up in the bank’s pockets.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] gergolippai@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

basically everything,i guess.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Most contractors or companies providing services related to home maintenance/improvement. I guess it's not really a 'scam' but you are getting charged 10x+ the cost to do whatever when you could probably do it yourself with some research and persistence.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

For some people? Pre-ordering digital games. I mean huh? What are ye even doin there Jimmy-Bob? You afraid they're gonna run out of copies? O.o

Edit: digitally delivered, like say, Steam or GoG games.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago

Pre-orders are so they know how much champagne to buy for release day.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] FlembleFabber@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Lottery tickets, its everywhere. It gets shoved in my mailbox all the time. To me its just gambling but then with worse odds... How is it legal to market it so much?

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Online gambling is a much bigger problem. I can’t believe that’s legal.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Capitalism. The state. Cops.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml 68 points 2 days ago (16 children)

Passive income. If value is being created and you're being presented some of it without doing any work it necessarily means that someone else isn't receiving the full value of the work they're doing.

load more comments (16 replies)
[–] sachamato@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago
[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 40 points 2 days ago

Paying for education that "the market" wants us to have so they can have a larger pool of skilled workers, leading to lower salaries

[–] pineapple@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 days ago
load more comments
view more: next ›