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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.
Hallmark Holidays
The stock market. It’s not investment, it’s gambling. It’s also rigged by the power brokers and insider traders.
Expensive tips, already calculated into the bill.
Windows
I agree, Big Glass has it out for us
Exactly, what ever happened to big ass holes in the walls?!
Recycling being the responsibility of the consumer
And recycling most plastics. End up in a landfill because its cheaper than actually recycling them.
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.
40 hour work weeks
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.
They call it "leasing", but get angry when you point out they are renting.
Save up instead and continue saving after you bought the car. Then you can afford a different car later.
Insurance, private utilities, the internet, phones, etc.
religion
Banks.
Using YOUR money to make a lot of money from investing in horrible companies.
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.
Pants
Mfs really said "hey lets make skirts but uncomfy" and we ate it up
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.
Pre-orders are so they know how much champagne to buy for release day.
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.
Oh this is easy. Politics, insurance, college. The list goes on.
Credit card "points" and travel miles. The only "points" that matter are the dollar. (or whatever currency)
Rent.
Paying for education that "the market" wants us to have so they can have a larger pool of skilled workers, leading to lower salaries
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.
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?
Online gambling is a much bigger problem. I can’t believe that’s legal.
Work.
college textbooks. have to have the latest edition for class, but almost nothing is different from the two-years-old one.
Inflation. The money you have is worth less every year by design. It's a secret tax on all of us.
Dental care being treated as separate from health care.
You can die from teeth issues