this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
299 points (98.4% liked)

A Boring Dystopia

16776 readers
533 users here now

Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.

Rules (Subject to Change)

--Be a Decent Human Being

--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title

--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article

--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.

--Posts must have something to do with the topic

--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.

--No NSFW content

--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly this month as gas prices stayed high and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices hover near record levels.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains. The measure hasn’t fallen as much this year as other gauges of consumer attitudes, but it has been stuck at a low level since the pandemic. Before COVID-19, it regularly reached 130.

A separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan fell to a record low this month. Soaring gas and food costs have worsened inflation that is outpacing the average growth in paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] you_are_dust@lemmy.world 56 points 1 day ago (7 children)

How is the stock market increasing if people aren't buying the things that those companies produce? I know the answer is because the stock market is based entirely on feelings and doesn't have any basis in reality. But I still want to ask the question.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

All the money that's accumulating in the hands of the ultra rich has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is investment assets and investment assets are chosen based on going up in price and said going up in price needs not be for any reason other than that money is going into those assets in the expectation that the prices will go up (i.e. it's just a feedback loop of price increases attracting more buyers which in turn makes prices go up).

It's one big Ponzi Scheme and it will keep on going until there is no more money entering the scheme.

As it so happens we're living a long period of the wealth that was accumulated across society for decades being sucked out from the hands of the many into the hands of the few, and said few then keep putting more money into investment assets (what would be the point of buying yet another yacht) which is what keeps the whole price goes up because people buy -> people buy because price goes up loop going in so many asset categories, from housing and stocks to ultra speculative stuff like crypto.

This shit will only stop when it crashes and the longer it keeps going the harder it will crash.

[–] vane@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

advertising bot networks

[–] Rothe@piefed.social 10 points 17 hours ago

The stock market isn't really dependant on companies actually producing stuff. The expectation of them producing stuff is enough. Which is why this whole AI-circlejerk exists for example.

It is all insider trading and companines funding each other with the same non-existant money.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 55 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The stock market looks like gambling but it's actually fraud.

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 5 points 20 hours ago

I feel like it's a spectrum that's entirely dependent on how much wealth and connections you start with.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

For tech, it goes up because expectations on higher profits. Datacenters and the dystopia is driving right now. Memory sticks are through the roof because datacenters buys it all. Same with drives and gpus.

It takes years to build the dystopia so lots of profits on that. And then profits on watching people in real time and selling their data.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 26 points 23 hours ago

I know the answer is because the stock market is based entirely on feelings and doesn't have any basis in reality.

I mean, that's phrased really about as well as anyone could phrase it. You could also say that there are two Americas: the 1% and everyone else. The stock market is a measure of how the 1% are doing. When Bondi said "the Dow is over 50000!" in that senate hearing, she was basically just saying, "the rich people think this administration is great, so you should too."

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (2 children)

2 factors:

Every salary person has 15% of their income go to the stock market for their 401k.

Most things are staples that people have to buy. Companies increase their prices and consumers don't have a choice. The increased price means increased earnings.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Currently the rest of the stock market is essentially held up by 7 companies.

https://oriongemini.substack.com/p/the-number-is-going-up

Tier 1 — Magnificent Seven / Mega-Cap: Up 75–100%+ over five years. Cash-rich near-monopolies trading on AI futures. Effectively function as quasi-sovereign entities. Collectively hold over $420 billion in cash.
Tier 2 — Rest of S&P 500: Up 50–60%. Piggybacking on the giants through index weighting. Solid balance sheets but increasingly dependent on AI-adjacent demand.
Tier 3 — Russell 2000: Up roughly 17%. The “one percent of the losers.” Struggling but kept alive by access to public capital markets. 40–44% unprofitable. Facing a $709 billion refinancing wall in 2026–2027.
Tier 4 — Private Middle Market: Flat to declining. Consolidating from roughly 200,000 to 125,000 firms over two decades (RSM). Margin-squeezed by tariffs and input costs. RSM MMBI showing fragility.
Tier 5 — Main Street / Small Private Business: Fighting to exist. No access to Wall Street capital. Absorbing inflation that large firms pass through to customers. NFIB Optimism Index showing persistent fragility.

[–] neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works 7 points 23 hours ago

And the 401k contributions are the significant factor here. Until people start pulling their 401ks out, this wont stop.