This feels like one giant con-job.

That's exactly what it is, and the con is that people actually believe that government has their best interests at heart, and when it doesn't, it's because of a bad apple or the 'wrong party' being in power.

It doesn't matter what party is in power. It simply doesn't. Wealth will continue to flow from the poor to the rich. The con, at least in western democracies, is that people bought into this idea that their vote matters. It doesn't. Sure, it matters on little things, and some big things. In the US, abortion is a big thing that voting can actually impact. So are issues like weed legalization and... well I can't think of much else at the moment.

But the really, really big shit, the shit that affects us all, MONEY, that is 100% unaffected by who is in office because the politicians were bought and paid for before they ever took the oath. And if they do try to affect real change, they're silenced in one way or another.

I'm not buying any more stock at my age. I'm waiting for it to go back up and then I'll start selling a percentage every year, and it will go back up. That's how the rich get richer. These fluctuations always make them more money. It doesn't matter if it goes up or down, they win. They can accumulate while it's down, they can write losses off on their taxes, they can squeeze little players out of the market, it's a power play.

During the crash of 2008, corporate America went in and bought as much foreclosed property as they could, sending rental prices skyrocketing, and that trend continues. They want these crashes. It's mop up time for them. And people lose their homes, so they must rent! And because more people must rent, the assholes can jack up rental prices. It's evil. So people end up spending 50, 60, 70% of their income on rent. It's the big squeeze.

Meanwhile, cash is worth less and less. Our buying power is diminishing, and it will continue to do so.

Yep, it's a con job, and we're the suckers.