This all started with an idiot post by Chris Rufo that "the economy is strong and income has never been higher." Why would someone in the Trump coalition say something so retarded not a couple months removed from the election? Because people are still mad about legally flooding the country with Indians. archive
Chris then kicked off the party in earnest by insisting that everything is doing great because someone, somewhere got a $70k job at Panda Express. archive
This is basically "full employment." The Panda Express near my house is offering $70k/yr plus benefits for the assistant manager. You can make $100k/yr working at Chipotle for a few years and working up to store manager.
People are talking about H-1B foreigners replacing American engineers AND THIS IS YOUR INPUT IN THE CONVERSATION??
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Boomercon influencer "Wanye Burkett" had a Helen of Troy moment that kicked this off (he deleted) (archive)
I literally don't care if the entire country burns down and everyone I love dies, that would be better than giving an inch to "right wing" 24-year-olds who are indistinguishable from progressives except they hate immigrants
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Matt Walsh appears, of course. No boomercon situation would be complete without the Daily Wire's Ron Swanson showing up to give us the astroturfed bearded family man position archive
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Reminder that Chris just hired a porn star lib for a $300k journalist position (archive)
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My absolute favorite part is Rufo retweeting a guy who did exactly what he's recommending (worked his way up to manager position in fast food) without reading the whole thread where the guy says it was a horrible experience that he would only wish on his worst enemies archive
If Vivek's "Saved by the Bell" post was his Waterloo, this is the Con Inc Pearl Harbor. The entire conservagrifter alliance turned out to get decimated on X. Bottom line is, nobody would be taking issue with "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" except the people preaching that want to import foreigners to replace the people they're talking to!!
"Learn to code" has now become "learn to shovel fried rice." Amazing economy!!
If someone can get 70k working for Panda Express then inflation has hit a hell of a lot harder than we realized. The value of our currency is dropping like a rock if someone can get that kind of salary as entry an level fast food worker.
It's assistant manager, so you would have to grind for years of 4am lo mein cooking sessions and dealing with riffraff customers for the privilege.
From the former Chik-Fil-A guy I linked at the bottom, who worked out a deal to get auto-promoted to manager
I've seen entry level jobs at $16-17, which is still way higher than it used to be. In Texas it's probably $12/hr. The hard inflation stat from Biden's reign is 20%... everything is 20% less value (or worse) than it used to be. Which is insanity.
Either way, Rufo is a privileged imbecile who should be forced to make a career out of Taco Bell. But I'm sure he's too high skill for that
Rufo apparently lives in Gig Harbor, WA. I have been to Gig Harbor, and $70k/year isn't going to get you very far there. You'll certainly never be able to afford a house on that.
I worked at Wendy's when I was a kid, minimum wage was still $5.15 at the time. So of course I made $5.15/hr. They offered me an assistant manager position right before I graduated high school.
The college girl who already was an assistant manager told me to turn it down. They offered her $8/hr at 40/wk but as salary, not hourly, but they always scheduled her for 50 hours a week, and she had to come in during any lunch or dinner rush when someone quit or no-call/no-showed. She said that was at least once a week, sometimes she'd have to be there for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday despite already having worked 50 hours between Monday and Friday. Several times she had to work open to close, like 6am to midnight, because someone had quit or been fired and someone else had called in "sick". She told me several times she made less than minimum wage because she worked so many hours in a week.
After I said no thanks, they started fucking up my scheduled hours, some days I'd be on schedule for 10 or more hours, some I'd only be there for 2 hours during lunch. Basically just long enough to waste gas driving there and back and get dirty enough to have to shower twice within 3 hours. I quit.
Also, don't eat Wendy's chili. It's disgusting how it's made/kept.
This is exactly what Rufo and the whole clown car need shoved in their face. Same thing if you work in a sitdown restaurant for tips. They don't even have to pay you minimum wage so if you have a bad night, you just worked hours for free.
Exactly.
And this wasn't even 20 years ago. $8 x 40 x 52 = $16,640/yr
Has inflation really pushed that same exact shit job to $70,000/yr in less than 2 decades?
If so, we're all fucked regardless of how old we are.
According to this inflation calculator $17,000 in 2005 has only inflated to $28,039 in 2025.
Our entire economy is built on LIES! Bankers, Deep State, Capitalists, Corporations, Israel, Lizard people... whatever you want to call them, it's clear they are riding us to certain economic doom.
The coming crash will be worse than the 1920's. Our currency was at least still backed by gold during the Great Depression, it still had actual value back then.
Yes, this is the part they are desperately trying to hide. If these H1B engineers and tech workers are truly the best of the best like Silicon Valley claims, then they why are they getting paid at the same salary as a Panda Express manager? The math isn't adding up.
Thank you. Not only that, but there's one manager per store. If someone caps their advancement, hits manager, and stays, no one else at that store can be the manager.
"They can transfer to another store." Well then, no one at that store currently can be the manager. Having one decently paying job per site does not make for a strong economy or society.
The boomers do have somewhat of a point that demotivation is an issue, but they're the ones who set the wrong expectations in the first place. They grew up when a college degree had value. Not when it was a entry-level requirement. People are still fed the idea that degree => good job. And a lot of them believed it enough to go into sizable debt. Finding out they were lied to and are now starting with a huge handicap is a shitty surprise. It's kind of understandable that so many of them are doomers.
When I worked at a country club, my boss started as a busboy and was promoted due to merit and experience. But if I wanted to get promoted, I was expected to have a degree in hospitality management. The days of starting off in the mail room and working your way up are long gone.
I was helping a younger relative look for work this week. We looked at TopGolf. They wanted 5 years of experience at a hotel or restaurant and a degree in hospitality management. For a goddamn guest services position!
This is a symptom of privatized colleges and free community college: every little job now has its own "technical certification." Get ready for a bevy of 2-year degrees in "Cinema Guest Management," "Grocery Bagging Technician" and "Soft Serve and Confectionery Operator." 🙄
Sheesh, I got a pin for good behavior just two weeks into working at Hardees thirty years ago. Degrees weren't on anybody's radar, not even management I don't think.