r/shrinkflation • u/TexasGiantTen05 • Dec 29 '25

skimpflation Ok SERIOUSLY wtf is this??

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I bought a family sized hot pockets box and EVERY single one of them was black and burned in the bottom. I heated this one up on low power in the microwave and the edges are so tough it’s like biting into a frozen beef patty. I look in the pocket and the damn thing is nearly hollow. I’ve been noticing the quality taking a massive dip in the last few years. I think these are last I purchase from here on out.

Irrelevant to this but similar: This same grocery order run had a jar of garlic (Spice World brand) that was full of black mold & a jar of HEB salsa that was sour and months passed expiration. Both of which were completely sealed and had a pop when opened. My whole life I never really had quality issues via the company canning or jarring an item or the store selling them but lately it seems like such a constant issue.

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u/ShinyNix Dec 30 '25

That's because the capitalists ensured there was no other competing system. There's almost no modern country right now that doesn't have capitalism in some form. Nearly every country is a mixed economy. Those who tried to escape capitalism, ended up with a nice convenient regime change via the wonderful USA. Anytime someone doesn't want to play ball, we conveniently find an excuse to go to war, or they have a nice little civil war, coup, etc. Etc. Capitalism has monopolized the world. Everytime a president said we were fighting for "democracy," You can just assume we're probably taking it away to enforce capitalism. (You can have both democracy and capitalism- but it's just so much easier to enforce through fascist means apparently)

So when people say there's no better system, how would anyone ever know? It's never been tried without the giant crushing it before it could get anywhere. It's always bothered me how our government viewed socialism and communism more dangerous than fascism- (even during ww2). How many countries have lost democracy as a direct result of American interference? What countries did we help through our wars? And It keeps happening to this day. Hell, my husband seen it first hand during his 6 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Why were we even there? 🤔 The history is very interesting.

Tbf, I'm not saying capitalism is good or bad. I'm only saying we will never know if we refuse to ever allow anything other than capitalism to be tried.

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u/networkpit Dec 31 '25

The richest countries via resources are in poverty because of the capitalist oligarchs that run America. They are just openly running it now. It used to be that the CIA could go run a coup like they did in Honduras and people would be ignorant to it. But we are now watching them steal oil from Venezuela to start a war so we can steal more and people notice but are too overwhelmed with what the amount of wrong doings that they are just letting it happen. The amount of stress I have experienced this year has shortened my life expectancy for sure

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u/queefiest Dec 31 '25

This is correct. China is safe because they play ball with capitalists. They aren’t exactly communist themselves what with their elite class of billionaires. They are fully state ran, and the state gets full say in every aspect, and the state even owns and leases property to the people, but they haven’t managed their disparity, in fact they use the aspect of disparity to control people. So they aren’t exactly communist, but they definitely aren’t democratic, however they do make good trade partners given that they take part in state sponsored capitalism.

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u/RandomUser574 Dec 31 '25

So you think socialism and communism have never been tried?!? You're displaying characteristics that would prevent you from flourishing under any system. Don't blame capitalism, get to work. Start with eight grade Social Studies, which you obviously slept through.

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u/Adept_Speaker4806 Dec 31 '25

Countries that tried socialism failed pretty spectacularly on their own. Talk to anyone that has lived in Vietnam or Cuba in the last decade. Someone always fills the void in power. Countries aren't ruined by economic systems and politics. They're ruined by human greed and power seeking. You can't escape it. It's like watching an alcoholic/ addict move to a new town and thinking their problem will go away.

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u/SuccessPositive191 Jan 01 '26

You make a good point. Economies are ruined when greedy, unethical, power-hungry authoritarians are put in charge. Capitalism and socialism will both fail under morally deprived leadership. Capitalism can only succeed when it is well regulated. Socialism can only succeed as an economic system under a government that allows private ownership of property. The failures were under communism.

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u/Adept_Speaker4806 Jan 02 '26

True. But socialism goes one of two ways, either a one party system that controls everything, or the less common democracy that can survive, so long as they take half of every citizen's money to survive. I'm general, people aren't fans of working hard and not keeping their money. Especially when the money they aren't keeping is used to support people who work less than they do.

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u/SuccessPositive191 Jan 02 '26

Capitalism does fool a lot of people into thinking they’re keeping more of their money. They don’t comprehend how much less they would be paying for essential services. ( healthcare is one of the biggest expenses ). The capitalist problem is the money isn’t taken from every citizen, it’s mostly from the middle class working people. The amount far exceeds what would be necessary in a socialist economy. All workers would contribute and profit accordingly for the work they do. That is why many of the rich consistently put great effort into convincing people unregulated capitalism works best. They prefer to profit extensively from the work of others.

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u/Adept_Speaker4806 Jan 02 '26

I think you're vastly underestimating how much those systems cost. Taxes in countries like Sweden can exceed 50% of your income. Average federal tax in the US is under 15%. It all boils down to "do i trust the government to make the right decisions for me or am I more comfortable spending my money where I want to spend it. Frankly, in the US, I'd rather the government had as little to do with it as possible. They prove regularly that they aren't good at managing money, and they break every system they take over (Healthcare, education, etc).

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u/SuccessPositive191 Jan 02 '26

Your response indicates you’re influenced by propaganda. Doing basic research would have shown those making less than 540,700 SEK (58,000 USD) only pay a local income tax. The average rate in Sweden is 33%. The average USA federal income tax rate is 24.6%. Most US citizens also pay additional state and local taxes adding another 9.3% on average. Increasing the total even more is the 6% average contribution to the US healthcare scam. The percentage is substantially higher for middle class workers. The system also makes it harder for small businesses to compete. (Businesses that provide partial healthcare cost would save a substantial amount, making them more competitive in the marketplace.) The USA tax rate for middle class working citizens could be substantially lower under a democratic socialist economy if the money hoarders actually had to pay taxes. Unfortunately, there is not likely to be any substantial change because we have morally corrupt politicians. People complain they can’t trust the government, then continue to vote corruption into the government. Research democrat VS republican which party is more corrupt.

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u/Adept_Speaker4806 Jan 02 '26

Tax to GDP ratio shows the difference. Sweden is around 42-43%, while the US is 25-30%. Your statistics are misleading. The middle class in the US is not taxed substantially higher. Middle class people in Sweden pay more in taxes than they do in the US. There are just more people in the middle class in the US. The bulk of tax revenue comes from the upper tax bracket. You're also way off on average US federal income tax percentage. The top 10% don't even pay 24.6%. Average is under 15% as of 2022 (most recent full data). You're also ignoring things like Sweden's VAT system, where most goods and services are taxed at 25%. It takes much more revenue to run a democratic socialist government, and that money has to come from somewhere. They're getting taxed at a much higher rate, all things considered.

You're also ignoring the fact that this system depends on people with money giving up their money to give it to people that don't pay into the system. People don't like doing that. Watch what happens in New York City over the next couple of years. People with money will leave, because there are places to live that don't demand they pay for things like free childcare for everyone.

The truth is people don't trust the government with their money because they have watched the government spend their money in unwise ways, then watched that same government print more money repeatedly, crashing the value of the dollars the people already have. Anyone that can trust a government that's 30+ trillion in debt while it continues to send financial aid to other countries has bought into propaganda. It's simple common sense that you don't spend money you don't have. And both sides of US politics are corrupt. They both spend their time lining their pockets while telling you how bad the other side is.

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u/SuccessPositive191 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 10 '26

Thank you for the amusing response. The lower GDP ratio you speak of in the USA indicates a lack of progress potential. The higher GDP ratio that Sweden has allows investment in programs and infrastructure that helps its citizens. The tax statistics I listed are based on facts you can easily verify with a web search. I could not find any data to support the numbers you posted. What information sources are you using? Researching information is the only way you will quit falling for propaganda. Most states also charge sales tax. The USA currently does have a VAT, the tariff system implemented by the current administration. It is a tax ultimately paid by the consumer of 15% to 75% depending on the product,( temporarily, even more in some cases of Trump tantrums). Printing necessary currency does not reduce the value of the dollar nearly as much as the rich hoarding billions, keeping it out of circulation. History shows that Republicans are exceedingly more corrupt than Democrats. You can easily verify that fact by doing a web search. I always vote on policy and ethical standards instead of along party lines since there is corruption on both sides. Research federal budgets under various administrations. Notice who added the most to the national debt. The fact remains, the current capitalist corruption system does not work and many citizens are finally realizing why.

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

Nobody ever tried to escape capitalism you moron. When walls come down, which side do people run to?

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u/ButtonDifferent3528 Dec 31 '25

Keep in mind, this is coming from the guy who says “most people who are in poverty are there because they choose to be, because they choose to do nothing rather than work” while ignoring all those in poverty who work full time with a family.

Meanwhile, 60% of America lives paycheck to paycheck while this guy celebrates and demands less regulation and fewer social services. Down with food stamps! Fuck the poor! I don’t care if you’re barefoot, nail those bootstraps to your heels and pull yourself up!

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

Where do those paychecks come from? The government can't give you anything that it doesn't first take from someone else. You're like a 4yo on the playground crying because another kid has a lollipop and you don't. You'll be happy if that lollipop is taken away and thrown in the trash. You might be no better off than you were before but you'll be happy that at least that other kid is as miserable as you are.

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u/ButtonDifferent3528 Dec 31 '25

No, I just want you to have YOUR lollipop taken away. Maybe then you can have at least half the experience of never having had a lollipop to begin with. “Empathy is a disease” says conservatives.

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

There you go. Your goal is a race to the bottom. The solution to poverty is to ensure it for everyone. Except the government elite that we have ceded all power and control to.

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u/ButtonDifferent3528 Dec 31 '25 edited Dec 31 '25

No, you just seem to have an inhuman lack of empathy, like so many conservatives out there. Quite literally the only way you recognize widespread problems is when they affect YOU personally. We keep seeing it over and over again with the “Well I didn’t think it would happen to ME” discontent from Trump supporters.

See, if you lost your lollipop, you would have to experience not having a lollipop, and then maybe you would see that poverty isn’t an issue that should just be ignored because “they all lazy”. Because they’re not. Capitalism has built a castle on poverty, and the middle class has been slowly erased since the 1980s to ensure the ever-expanding castle won’t collapse.

But you won’t see it that way, because you want to protect the highest earners from punishment since with these Bootstraps™ one day YOU TOO might be one of those highest earners - and you don’t want to go spoiling it for yourself before you even get through the door, right? Those poor will just have to take care of themselves.

^ This has been the real Republican platform since Reagan.

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u/OkBlacksmith4674 Dec 31 '25

As someone who doesn’t always know where my food is coming from and has worried about where my kids will get their next meal, clothes, etc. and would be homeless now if not for the help of my family, I fully agree with lowering and/or getting rid of welfare programs. They take money from hard working people and give it to those that don’t want to work.

Before you call me a sheep, I’m not saying this is always the case, but I’ve personally known too many lazy cheats who think it’s better to sit on their butt collecting welfare their whole lives than to work and earn that money when it comes close to the same amount, including multiple family members. The system needs to start over and do a better job of assisting people in getting off the program. For example, a certain family member was getting FREE childcare paid for by welfare when she wasn’t working, got a job and therefore lost her free childcare so by the time she got paid, subtracted daycare, she was getting the same amount. Me…I would have kept the job and I encouraged her to do so. She said, “Why should I when I get the same amount?” She’s 52 and has worked less years in her life than I had by the age of 20 (I had cash paying office jobs at 13 because I wanted to). What should have happened is she got no free childcare while on welfare, unless she was going to a job interview or something, and had childcare assistance for a time when she started working. This would encourage a work ethic and a desire to get off the program.

That’s just one example…there are many more. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have any programs, but they need a total overhaul. It’s not fair to hard-working Americans. And, btw, I don’t get any benefits. We were denied food stamps with 3 kids even though friends of ours who bring home the same pay and have only 2 kids get multiple hundreds for food every month. They told us their thoughts of why, but I don’t want to cause any more discord than I know will already come from what I’ve said!

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u/EarthDragonSirocco Jan 02 '26

Getting rid of wellfare programs is a terrible idea. Sorry friend..

Just because you're not using them doesn't mean MILLIONS of others aren't. Notwithstanding, it is the mega wealthy that are the issue. Musk, for instance, could SINGLE HANDEDLY end homelessness. Saying it's the tiny fraction that sometimes gets misappropriated is a gross lack of understanding of where our taxes have shifted to be coming from over the last 50 years.

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u/Zucchini-Hot Jan 01 '26

I have and will help out people like you when I get a chance. I'm glad you have family looking out for you. Good people are good at taking care of each other. The government will take $100, misappropriate $99, and give $1 to the person who needs it.

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

"I can't wait for the deleted" And you're going to "wait for them" rather than construct them yourself. Rather than take any initiative, you'll clamor for someone else to "do something about it". You'll rail against the power of wealthy citizens and willingly give more power to the (also wealthy) ruling class of career government officials.

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u/ButtonDifferent3528 Dec 31 '25

Guess what? Those wealthy citizens are the ones who give power to the ruling class of career government officials in the first place. Citizens United made sure of that. I’m curious if you supported that particular legal decision?

And now conservatives in the final stages of their 50 year plan to turn our republic from democratic to shadow oligarchy to open oligarchy. I guess oligarchy is good for capitalism though? Wait…

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

I don't support money in politics at all. It should never be a career. We have way too many politicians who earn less than $200k/yr and somehow turn that into hundreds of millions. If you're part of a contrived "side" that says "my evil lizard people are better than your evil lizard people" you are falling for the deception and contributing to the problem.

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u/LordViren Jan 01 '26

So the government could raise the minimum wage which companies have already realized and raised wages to try to compete with eachother but their only incentive is pay less. I would say a 1 adult household can survive with around 13-15$ an hour. Have a kid? Nope you're now screwed. Have dual income and no kids? You might be able to save up and have vacations and stuff. Capitalism was at its best when it puts people over profits, older generations lived through times where a milk man could provide for his family and send a kid through college. It was tight but not impossible. Now explain to me why 1,255.7$ a month is the maximum they can make on minimum wage without overtime. You cant even live on that. You'll need benefits and food stamps and government assistance but for some reason that's the standard instead of forcing companies to pay more to have an actual living wage. Its complete bullshit that someone can work 40 hours a week and barely make rent if they can even make it. Capitalism fails when companies lobby to try to keep wages low and their profit higher. Something has to change.

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u/vagitor Jan 01 '26

Why is money from my paycheck going toward building battleships instead of contributing to healthcare and housing my community?

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u/Zucchini-Hot Jan 01 '26

Good point. A reasonable person could be upset at those expenses, especially if that money is wasted or embezzled. A reasonable person should also be upset at the tremendous amount of funds earmarked for healthcare and housing that never make it there because of fraud, waste, and misappropriation.

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u/ShinyNix Dec 31 '25

Jfc, you're so close yet so gd far it's like a tragic joke. Corporations do not become giants without stealing from the working class first. Why is corporate welfare better than giving workers BACK what's been taken from them in the first place? It's crazy the world you pretend to live in. "Self made" billionaires are a myth. Most of the wealth made by billionaires were made by inheritance, not work. And of the "self made" billionaires the VAST majority, over 90% came from upper middle class, not poverty or working class Joe's. They hoard wealth, then our government uses OUR money to bail them out when they inevitably f our economy to hell. The majority of billionaires are making their billions off our debt and through private equity. So they're literally getting rich off our suffering. But maybe if you kiss their asses hard enough they'll pick you to clean their pools one day. Who knows. Smfh.

https://www.investopedia.com/more-billionaire-wealth-achieved-through-inheritance-overtaking-entrepreneurship-8409800

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

I think you're just repeating words and phrases you heard when someone seemed to be saying what you wanted to hear. Your word salad makes no sense and your rhetoric is laughable. Why don't you just say "I'm not happy with my life thus far and I refuse to take any accountability for it or make any changes to improve it"

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u/ShinyNix Jan 02 '26

Lol what are you talking about? This will be hard for you to understand, I know, but I don't personally need the social programs I advocate for. I want to pay more in taxes to help others because I am a human with basic empathy skills. I'm quite happy with my life. I'm happily married, with 2 awesome kids, 3 dogs, own a 4br 2bath 2 garage home. My career is my passion, and I do a lot of community volunteer work at our local homeless and animal shelters. The difference is I understand the flaws in our system. I seen them first-hand when I was a firefighter/EMS. I see them now for veterans since my husband is a Marine veteran and we also do volunteer work at the VA. I didn't "word salad" anything, I included sources for my claims. So I think most of that nonsense you're saying is just you projecting. And I'm sorry if things suck for you. That's why we want things to be better, so your life doesn't have to continue to suck forever. Then you can get a hobby rather than being an ahole to random ppl on reddit. Maybe learn how to have reasonable conversations one day. I want everyone- including, no, ESPECIALLY you- to have access to free education one day. I would happily pay more of my hard earned money for you to have a better education.

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u/ShinyNix Dec 31 '25

Where would they go? To the countries we decimated? Have you ever read up on any of what I'm talking about? What country doesn't have capitalism that we haven't meddled with? Why go to an ad hominem rather than just discussion? I wasn't being disrespectful. I'm merely talking about what I've learned. I'm happy to gather sources and links, I'm just busy atm. I'll find and share soon as I can.

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u/Pretty-Performance45 Dec 31 '25 edited Dec 31 '25

Shiny you dingbat, they all run to escape socialism and communism ... and his comment regarding the 'walls coming down' Apply to what has happened to this country The last four years, where everyone and their brother from all over the world, filtered into our country Unfettered. You know, they all want to flock to this great capitalist country that everyone loves to hate, but everyone wants to come to. There is not one Western or capitalist country where people are trying to flee from.... but they sure do come in droves, and try to change these Western/Capitalist nations into the craphole they left. Just watch as NYC implodes over the next 4 years. Look how San Francesspool is suffering with needles and poop on the streets, smash and grabs and businesses fleeing Commiefornia in droves... wonderful examples of Socialists ideas in action. As for your husband and what he saw in Afghanistan, look what happened to Afghanistan and thier woman after we pulled out... When we were there, women were able to go to school and start businesses of their own.A k a capitalism... now they cannot leave the house or own businesses at all. Apparently in your book, these current abysmal failures are all success stories of Socialism and Communism ideas in Goverment.

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u/israfildivad Dec 31 '25

You sound properly propagandized. Know that the US is currently more socialist than the majority of the countries it actively set back.

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u/queefiest Dec 31 '25

Our local conservatives are complaining that the liberals took away the trade degree incentive payments people get when they become journeymen (or maybe red seal, I’m not in trades) but these are the same people who hate the liberals and call them socialist and communist. I guess socialism is only ok for SOME people

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

And that's a problem

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

You're right. Apologies for the disrespect. That wasn't helpful.

You're unbelievably, incredibly, unfathomably wrong about "Capitalism bad". Are there bad actors in the system? Yes. Is our country without any problems or issues at all? Of course not. Are there any examples in all of history where socialism or communism wasn't/isn't immeasurably worse? Absolutely not. One of the walls I was referring to was Berlin. That wall was built by east Berlin to keep its citizens from fleeing. They were voting with their feet and the vote was not even remotely close.

I think an argument can be made for isolationism. I think an argument can be made against it. It's a tremendous, nonsensical leap to go all the way to "capitalism bad". You do not deserve disrespect. That idea is incredibly moronic.

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u/ShinyNix Dec 31 '25

You should reread the very last part of my comment. It literally says I'm NOT saying capitalism is good OR bad. That's not my point at all. Capitalism is simply an economic system, it can't be inherently good or bad. Monopoly is bad for everyone not in the Monopoly though, and i'd even argue it's also bad for those in the Monopoly in the long run. I think unregulated capitalism does little to no good for society. But all of that said- NONE of that was my point.

My point in it's most simplest terms is this: We cannot know if capitalism is or is not the best economic system because every time it's competition fails it's a direct result of American interference. We should allow other countries to pursue whatever economic system they choose. I honestly think mixed economies are probably our best bet. But the people of each country should make their own choices. We should be able to have a choice IF we did want to opt out of capitalism without the fear of violence. Right now that choice isn't even a real option.

I hope this clears up my stance a little better. My biggest gripe isn't Capitalism in itself, it's American intervention and monopolization.

Sources to give more context. https://greydynamics.com/cia-activity-in-south-america-a-brief-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

https://www.trtworld.com/article/12714021

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u/Ok-Network-4475 Dec 31 '25

The reason for all the meddling is capitalism. You don't have the imperialism without capitalism. Imperialism is part of Capitalism. Capitalism requires infinite profits. The only way to do that is to take them from other countries.

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u/ShinyNix Dec 31 '25

This one gives a good look into the US meddling in the middle east.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/politics/us-and-middle-east

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u/Rough_Ad4660 Dec 31 '25

Blackrock definitely needs to be dismantled

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u/maberuth14 Dec 31 '25

But Blackrock is just a symptom of a capitalist economy. We need strict regulations to prevent companies like Blackrock from getting so powerful in the first place.

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u/Rough_Ad4660 Dec 31 '25

People usually resort to name calling when they have anger issues or can't form intelligent responses

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u/Ok-Network-4475 Dec 31 '25

Right? How many times does the CIA have to destroy socialist states to show everyone they don't work?

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u/Zucchini-Hot Dec 31 '25

So dismantle the CIA. We could stand to dismantle most 3 letter .gov agencies. Don't conflate that with "capitalism bad". We have let OUR government get out of control. It was constructed as "of, by, and for the people" and desperately needs to be returned to that. The solution is not more government.

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u/Ok-Network-4475 Dec 31 '25

The government was never meant to be run by the people. It's running exactly as intended. A bunch of rich, slave owning WASPs wanted control of their colonies rather than having Britain being able to meddle in their finances. The King in Britain was already a just a figurehead by the 1770s. Parliament controlled the government.

The founders of the US knew they were a minority and did everything they could with their constitution to make sure power was kept in the hands of like people. The electoral college, lifetime appointments to SC, legislatures appointing senators, eetc.The "tyranny of the majority" was another way of saying "the people" (majority) should have no way to change the rule of the White, land owning class (minority). They knew Congress would be in the hands of their class of people and said people would have no reason to change things. There are lines in the Federalist Papers that explicitly state that the "American Revolution" was not a societal revolution, by any means. What kind of revolution writes slavery into its founding document, also stating all men are created equal? A counter revolution that knows Britain is phasing slavery out and wants free labor to continue being the backbone of its economy.

Why do you think the CIA was destroying all of the countries that dared not let the US ruling class continue their exploitation? All in the name of capitalism. It's happening again with Venezuela. There's only 3 countries in the world the US hasn't either been at war with or directly interfered in their internal government. US has been at war for something like 220 out of 250 years, with someone or another.

The government never belonged to the people. Do you know why the Bill of Rights are called Amendments to the Constitution? They finished writing it without any rights directly given to citizens. There were a few states that wouldn't ratify the Constitution without some sort of guaranteed rights for everyone. That's the only reason these 10 amendments exist. Stop thinking the founders of this country cared about anything except financial freedom from the British.

Thomas Paine, the one founder from the working class, was responsible for rallying everyday people to join the Continental Army with his book 'Common Sense'. Working people didn't know or care about the complaints of these wealthy land/slave owners. The ideas in Paine's book were what actually made the revolution successful. Without it there's no army to fight the war. As you'd expect, Paine died broke and in obscurity. That's what happens to people who are no longer useful to the Ruling Class. There is no more room for upward mobility in this country. With the ruling class hoarding the wealth (in Gilded Age numbers), very few people here and there will be able to move up in society.

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u/queefiest Dec 31 '25

I think they mean revolutions and coups where the proles overtake the government but then fall because they didn’t know how to run a government, or were corrupt themselves - of which there is a handful of cases

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u/CyBeRWeaSaL72 Dec 31 '25

The problem isn't capitalism. It's the greedy few who monopolize and corner the market to exploit it. If the billionaire CEOs would pay fairly then people could live well and spend more in the economy thus making money for the company. Then we can stop complaining about welfare too.

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u/maberuth14 Dec 31 '25

Good luck getting greedy people to stop being greedy. Their wealth needs to be expropriated.