From: Colon.Powell@tutanato.com   
      
   This seems like a predictable outcome of mass immigration lowering wages   
   and salaries combined with the rise of the billionaire class that is   
   sucking the wealth out of the working and middle classes.   
      
   https://economicprism.com/grinding-the-american-middle-class-to-dust/   
      
   The housing market, for much of the 20th century, was the bedrock of the   
   American Dream. Home ownership, and the financial stability it   
   represents, was a sure path to middle-class prosperity.   
      
   That dream turned to a nightmare for many American families during the   
   epic real estate bubble and subsequent bust in 2008-09. What’s more, in   
   the near two decades that followed, federal monetary policies coupled   
   with restrictive local development standards have huffed and puffed an   
   even more perilous bubble than the last one.   
      
   Now the crumbling façade of American real estate and the associated   
   economic squeeze has become too great to ignore. To understand why the   
   real estate market is falling apart, you must look at who’s expected to   
   buy the houses. The arithmetic simply doesn’t work.   
      
   We’ve reached the point where discretionary income, the money left over   
   after you’ve paid for basic needs, has effectively vanished for much of   
   the population. When 67 percent of Americans are living paycheck to   
   paycheck, saving for a down payment is impossible.   
      
   Currently, about 72 percent of Americans are struggling to pay their   
   monthly bills. We aren’t talking about luxury vacations or even   
   unexpected medical expenses. We’re talking about keeping the lights on   
   and the fridge full. When the buffer is gone, the entire economic engine   
   stalls.   
      
   The lack of affordable housing has created a generational rift. Young   
   workers find themselves trapped in a permanent renter class. They’re   
   unable to build the equity that once anchored the nation’s middle class.   
      
   Right now, more than 75 percent of homes across the country are   
   unaffordable for the typical household. Most Americans are effectively   
   priced out of the housing market. And this number is climbing.   
      
   Between higher interest rates, relative to four years ago, and   
   artificially inflated valuations, the entry-level home no longer exists.   
      
   The Mortgage Death Trap   
   The ladder of social mobility has been pulled up. Millions of Americans   
   have been left behind. Shelter is no longer a basic path to financial   
   stability, but an unreachable speculative asset.   
      
   What we are seeing is the rent servitude of a generation. If you can’t   
   buy, you rent. If you rent, you can’t save to buy. It’s a closed loop   
   that keeps equity in the hands of the few while the middle class are   
   stuck paying for a roof they will never own.   
      
   The modern American household also operates in a fragile state. Most   
   families require two incomes just to keep the mortgage current. This   
   dual-income trap means there is zero margin for an unexpected job loss.   
      
   If even one spouse loses their job, which is becoming a looming threat   
   as the labor market adjusts to the realities of AI, the house quickly   
   turns from a burden to a liability. The timeline from missed paycheck to   
   foreclosure notice is shorter than most people realize.   
      
   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor market is strong.   
   But the reality on the ground tells a different story. We are staring   
   down a year where millions of jobs are projected to vanish.   
      
   Automation and AI are displacing white-collar jobs that used to be safe.   
   There have been massive layoffs in technology, finance, and   
   manufacturing. In previous downturns, there were usually sectors that   
   could absorb the displaced. Today, every sector, except low-cost elder   
   care jobs, is contracting simultaneously.   
      
   When the jobs go, the houses follow. A bank doesn’t care about your   
   years of loyal service. When the 30-day clock on a missed payment starts   
   ticking that’s all that matters.   
      
   Engineered Collapse   
   Despite what the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says, there’s   
   mounting evidence that this isn’t just a run of the mill economic cycle.   
   When you look at the speed of the decline and the specific targeting of   
   the middle class, it appears to be something else entirely.   
      
   The middle class, specifically the segment that has historically held   
   the most private property, is under attack. By squeezing the life out of   
   the housing market, wealth is being funneled upward. When families lose   
   their homes to foreclosure, they don’t just lose a roof, they lose their   
   primary vehicle for intergenerational wealth.   
      
   The result is a civilization of serfs. We’re rapidly transitioning to a   
   rentership society. If you don’t own property, you don’t have a stake in   
   the future. You’re left out in the cold.   
      
   In 2008, the crash was about bad paper and subprime loans. Today, the   
   crisis is about affordability and insolvency. House price inflation in   
   the face of stagnating wages has become too much to overcome.   
      
   Moreover, as houses are lost en masse to the banks they aren’t being   
   foreclosed on and put back on the market at a lower price. They’re being   
   sold in bulk to hedge funds, who promptly jack up the rents. What this   
   means is your neighborhood could soon be owned by a corporation that   
   doesn’t have a face, let alone a soul.   
      
   The real estate market isn’t just cooling off. It’s being hollowed out.   
   Between the loss of discretionary income, the instability of the job   
   market, and the sheer impossibility of the two-income mortgage, the   
   American middle class is standing on a trap door.   
      
   Yet the collapse isn’t coming. It has already begun. The question isn’t   
   whether the market will survive, but who will be left owning anything   
   when the dust settles.   
      
   Grinding the American Middle Class to Dust   
   For decades, the home was a forced savings account that allowed a   
   mechanic or a teacher to retire with dignity. Today, that vehicle has   
   been hijacked by institutional capital.   
      
   As the supply of affordable homes dwindles, we see the rise of the   
   build-to-rent trend. This is where entire subdivisions are constructed   
   not for families to buy, but for corporations to lease back to them in   
   perpetuity.   
      
   This shift marks the transition from a stakeholder society to a   
   subscription society consistent with the WEF diktat of, “you will own   
   nothing and be happy.” Housing, the most basic of human needs, has   
   become a subscription service.   
      
   Thus, the ability to accumulate private wealth through long-term home   
   ownership has disappeared. As a renter, you are no longer building   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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