this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
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[–] The_Caretaker@lemm.ee 21 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Ban corporations from owning residential properties. Outlaw rent as a form of slavery. Every person currently renting residential property becomes the owner of the property they're renting. The 14,000,000 empty residential properties in the USA which are mostly corporate owned get confiscated and distributed based on the needs and skills of the families that need them. Empty 6 bedroom farmhouse on 40 acres of land goes to a family with 5 kids that is willing to farm. One bedroom condominium in the city goes to a single person or a couple. Housing is a human right. Fuck corporations. Tax the wealthy the way they did 80 years ago and use the money to pay for universal health care and free college. Tax robotic labor and AI administrative labor to pay for universal basic income. Let the robots do the work, just give us all our fair share. Nationalize all fossil fuels as a step to phasing them out. When the money from selling oil all goes to the public good rather than corporate profits, it will be much easier to switch to renewables. With free housing, UBI, free college, and universal healthcare in place, lots of people will be interested in having children.

[–] Wanpieserino@lemm.ee 0 points 1 hour ago

You can have practically free housing. Just buy this for 18500 euros.

https://www.rumah123.com/properti/batam/hos19254242/?price-unit-type=metersquare

Or do you want.. free stuff while also having people invest capital in your area?

I don't think it works that way.

Best we can do is tax your labour and redistribute it.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 21 points 18 hours ago

Maybe if the world people were raising their kids in didn't look so fucking gloomy thanks to some fascist fucks, they'd want to have more kids.

[–] Vytle@lemmy.world 18 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

People are not having kids because the middle class cannot afford it. Assuming your household has the average American household income of 80k. This would give the household something like 40k at most after the kid's associated expenses, which means that each parent would have a whopping 20k to themselves. This is positively fucked because they would have to have a quality of life similar to someone who is eligible for food stamps, but they would not be themselves. Kids are for those who already benefit from government programs, or those who can afford a very expensive pet for a minimum of 15 years.

All this will do is increase the number of children born into poverty, which already accounts for the majority of children born in America.

You want an actual solution? Give parents food stamps up to a yearly income of 120k

I also find the implication that a human life is worth $5,000 disgusting.

It was clear to me that when the gov't went after reproductive rights, it was because declining birthrates are detrimental to capitalism. The money cannot stop; the money cannot slow down. Capitalism REQUIRES exponential growth in every regard.

Any "moral" reason given by a politician against abortion is a thinly veiled disguise to ensure that the machine always has enough cogs to keep running and growing.

How are you going to say a fetus is priceless and then say a live infant is worth $5,000? Fucking disgusting.

[–] bluemellophone@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I don’t see a clear association in saying a baby is worth $5,000 when existing tax law says a baby is worth $2,000 off your taxes. It’s an incentive, not a bill of sale.

[–] Hobo@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

Drops back down to $1000 for 2025 unless the increase is extended. A $5000 payout is actually less of a payout than just extending the current CTC.

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 26 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It costs $40k/year for daycare. Start handing out $5k to moms, daycare now costs $45k/year.

[–] pleasegoaway@lemm.ee 2 points 32 minutes ago

It blows my mind that so many people don’t understand this concept.

[–] valkyrieangela@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 20 hours ago

Maybe they should improve the quality of life for working families to get them to be confident enough to have more babies naturally?

....nah, it's obviously the queers fault!

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 day ago (3 children)

There's literally been bipartisan efforts to expand the child tax credit ($1000 per year baseline, expanded to $2000 for 2018-2025 and expiring this year, plus COVID era provisions or up to $3000 or $3600 for 2021), and the bills to do so keep dying without a vote.

If they were serious about this they'd expand the 2021 program to where parents were getting $300 checks every month, and make that permanent and indexed to inflation.

So much of the Trump presidency is announcing a new program that sounds good, but isn't even enough to make up for a program that he already killed.

[–] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 7 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

300$ a month is already way below index.

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 7 points 23 hours ago

Yeah but it's fucking something man. At this point I'll take anything. That's a good grocery haul right there every single month.

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[–] gingersaffronapricat@lemm.ee 3 points 14 hours ago

Do we get to choose how it’s distributed? Here are some fun options I came up with.

  1. $13.69 per day for a year. (Nice). About $419/month. Maybe they could round up to $420 because they stale internet meme culture is hip

  2. $0.76 per day for 18 years. A guaranteed $22.80 per month for an entire childhood

  3. $5000 lump sum. I can’t find any widely accepted figures for average out of pocket cost of prenatal care, child birth, and infant health visits. I’ll wild ass guess it a at covering 20-75% of those visits for people who have insurance. For people without insurance, looks like an uncomplicated vaginal birth averages $14k. But again huge variations in price

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 6 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

He is rich and has no reference for the price of everyday items

[–] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 14 hours ago

It's one year of daycare, Michael. What could it cost? $5000?

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 6 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Think of how many bananas you could buy with $5k.

[–] drspawndisaster@sh.itjust.works 10 points 18 hours ago

"It's raising a child for ~20 years, Michael. What could it cost? 5k?"

[–] Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world 15 points 23 hours ago

lol at one point I was paying more for daycare than my mortgage.

5k, these people are 🤡

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 13 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Japan has an aging population and tried a lot, with not much success...

Prosperity = less kids, so we shouldn't be surprised what Trump is going to try...

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 12 points 23 hours ago

That tracks. I'm paying about $15k for pre-k/daycare throughout the year, which really only covers about 7-8mo, then there's camps, babysitters, etc. I easily spend $25k on each kid and I'm not in New York or somewhere.

[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

May barely cover the hospital bill for those many without health insurance. But of course the proposed bonus is intended for middle class white babies

[–] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Average cost for an uninsured birth is 19,000.

[–] Doctor_Satan@lemm.ee 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"I mean it's one child, Michael. How much could it cost? Five thousand dollars?"

[–] drspawndisaster@sh.itjust.works 3 points 18 hours ago

Aw you got it before I did...

[–] communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 45 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Oh there will be a boom of... abandoned babies for the fostercare system.

[–] StayDoomed@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Remember all the garbage about welfare queens? I thought this was something that was morally wrong in the 90s to support people who have kids?

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

Better: remember all the gnashing of teeth about "latchkey kids"? These people will do anything besides the minimum necessary.

[–] cyberblob@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 1 day ago (4 children)

40k/year sounds premium. But what little do I know, I am German and pay about 3k/year for a very nice Kindergarten.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Here’s typical day care rates for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is one of the lowest cost of living states in the nation, because it’s a hell hole with no social services and has been already doing Project 2025 for the past five years. This means salaries are similarly depressed - as a teacher, my first year take home pay per month was $2200. If I had a child then I would have nothing between day care and rent. (And I also would have needed the daycare, first year teaching is 60-100 hours a week.)

The people working at the facility are likely barely qualified and probably not making enough to support their families - likely on welfare.

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[–] zakobjoa@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

In Germany the parents (and later, the children themselves) receive a little over 250€ per month until the child is 25 or finished an apprenticeship or uni.

Germany has a very low birth rate.

Edit: copy of a text where I laid out the benefits we get in a similar discussion:

In Germany we have protection of pregnant people from when their doctor deems them unfit for work until delivery – continued payment of full wages. Two months after delivery with 70% wages and 12 months to split between both parents, which can be taken together and stretched by taking half the money for twice as long. Until your child is six you may (with some exceptions) take unpaid leave for parenting. Your employer has to keep your position for you. Childcare from 1 till school is affordable (ca. 250€/M). Healthcare is paid as a percentage from your income (ca. 15%) and has very little extra cost. You get 250€ per child per month just for having a child. Tax credits. If you are still struggling: Assistance for rent, school materials, clothing and more.

We have (compared to the US) pretty solid workers protection laws. We have a (not great but you won't starve) state pension. We have unemployment benefits, that don't run out (conditions apply). We don't have the weird Japanese shut-in young men on a scale that's worth a mention.

We also have one of the lowest birth rates in the world.

Yes, the oppressiveness of a capitalist society is a factor – Germany is far from free of that, and getting worse. But compared to the US we should be popping out babies like crazy. But it's emancipation of women and it's education, that afaik are the most decisive influences of a low birth rate.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 8 points 1 day ago

Sociatal factors suppressing birth rate in Germany may be high rents, inability to find places big enough for a child considering today's standards, and bad outlook. Also work life balance is skewed for some.

But it's emancipation of women and it's education

Hey, so, funny story about what MAGA is working hard to eliminate...

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[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 163 points 1 day ago (6 children)

"What could a childcare cost, ten dollars?"

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[–] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 96 points 1 day ago (6 children)

y'all understand why they want conservative christians to have a ton of babies, right? the only reason that american conservatives have become as atrocious as they are is that they have the big, dumb numbers. they need another generation of idiots - forcefully uneducated - to continue their legacy of shit.

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[–] Lasherz12@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Giving everyone 5k would more meaningfully improve birth rates than asking educated young people worried about their future childrens' standard of living to take a leap for the cost of one small medical emergency.

[–] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 5 points 23 hours ago

5000 is genuinely nothing when it comes to raising a child.

[–] littlebrother@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago

I can't tell if sarcasm or not. But no this won't do anything.

Russia/Asian countries do this already it has barely any effect at all. Again it comes down to both money and culture. Can't throw money at a problem without changing the culture you're just half assing it.

[–] bluesheep@lemm.ee 53 points 1 day ago (10 children)

40k a year? So at least 3200 a month for daycare? Who on gods dying earth can pay for that? That's more than 3 times my rent and my landlord is bleeding me like a stuck pig, what the fuck

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