Inflation Is Made Up By Rich People (Or So I’ve Been Told)

There is a beef pot roast kit that I like to buy and for as long as I can remember it was $10.99 at my local Kroger. The last time I bought it, about six weeks ago, it was $12.99. When I went to purchase the kit yesterday, it was $16.99.

Then there are the chicken thighs. The package of four bone-in thighs I used to buy for $4.50 is now $7.50. The ground beef I used to buy for $5.00 a pound is now $7.50 a pound. A package of three chicken breasts runs me about $10 now. Of course, those prices don’t mean much if there aren’t any of those items in stock for me to purchase.

As for fresh produce, things seem to be stable but it is very hit or miss on frozen vegetables and fruits. The bovine dairy section at my store seems fine, but it’s a crapshoot as to if my almond milk will be in stock. Often it’ll be the most random things that will be out of stock; single-serve coffee creamer, Babybel cheese, certain brands of cream cheese and Greek yogurt, dried minced garlic, rice cakes.

It’s not just food pricing and availability that has changed in my area — I decided to look into leasing a new car, to lower my monthly payments. So I went to my local Hyundai dealership, where there was nothing on the lot for under $30,000 and even that inventory was thin. My salesman told me that the microchip shortage was so bad that Hyundai recommends customers to custom order vehicles, which is a process that can take months. The used car market isn’t much better either; that market is so overheated that I have positive equity in a vehicle I purchased in March of this year. Good thing I’m not desperate to get into another vehicle, if I were I’d be in trouble.

Speaking of cars, the price of gas has skyrocketed as well. I don’t keep tabs on gas prices near me because I don’t drive as much as I used to but it definitely takes more to fill my tank now than it did back when I had an 80 mile a day commute.

These are the changes I’ve noticed in my life — we call them “lived experiences” for short. And lived experiences are what matters right, the things you’ve personally experienced and witnessed?

Not anymore

Oh, I wasn’t aware I was rich, let me go check my bank account real quick.

Nope, still not rich.

The ironic thing about Jeong’s stupid take is that if I were rich I wouldn’t care about inflation very much. In fact, I’d be pretty stoked; my stock holdings would be looking real good and the value of my property would be on a steady climb partly due to inflation. The people who are justifiably concerned are those in the middle class who have to deal with things like this:

“The consumer price index indicates that, from last September to this September, Americans have seen beef prices rise by 18 percent; gas prices by 42 percent; furniture prices by 11 percent; electricity prices by 5 percent; and used car prices by 24 percent. Consumer prices for October, the most recent month for which is there is data, jumped by 6.2 percent compared to what they were a year prior-the highest year-over-year jump we’ve seen in three decades!”

It’s not just Jeong who wants to dismiss the concerns of the middle class

For reference, Ruhle makes $2M working for MSNBC and is married to a hedge fund manager. I don’t she has to care much about things like food and gas prices.

In related news, here’s everyone’s favorite media janitor Brian Stelter here to tell us that supply chain issues are a myth because his store has milk

Supports of the Biden administration are working through their own version of the narcissist’s prayer — depending on who you ask inflation and supply chain issues are either completely fictional, overhyped, temporary, or that actually this is good for you. I mean really, just stop buying so much stuff and the supply chain will fix itself, geez.

There is no way Democrats can gaslight their way out of this situation, not when millions of people are feeling the effects of inflation and supply chain shortages. Attempting to do so is insulting and condescending to the individuals and families who are suffering through price spikes and the limited availability of basic goods.

And to think, I can remember a time when Democrats claimed to care deeply about the middle class.

Originally published at https://jenmonroe.substack.com on November 19, 2021.