Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Billions and Billions

By -

I hate crowds. I always have – – even as a kid. I’m not sure why, but I definitely know that about myself. I thus have found it distressing that I was born into a world of 4 billion people and now there are about 8 billion of the goddamned things running around. The good folks at Visual Capitalist put together some graphics I found fascinating. (As always, click on any image for a bigger version, depending on your screen size).

The first shows where on the planet humans have been located. Even without looking at the full-sized graphic, you can see an absolutely grotesque compression of humans in India and Southeast Asia. My idea of hell would be to live in a place like Bombay. Put me in Wyoming, baby! I don’t wanna see NO-body!

(more…)

Americans Scrambling to Outpace the Rapid Rise in Cost of Living

By -

The rising inflation rate in the United States has hit an all-time high in nearly 31 years. But although Americans may think the prices of food and gasoline will be significantly increased in the coming months – analysts are warning that the lasting effects will ripple through nearly every industry.

In October this year, the chained consumer price index of all urban consumers (C-CPI-U) increased by 0.8%, bringing the national inflation rate up to 6.8%. With the rampant increase, consumers and investors are scrambling to hedge the rising cost of living.

But a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis cited in September by the Federal Open Market Committee predicted that inflation will again fall to 2.2% in 2022. (Editor’s Note: HA!)

With the rising cost of living, American paychecks are stagnating.

(more…)