This is all a mess. There are basically a small group of controlling interests who are laughing their way to the bank as the public’s situation continues to get worse. Like, they’re basically jerking their customers and the public around for sport.
This won’t get better until people put their foot down and stop paying through the nose for entertainment. It’s not an essential. We need to get back to bread and butter fundamental issues if we want society to improve.
I would argue that dynamic prices are just the enabler. The root cause is that there are too many people with too much money, and our physical world, either by default or by design, has not scaled to a point of equilibrium more favorable to the middle class.
For example, since we're talking about the World Cup, let's consider this: the first World Cup was played in 1930, when most people were eating at soup kitchens. Now we get pad thai and kombucha delivered to our doorstep, however the supply of World Cups is still the same it was 100 years ago: one World Cup every 4 years. Something's got to give.
The same is happening with access to Ivy League schools, popular tourist destinations like Venice, Barcelona, or Disneyworld, or single-family homes. Too many people with too much money competing for essentially the same amount of goods and services.
Also, companies have learned that it is more profitable to cater to the affluent than addressing the needs of the middle class, so they are focusing on extraction rather than building, investing and scaling our physical infrastructure. The end game is to identify any surplus (savings) we may have been able to amass and monetize it away so that we die penniless.
Either we find a way to give the middle class some hope or we're going to have a revolution sooner or later. If that happens, I will be back in Latin America reading this newsletter from a cabin in the mountains or a nice beach, surrounded by an emerging middle class made possible by Chinese investment.
Thanks for explaining the secondary market through which FIFA resells its own tickets for extra profit. What a brilliant way to squeeze every last bit of profit out of fans! This seems to contradict the goal of cultivating future generations of soccer fans in the U.S. by making in-person games more accessible to average families with children.
Not for nothing, but the “haves and haves not” economy is reflected here as well. I’m not sure the relevance of your reference to your income? Wouldn’t it suffice to say that people can have fun at watch parties and leave it at that? I’m not offended and write what you want, just curious. The performative nature of social media causes me to ask.
Watch parties are a great way to view the games, but one of the stated goals of this World Cup was to cultivate future generations of soccer fans in the U.S. by making in-person games more accessible to average families with children. However, given the high cost of tickets, taking a family of four to a game is too expensive for most middle-class families.
The causes are complex and somewhat debatable. But, the ending hit me regardless. Community is the operative component no matter what. The competition isn't over pricing, per se, but where the best community and environment can exist.
I’m seeing on TV huge crowds of what look like fairly ordinary people packing massive stadiums at the games so far. I’ve watched 8 games, all looking like this. What gives?
This is all a mess. There are basically a small group of controlling interests who are laughing their way to the bank as the public’s situation continues to get worse. Like, they’re basically jerking their customers and the public around for sport.
This won’t get better until people put their foot down and stop paying through the nose for entertainment. It’s not an essential. We need to get back to bread and butter fundamental issues if we want society to improve.
https://ianmcniff.substack.com/p/the-shirt-not-worn-the-revolution?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2lo6de
Very interesting piece.
I would argue that dynamic prices are just the enabler. The root cause is that there are too many people with too much money, and our physical world, either by default or by design, has not scaled to a point of equilibrium more favorable to the middle class.
For example, since we're talking about the World Cup, let's consider this: the first World Cup was played in 1930, when most people were eating at soup kitchens. Now we get pad thai and kombucha delivered to our doorstep, however the supply of World Cups is still the same it was 100 years ago: one World Cup every 4 years. Something's got to give.
The same is happening with access to Ivy League schools, popular tourist destinations like Venice, Barcelona, or Disneyworld, or single-family homes. Too many people with too much money competing for essentially the same amount of goods and services.
Also, companies have learned that it is more profitable to cater to the affluent than addressing the needs of the middle class, so they are focusing on extraction rather than building, investing and scaling our physical infrastructure. The end game is to identify any surplus (savings) we may have been able to amass and monetize it away so that we die penniless.
Either we find a way to give the middle class some hope or we're going to have a revolution sooner or later. If that happens, I will be back in Latin America reading this newsletter from a cabin in the mountains or a nice beach, surrounded by an emerging middle class made possible by Chinese investment.
Thanks for explaining the secondary market through which FIFA resells its own tickets for extra profit. What a brilliant way to squeeze every last bit of profit out of fans! This seems to contradict the goal of cultivating future generations of soccer fans in the U.S. by making in-person games more accessible to average families with children.
Not for nothing, but the “haves and haves not” economy is reflected here as well. I’m not sure the relevance of your reference to your income? Wouldn’t it suffice to say that people can have fun at watch parties and leave it at that? I’m not offended and write what you want, just curious. The performative nature of social media causes me to ask.
Watch parties are a great way to view the games, but one of the stated goals of this World Cup was to cultivate future generations of soccer fans in the U.S. by making in-person games more accessible to average families with children. However, given the high cost of tickets, taking a family of four to a game is too expensive for most middle-class families.
Ed, as a fellow Brit, I know to call it football too - though I’m not a big football fan (one of the many joys of being raised in a West Ham family).
But these insights have made the World Cup a lot more interesting for me. Thanks. And enjoy the games. Is it coming home this year?
The causes are complex and somewhat debatable. But, the ending hit me regardless. Community is the operative component no matter what. The competition isn't over pricing, per se, but where the best community and environment can exist.
I’m seeing on TV huge crowds of what look like fairly ordinary people packing massive stadiums at the games so far. I’ve watched 8 games, all looking like this. What gives?