iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Draymond Green said a kid like LeBron with a single mom in Akron couldn’t reach the NBA today. Why? Because today, US families spend over $4,000 annually for their kid to participate in club basketball. Talent without money will only get athletes so far.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Sports were supposed to be a place where talent beats privilege. Instead, sports have adopted a pay to play model where kids are turned into commodities and fans into revenue.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Americans are being scammed out of $2 trillion a year by the wellness industry – fitness, nutrition, supplements, beauty. None are bad alone, but together they sell a lie: that we alone can fix all the problems in our lives, even those caused by a broken economy that keeps us poor and exhausted.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Wellness brands blame our anxiety on our lack of discipline. But financial stress consistently ranks as the #1 stressor in America – above work, health, even relationships. No amount of maxxing fixes a system that can't pay you enough to live.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

When people are financially stressed, they cut big purchases but spend more on small "affordable" luxuries. Add buy-now-pay-later for wellness products, and suddenly self-care becomes another debt trap.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Groceries are up 34% since 2020, and millions of Americans are going into debt and dipping into their savings just to eat. So tell me why public grocery stores are a bad idea?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Self-help works for what you can actually control. It cannot lower your rent, cap your insulin price, or guarantee you a living wage. Structural problems require structural solutions.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

We don't need more grindset. We need public childcare, wage protections, guaranteed time off, and a government that treats affordability like the crisis it is. Because if the government doesn't exist to make our lives better, what is it for?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

10% of US adults are using buy-now-pay-later to purchase groceries. 20% are dipping into their savings to buy groceries. We need public options that bring prices down – including city-owned grocery stores.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A third of adults under 35 live with their parents – matching pandemic era-levels. Most are working. Many have college degrees. The era of a college degree getting you a job so you can be financially independent is long gone.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

No amount of “work ethic” can fix an economy that refuses to pay people enough to live. A third of adults under 35 are back in their childhood bedrooms. They’re employed – but just don’t make enough to support themselves.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The unemployment rate for college grads ages 22 to 27 is 5.6%. More than 40% of those who ARE employed are working jobs that don't require a degree. But they're still paying off their student loans.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Research from the 1980s recession showed that graduating into a bad economy led to a wage gap that persisted for 15 years – even after the economy fully recovered. Today's graduates are walking into the same trap.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Norway turned its oil wealth into a $2 trillion fund that benefits every citizen in the country. Meanwhile, a handful of tech billionaires are turning YOUR data into their private fortune. We deserve to share in the profits of AI.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Alaska has paid every resident an annual dividend from oil revenues since 1982. The idea: oil belongs to the public, so the profits should too. Your data, writing, and creativity trained the AI systems that are now worth trillions. So where's your dividend check?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Working people built the economy that makes AI possible – their data, labor, and knowledge is what these systems were trained on. Financial support for workers displaced by AI isn't a handout. It’s money owed. And it's a fraction of what was taken.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

workers ages 22 to 25 in AI-exposed fields saw a 16% drop in employment. wages at companies that can substitute AI for labor fell 4.5%. entry-level jobs are disappearing before young people even get started. Gen Z graduates have good reason to be angry.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

AI was built on the knowledge of generations of people. a handful of tech billionaires fed all of that into their systems without permission, acknowledgment, or pay. if AI's wealth came from all of us, it should go to all of us.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Champions League final tickets started at $80. No resale markups allowed. The cheapest World Cup ticket in LA is over $1,000. This is your friendly reminder that price gouging is not “by accident,” but by choice.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Mamdani negotiated $50 World Cup tickets for NYC residents – with free round-trip bus travel included. 300,000 people applied for them. Government can and should step in to provide affordability and access.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Every single ticket at this World Cup costs more than twice what the equivalent ticket cost four years ago in Qatar. Every ticket at every match. FIFA called this pricing a "reflection of the North American market." The fans call it a scam.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

the steam engine, the assembly line, the internet – each one created more than enough to go around. the problem was never abundance, it was distribution. the AI era doesn't have to repeat the same mistakes. but it will if we let the ultra rich call the shots.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

the question isn't whether AI will transform work – it's who gets to decide what that transformation looks like. workers, communities, and democratic institutions should be steering this. not a handful of billionaires in San Francisco.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Pope Leo’s encyclical tells us that we shouldn't accept the terms Silicon Valley is offering. we can build AI that extends human capability without replacing human agency – but that requires treating technology policy as democratic politics, not corporate strategy.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

AI could free us from drudgery and give us more time for the things that actually make life meaningful – like creativity and community. that future is possible – but it requires treating AI as a common good, not just another productivity leap that leaves working people behind.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

If AI is improving productivity and companies are posting record profits, why are workers the ones paying the price? Tax corporations. Fund guaranteed income. Establish job guarantees. The productivity gains should belong to everyone, not just the billionaire class.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

human beings were not made to be replaced by machines – we were made to create, to care, to build meaning together. The Pope’s encyclical gets something the tech industry refuses to: work isn't just economic activity. it's how we participate in the world.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

They told us AI would free us from drudgery. What it's actually doing is freeing corporations from the obligation to employ people – while funneling profits to the top.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The pattern is always the same: record profits, record stock prices – then mass layoffs to "invest in AI.” The gains go to the billionaire shareholders, while workers lose their livelihoods.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Intuit – the company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks – just laid off 3,000 workers. Its CEO made $36.8M last year. I’m no accountant, but it seems like a CEO pay cut could have helped.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Intuit just laid off 17% of its workforce to "refocus on AI." The company made $4.65 billion in revenue last quarter. AI is just an excuse for CEOs to lay off workers in a weak job market.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Jeff Bezos thinks the nurse in Queens shouldn't pay income taxes. Cool. What about livable wage, not union-busting, and providing safe working conditions?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

"The top 1% pays 40% of all taxes." That's federal income tax only. Add payroll tax, sales tax, state tax – and the working class pays a higher tax rate than billionaires. Jeff knows this – he's counting on us not to.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Bezos capped his salary at $82K. Not because he's humble – because salaries are taxed. Instead, he borrows against his $230 BILLION stock to fund his lifestyle. No paycheck = no income tax. He then went on TV and said he pays his fair share of taxes. Does he think we’re stupid? 🤔

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

NYC taxed the rich and is delivering free universal childcare for that teacher in Queens. Jeff, she begs to differ.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

"why is gen z so isolated and anxious" bestie parks are gone, coffee shops have removed indoor seating, and leaving the house costs $50. mystery solved.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

which Americans? because 27,000 hotel workers in NYC just got the biggest raise in their union's 100-year history.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

hotel housekeepers in NYC are about to earn $100k a year. not because corporations decided to be generous – but because 27,000 workers effectively organized, threatened to strike, and held the line.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

NYC hotel housekeepers just won a contract that will bring their average pay to over $100,000 a year. 27,000 workers. Full healthcare coverage. +50% wage increase. This is what people power looks like – winning workers the pay and benefits they deserve.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

33% of people making under $50k a year have stopped dating completely – just to save money. human connection has become a luxury.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

between 2014 and 2019, Americans spent 37% less time with friends. we didn't suddenly become antisocial. third places disappeared and the cost of living became unaffordable.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

2 out of 3 Americans are skipping social events because they can't afford to go out. When are we going to start calling the loneliness epidemic an economic problem?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

NV Energy told 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents their power is being cut – not because of a shortage, but because Google, Apple & Microsoft need it for data centers. No public hearing. Just working people paying the price for AI.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

"It's like we don't exist." What a Lake Tahoe resident shared after their power company told 49,000 people it's redirecting 75% of their electricity to data centers for Google, Apple & Microsoft. Because AI needs power more than people do.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

86% of single Americans aren’t dating because they’re worried about money. dating is now a rich people thing.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

The average date now costs $189. No wonder we’re single AND broke.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

housing is unaffordable. healthcare is unaffordable. childcare is unaffordable. now dating is unaffordable. at what point do we admit this isn't a personal finance problem?

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

The politicians pressuring us to have kids are the same people making the economy so unaffordable that people can no longer afford to go on dates.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Planned Parenthood workers in the Bay Area are organizing a union after seeing clinics close and services cut. These healthcare workers understand something important: that unions protect workers and our communities’ access to care.

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popeconomy.bsky.social @popeconomy.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

These companies are cashing in billions from tariff refunds: Walmart: $10 billion Target: $2 billion Nike: $1 billion All of them passed on the tariffs to consumers. None of them are giving the refunds back to us.

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