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@cestfleuve@mastodon.nz

Post #2545775

2026-05-12 04:59 UTC

i think i figured out why the term "cost of living" bothers me so much—it's completely supplanted the word "poverty" it's a term that refers to the comfortable being a little less comfortable, and not the uncomfortable being pushed to the brink

Replies (4)

  • @cestfleuve@mastodon.nz 2026-05-12 05:20

    i think it's been a long time coming. for years the problem was "child poverty", now we don't even care if they're impoverished

    Open ##2685496

  • @cestfleuve@mastodon.nz I think we've become desensitised to the very literal sense of cost of staying alive. I've been reading a book in Portuguese where there is a very similar phrase but it's "custa da vida" ie the cost of _life_. which hits harder.

    Open ##2685497

  • @craignicol@glasgow.social 2026-05-12 10:50

    @cestfleuve@mastodon.nz @MisuseCase@twit.social "cost of living" is such a dystopian phrase. Why should life cost anything?

    Open ##2685498

  • @jdmcg@mastodon.nz 2026-05-12 22:43

    @cestfleuve@mastodon.nz 'poverty' is a real, visceral state that many have experienced and which we can imagine (or feel right now) in human terms. 'Cost of living' is an economic phrase that puts emotional distance between ourselves and those suffering. It's weasle words, used by people that are sheltered from poverty.

    Open ##2685499