Posted On: Tuesday - January 14th 2025 8:40PM MST
In Topics:   Economics  Inflation  Peak Stupidity Roadshow
That's Espanol para SHTF.

Remember what Peak Stupidity has been ranting about regarding the demise of the US Dollar? Yeah, you'll get your SS check for $2,750 a month. However, the US Gov't's calculation of CPI increases to help you keep up with inflation is, shall we say, unsound. They can't really have SS and the entitlements keep up with the actual rate- that defeats the purpose of inflation in gnawing down on that debt.
So, you're down in Latin America living the high life as a rich fat American like pundit Fred Reed. You've had a lady coming to clean the house weekly for $20, another lady to be your girlfriend for slightly higher, and... then ...eat that, bitchez!
To think Uruguay has been considered a possible bug-out location.
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OK, OK, joke's over. Those prices are in pesos. Still, down in Montevideo, I expected the US $ would go farther. It was ~ 42 pesos to a buck, so those prices are $4.75 for a small, just under $6 for the medium, and just over $7 for a large. ¿Como se dice "¡Super Size Mi!"? Let's zoom out a bit from that sign:

Well, maybe the beef is better... Weendee Tomas say "¡¿Donde es la carne, beetchez?!"
We did not partake of the McCombo's down in Montevideo, but we did get down there finally to check the place out. Peak Stupidity will have a number of posts coming for info and entertainment - Infotainment*, they call it.
* ¿Did David Letterman coin that term? I has assumed so, but that's probably not the case. [¿How long we gonna keep doing this? - Ed.]
Comments:
Moderator
Thursday - January 16th 2025 10:21AM MST
PS: I gotta say, Mr. Smith, that this BB video went farther than most people would go. Nobody wants to offend people that have real problems that aren't of their own making (we don't always know with handicapped people - maybe dumb move like diving into a stream). You feel bad for them, of course. However, the video did an excellent job of making its point. It was hilarious.
I'm surprised the Bee "went there", nonetheless.
I'm surprised the Bee "went there", nonetheless.
Hail
Thursday - January 16th 2025 8:00AM MST
PS
The $199 Uruguay currency small McDonald's meal (with a mere McDouble, not one of the good burgers) looks to convert to USD $4.50. Tax extra or included?
This is similar to the USA's $5 meal last year ($5.50 total, in a place with 10% total tax), which has the same items but also has four Chicken nuggets. So it's approximately the same price.
The thing is, the USA's per-capita GDP at purchasing-power parity is more than twice as high (Uruguay: 100; USA: 200).
Buying this McDonald meal every day would eat up a median Uruguayan's slice of his country's per-capita GDP at a rate of 5%/year. For the USA, it's be about near 2.1%/year.
McDonalds is comparatively a lot cheaper a way to feed oneself in the USA than in Uruguay, if I've calculated right.
Then again, is that not the whole point of Uruguay, and the thousands of White North Americans who have sought refuge there: Get away from McDonaldsization?
The $199 Uruguay currency small McDonald's meal (with a mere McDouble, not one of the good burgers) looks to convert to USD $4.50. Tax extra or included?
This is similar to the USA's $5 meal last year ($5.50 total, in a place with 10% total tax), which has the same items but also has four Chicken nuggets. So it's approximately the same price.
The thing is, the USA's per-capita GDP at purchasing-power parity is more than twice as high (Uruguay: 100; USA: 200).
Buying this McDonald meal every day would eat up a median Uruguayan's slice of his country's per-capita GDP at a rate of 5%/year. For the USA, it's be about near 2.1%/year.
McDonalds is comparatively a lot cheaper a way to feed oneself in the USA than in Uruguay, if I've calculated right.
Then again, is that not the whole point of Uruguay, and the thousands of White North Americans who have sought refuge there: Get away from McDonaldsization?
The Babylon Bee
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 10:07PM MST
PS: Meet The LAFD's First Paraplegic Firefighter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY2tGRROksw
☮️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY2tGRROksw
☮️
Adam Smith
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 9:24AM MST
PS: About that infotainment...
I think it is entirely possible, even likely, that David Letterman, or his writers, made up the term infotainment on their own. I mean, it's not like anyone (except those involved) has ever heard of the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux or paid any attention to their inaugural joint conference in September of 1980. And it's such a sensible term. I imagine that others could connect the words without knowing about this niche conference of librarians in Sheffield. In 1982 news traveled slower and this obscure conference hardly seems newsworthy.
I'm going to pretend that David Letterman coined the term.
And I see no reason not to. ☮️
I think it is entirely possible, even likely, that David Letterman, or his writers, made up the term infotainment on their own. I mean, it's not like anyone (except those involved) has ever heard of the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux or paid any attention to their inaugural joint conference in September of 1980. And it's such a sensible term. I imagine that others could connect the words without knowing about this niche conference of librarians in Sheffield. In 1982 news traveled slower and this obscure conference hardly seems newsworthy.
I'm going to pretend that David Letterman coined the term.
And I see no reason not to. ☮️
Moderator
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 9:12AM MST
PS: That did it, Adam. Yes, evil eyes or at least they look panicky in that he knows he'd better lie like this or ELSE!
In a way he's right. It's not infinite, but the amount of paper that can be printed up in green on 6 1/8 x 2.6" pieces of paper is enough. They just won't buy much, is all...
he never said otherwise. ;-}
In a way he's right. It's not infinite, but the amount of paper that can be printed up in green on 6 1/8 x 2.6" pieces of paper is enough. They just won't buy much, is all...
he never said otherwise. ;-}
Adam Smith
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 8:59AM MST
PS: Greetings, Achmed...
I don't know why my copy doesn't have closed captioning.
Here is a copy that does...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN4vmZSPkFQ
That Neel Kashkari guy sure does have evil eyes.
Or maybe it's his aura. I don't know. Looks evil to me.
Happy Wednesday! ☮️
I don't know why my copy doesn't have closed captioning.
Here is a copy that does...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN4vmZSPkFQ
That Neel Kashkari guy sure does have evil eyes.
Or maybe it's his aura. I don't know. Looks evil to me.
Happy Wednesday! ☮️
Moderator
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 8:52AM MST
PS: Yep, Feb 1 1982 - 1st "Late Night" show. That's not "Late Show" which was a decade later, one year after that, but one hour earlier (each night).
Moderator
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 8:50AM MST
PS: Great Greenspan! Video, that is. He saw it all coming. I could not hear the one on your channel, Adam, due to my being in a spot where I can't turn on the sound and no CC for some reason. I'll check it out later on.
Interesting about the coining of Infotainment. Dave Letterman was on the air just a couple of years IIRC (I know, I can look it up - I will, in fact.) after that Librarians conference.
Interesting about the coining of Infotainment. Dave Letterman was on the air just a couple of years IIRC (I know, I can look it up - I will, in fact.) after that Librarians conference.
Adam Smith
Wednesday - January 15th 2025 8:28AM MST
PS: Good morning, Achmed!
$299 for a Grande, eh? What. A. Deal!
This seems almost obligatory...
https://i.ibb.co/V9JPQnv/we-can-guarantee-cash-benefits-as-far-out-and-at-whatever-size-you-like.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzEaOuBdW-0
And... An added bonus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO51DqYqVLw
Apparently, and allegedly, Letterman didn't coin the term...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/infotainment
¿But who knows? (Not me. I wasn't there.)
I like your story better, so I'm going to run with it.
Cheers! ☮️
$299 for a Grande, eh? What. A. Deal!
This seems almost obligatory...
https://i.ibb.co/V9JPQnv/we-can-guarantee-cash-benefits-as-far-out-and-at-whatever-size-you-like.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzEaOuBdW-0
And... An added bonus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO51DqYqVLw
Apparently, and allegedly, Letterman didn't coin the term...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/infotainment
¿But who knows? (Not me. I wasn't there.)
I like your story better, so I'm going to run with it.
Cheers! ☮️
That was a long answer to that question, but in regards to your main points: Yes, a Uruguayan would find that very expensive. Then, I wrote about, with reference to old Fred Reed the pundit, that Americans can still live their "high life" based on the still-strong US $ for now. In this case, I would still have expected prices lower than in America. I'm sure they are on lots of things, such as rent or a house in some interior city (wish I had more time, and BY MYSELF).
Getting away from McDonaldsization? For some, I guess. For others, they just want to bug out due to worries about the near-future US, but they may not be averse to that McDonalds part of the culture - not too much a fan myself*, especially of the drive-through everything.
* It's a long story about spending entirely too much time in the EZE Buenos Aires airport terminal. I'm talking in days here, though we slept elsewhere. There was not much besides McDonalds and Outback, both at high airport prices. So, we ended up at McD's twice. Yeah, I know. I'll write something about the difference in service and personnel.