Spilling the Beans: 21 Industries Secretly on the Verge of Collapse
Every day thousands of little things happen around you that you take for granted. But how much of that is at risk?
Published 5 months ago in Wtf
Every day thousands of little things happen around you that make your life easier. Your toilet flushes, your breakfast is hot, and the bridge you drive over on your way to work stays upright. But how much of that is at risk?
These 21 insiders in the know took to Ask Reddit and shared their picks for industries on the verge of collapse.
3
“Publicly traded companies constantly pushing for rising profits. In the four years I've been with my company, my production quota has tripled and it's unsustainable. Every quarter has to make more money than the last otherwise it's failing. This is almost every single publicly traded company. Corners being cut, profits maximized, employees compromised. It's endlessly happening.”
5
“The young childcare industry. Increased regulation to make facilities safer, (a very good thing), had the unintended consequence of increasing costs for owners. You now need more teachers who have training and certification, not to mention the patience and stamina to work with young kids all day. The pay is comparable to fast food, without the benefits. Owners have to find a way to pay teachers enough to retain them while keeping costs down so parents can afford to send their kids. It's near impossible without an infusion of government investments.”
9
“The Ogallala Aquifer. You know how Kansas and Nebraska are known for essentially being endless fields of wheat and corn? Well they do that by drilling wells to one of the world's largest aquifers deep under the midwest. There isn't enough consistent rainfall in those areas for all those crops, so well water makes up the difference. But, we're draining it and it can't be replenished. Once it's drained, it's Dust Bowl 2.0 and no more large scale farming in the midwest.”
10
“Personally I live in a city called Lowell MA and there's the Rourke Bridge built 40 years ago that was meant to be temporary. Honestly it reminds me of those horrible scary bridges you've seen over rivers in Siberia or some other place in central Asia. It's loud and bumpy and you can feel the whole thing sway because it gets 25,000 cars crossing it EVERY DAY.”
11
“The food chain. I’m still amazed no one is talking about the fact that insect biomass has declined by 47%, and abundance has declined by 61.5% over the last 35 years. In some areas it’s measured 75% decline in a single generation. This “insect apocalypse” is very bad, and many biologists agree that we’re entering our planet’s 6th mass extinction.”
12
“The Garisenda, one of two remaining 12th century towers in Bologna, Italy. I saw them in April. It looks pretty ridiculous to be honest. They have the area blocked off by some shipping containers because that tower is probably going to fall any day. It looks like there are some half-hearted restoration attempts happening but no idea what their plan is.”
13
“The Florida citrus industry, specifically oranges. There is a fungus that is spreading and infecting groves across the state. Unfortunately, we have no way to kill the fungus. The only solution is to cut down all citrus trees within a certain radius of an infected tree. Many farmers are choosing to sell their farm rather than try to start all over.”
16
“There's a waste product of burning coal called fly ash. We use it in concrete. It makes the concrete better and cheaper. Nobody is building new coal power plants, and old ones are shutting down. It's getting harder and harder to source the ash. If we have to source it from far away, like China, the transportation costs erase the cost saving. We can get the same concrete with just cement and added chemicals but it's more expensive. In ten years we probably won't be using it at all.”
19
“A lot of subscription services, not just streaming services. I work in tech and there's a very real panic going on at a lot of these companies because they built their entire network and service at a loss, funneled hundreds of thousands of investor dollars into a product with the idea that they would raise the price after and make it all back after getting a foot hold.”
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