Wha, Wha Income Inequality?

[rudeguy]

Double post

how did you double post a single post?

 

[Jhhnn]

Change political parties. Change president.

Wealth gap reaches record high...

'Hope and Change?"

Uno

Please. Few of the things that help the middle & working class have been allowed to occur. Our problems are structural. The wealth & income gap will only grow worse & the economy grow more fragile under current taxes & corporate/ financial ways of doing things. That's because too many middle class people are closer to poverty & too deep in debt. And that's why recovery from misadventures of the financial elite takes so long- the deeper you get into poverty, the harder it is to get out. At the other end, the rich end, the more you have the easier it is to make more.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but letting the Job Creators have their way with us for 35 years led us to present circumstances. Just imagine where we could be in another 35 years at the present trajectory. It's the third world, where median incomes are impoverished people.

 

[Jhhnn]

how did you double post a single post?

It was a duplicate of post #9. I was busy, came back & hit the post button, not realizing I'd already done it.

 

[rudeguy]

It was a duplicate of post #9. I was busy, came back & hit the post button, not realizing I'd already done it.

You sound like me: Finding new and exciting ways to screw up

 

[doubledeluxe]

You gotta be real careful what you wish for. Wages are stagnant but expenses have skyrocketed . how does everyone feel about living in a country where 40% might live in poverty one day soon? I'm making the number up more as a thought experiment but for those less traveled how do you feel about becoming more like Mexico and less the country of your grandparents?

Sure you might come from a nice family, get educated, get a good job, and make money but you will be surrounded by people who are poor, steal to get by, and once it's bad enough kill. $15 an hour is around $500 a week. They can go steal one laptop and digital camera and come out ahead.

Careful what you wish for. The USA now has 2 dozen major cities with horrible crime rates. Want dozens of shit box Detroits and Oaklands all over the country but worse?

 

[glenn1]

Careful what you wish for. The USA now has 2 dozen major cities with horrible crime rates. Want dozens of shit box Detroits and Oaklands all over the country but worse?

I wish for the cities to take care of their own fucking problems. If I wanted to deal with Detroit's problems I would live there, they don't get to loot their own city and then my wallet too.

 

[rudeguy]

I wish for the cities to take care of their own fucking problems. If I wanted to deal with Detroit's problems I would live there, they don't get to loot their own city and then my wallet too.

Now you understand how the whole rest of the state has felt about Detroit for 15 years. The governors always poor money into Detroit because of its population while ignoring the rest of the state. Its why we would gladly cut it off and let it float to Canada if it were an option.

 

[doubledeluxe]

Don't blame you but what happens when its 25 more cities? You gonna move to the country as an engineer?

 

[rudeguy]

Don't blame you but what happens when its 25 more cities? You gonna move to the country as an engineer?

What exactly is it that you are suggesting?

 

[doubledeluxe]

Income inequality, poverty, and systemic bias are not unique to the USA. You can see the future of the USA by looking at developing nations. They're getting better though and we aren't

 

[Jhhnn]

Income inequality, poverty, and systemic bias are not unique to the USA. You can see the future of the USA by looking at developing nations. They're getting better though and we aren't

In rarefied intellectual circles, they call that "convergence". It's when the Job Creator international financial elite's dick converges with middle America's bunghole & pushes on into unexplored territory.

 

[rudeguy]

Income inequality, poverty, and systemic bias are not unique to the USA. You can see the future of the USA by looking at developing nations. They're getting better though and we aren't

So what are you suggesting?

 

[Jhhnn]

I wish for the cities to take care of their own fucking problems. If I wanted to deal with Detroit's problems I would live there, they don't get to loot their own city and then my wallet too.

The people of the Detroit area aren't the looters but rather the victims. The City provided labor for the auto industry & ancillary business for many decades. It got old & run down in the process, with profit simply going elsewhere until it came to pass that just moving elsewhere was cheaper than fixing what they'd made, so they moved on to States who were glad to race for the bottom and to offshore production as much as possible. They added the flimflam of the ownership society, selling their real estate holdings in Detroit to occupants who couldn't meet the mortgages & small time speculators, then securitized the debt & sold it to investors, like the mutual funds in your 401K.

Detroit's demise wasn't an accident but rather a well orchestrated event decades in the making. It''s the same all across the rust belt from Missouri & Illinois to New York.

 

[glenn1]

The people of the Detroit area aren't the looters but rather the victims. The City provided labor for the auto industry & ancillary business for many decades. It got old & run down in the process, with profit simply going elsewhere until it came to pass that just moving elsewhere was cheaper than fixing what they'd made, so they moved on to States who were glad to race for the bottom and to offshore production as much as possible. They added the flimflam of the ownership society, selling their real estate holdings in Detroit to occupants who couldn't meet the mortgages & small time speculators, then securitized the debt & sold it to investors, like the mutual funds in your 401K.

Detroit's demise wasn't an accident but rather a well orchestrated event decades in the making. It''s the same all across the rust belt from Missouri & Illinois to New York.

Yeah those people are owed a certain lifestyle and the car companies are withholding it from them.

 

[doubledeluxe]

So what are you suggesting?

Employee benefits and protection from the elite exploiting everyone, reducing the middle class, increased poverty, and taking it all for themselves.

The second largest employer in the USA is Walmart and we subsidize their payroll with welfare instead of telling one rich family to go fuck themselves.

We need to stop the feudalism. I've lived on three continents and it's not in the best interest of probably 85% or more of the country the way we're heading.

 

[rudeguy]

The people of the Detroit area aren't the looters but rather the victims. The City provided labor for the auto industry & ancillary business for many decades. It got old & run down in the process, with profit simply going elsewhere until it came to pass that just moving elsewhere was cheaper than fixing what they'd made, so they moved on to States who were glad to race for the bottom and to offshore production as much as possible. They added the flimflam of the ownership society, selling their real estate holdings in Detroit to occupants who couldn't meet the mortgages & small time speculators, then securitized the debt & sold it to investors, like the mutual funds in your 401K.

Detroit's demise wasn't an accident but rather a well orchestrated event decades in the making. It''s the same all across the rust belt from Missouri & Illinois to New York.

You have no idea what you are talking about. None. Zero.

 

[rudeguy]

Employee benefits and protection from the elite exploiting everyone, reducing the middle class, increased poverty, and taking it all for themselves.

The second largest employer in the USA is Walmart and we subsidize their payroll with welfare instead of telling one rich family to go fuck themselves.

We need to stop the feudalism. I've lived on three continents and it's not in the best interest of probably 85% or more of the country the way we're heading.

So what are you suggesting?

 

[Jhhnn]

Yeah those people are owed a certain lifestyle and the car companies are withholding it from them.

You're just headed deeper down the rathole of denial.

We, all of us, all Americans owe it to each other & to ourselves to do better than that.

Allowing major metropolitan areas to go to hell in a hand basket just so that the financial elite can make more money is foolish & self destructive on our part. If we can't reverse that, the blight will just spread everywhere.

 

[doubledeluxe]

Are you being obtuse on purpose? How about doing what we do amazingly well and take all the best ideas from everyone with a higher quality of life and doing it even better?

Personally I left. I made my money, saw the train wreck, and left.

 

[brianmanahan]

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and agree that the Wall St crowd works very hard. When a minimum wage fast food worker works, I see a hamburger produced. When a broker works, what is produced?

arbitrage

 

[Subyman]

You're just headed deeper down the rathole of denial.

We, all of us, all Americans owe it to each other & to ourselves to do better than that.

Allowing major metropolitan areas to go to hell in a hand basket just so that the financial elite can make more money is foolish & self destructive on our part. If we can't reverse that, the blight will just spread everywhere.

You make a great point. Like it or not, everyone is supported by everyone else. Obama touched on it during a speech and was torn apart. He said something along the lines of "small business owners didn't do it all themselves, they needed help." Boy people got butt hurt over that, but its true. Without the patrons, without the sidewalk, without the producers of their products, etc etc, then they'd have nothing. We are a huge web and are all connected. Only so many links can break before we fall. Even if it isn't as catastrophic as the US crumbling, there is no denying that the more people that are prosperous, the better it is for everyone.

 

[Jeff7]

Employee benefits and protection from the elite exploiting everyone, reducing the middle class, increased poverty, and taking it all for themselves.

The second largest employer in the USA is Walmart and we subsidize their payroll with welfare instead of telling one rich family to go fuck themselves.

We need to stop the feudalism. I've lived on three continents and it's not in the best interest of probably 85% or more of the country the way we're heading.

"We can't give raises this year. After giving the highest-paid people in the company a 15% raise and a 10% bonus, there's just nothing left. Their benefits package are also very lavish and expensive, which is why we had to cut back on your benefits."

Are you being obtuse on purpose? How about doing what we do amazingly well and take all the best ideas from everyone with a higher quality of life and doing it even better?

Personally I left. I made my money, saw the train wreck, and left.

We're so entrenched in the "We're the greatest country in the world!" delusion that no one's willing to even entertain the idea that we could stand to improve in any respect.

 

[doubledeluxe]

List the things that matter to you. I doubt the USA is even in the top 10 for most of them. Not all if course since we kick ass in things like the quality of our top universities but give it a try.

Healthcare? Home affordability? Upward mobility? Retirement? Childcare? Safety? Secondary education? Job stability? Employee benefits? Transportation costs?
Then you can look at things like our roads, freedom of the press, income inequality, poverty, and judicial representation that also make a difference in your life.

Greatest country in the world? Only in military power and number of billionaires.

 

[Jeff7]

List the things that matter to you. I doubt the USA is even in the top 10 for most of them. Not all if course since we kick ass in things like the quality of our top universities but give it a try.

Healthcare? Home affordability? Upward mobility? Retirement? Childcare? Safety? Secondary education? Job stability? Employee benefits? Transportation costs?
Then you can look at things like our roads, freedom of the press, income inequality, poverty, and judicial representation that also make a difference in your life.

Greatest country in the world? Only in military power and number of billionaires.

Any attempt to improve is met with:
- Healthcare: Communism! Socialism!
- Homes: Get a better job.
- Upward mobility: I buy lottery tickets every week. Anyone can be president. Etc etc.
- Retirement: I'll probably just work until I die. Woo hoo.
- Childcare: I don't want to pay for your kids, even if they might end up paying taxes in the future to support my retirement....oh right, I'm working until I die. Or I was fortunate enough to be born to a very well-off family, and I don't know what "minimum wage" really means.
- Safety: My granddad lost his leg at work and he never complained once. Damn nanny state.
- Secondary education: What, like those elitist scientists and engineers who allow our advanced technology to exist? Psh.
- Job stability and benefits: I'm not lazy. 50hr weeks and 2 days of vacation a year is all I need. I might like some time off though for medical leave to manage stress-related illnesses.
- Transportation costs: Use our military to "secure" more sources of oil.



But for some, the military strength and billionaires are all that matter.

 

[Subyman]

Funny how many people demand more jobs, but, damn, if you ask them if the wage should be higher, then hell no!