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I think a lot of people in the USA are just becoming disillusioned with the system. I have a good job, and have had one for the past 10 years(and I also have a Playstation), so it's hard for me to see it from the other side. But it does seem like a larger and larger percentage of wealth is consolidating into the hands of a smaller and smaller number of people.
That's also a cop out. You want your message to be heard, then present it. Make it simple, make it clear. Something specific, such as "We want to renegotiate the interest rate on student loans." Don't give links that lead to paragraphs of rhetoric but no list. Don't send them to a link where they then get sent to another link where this list supposedly can be found. Don't tell people to go searching for it, because like it or not, they don't care enough to bother.
When you get this list of five specific things your group wants done, post them here. Don't post a link, post the list. Then go down to the demonstration and hand out signs to the protesters listing the five things you want. Keep it to five ideas, at least at first. If you have too many goals you won't accomplish any of them. If you can just get these specific ideas on the protest signs, you will accomplish more than you think.
cool advice. I don't feel the need to spend 20 minutes typing an explanation to why I'm pissed off at the state of our country to one someone that doesn't get it. Because if you aren't pissed your delusional or the one percent. Instead I will send you the information that is all over the internet so you can cease to ask the same questions over and over. Your individual opinion means nothing to me, as mine means nothing to you. But testimonials from thousands of people may help you to understand.
My word, I shall contact the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and tell them to stop being so liberal at once!
Base numbers and the statistics on top of them are very different things. Did you look at the methodology behind the compilation of the info you gave? I hope so.
Quote:
[citation needed]
Read this to start. Again - It is always important not to simply take numbers you see at face value.
But it is interesting the way we're looking at quality of life in different ways. I referenced real wages, work/life balance, and health care as being part of a good quality of life while you referenced Playstation, Wal-Mart, credit cards, and house size as being the main points of quality of life. No offense, but your line of thinking is exactly what the American Dream has warped into, and that's one of the problems these protests are rallying against.....
I am referencing this study which was done. As someone who voluntarily lived in an apartment (to save money and actually take care of myself) with no AC, insulation that was so poor that you could feel a breeze through cracks in the wall in the winter, and that the electricity was so bad that we couldn't run the shared building dryer at the same time as a microwave without blowing a circuit...I have a hard time feeling like our standard of living is slipping when people have the audacity to claim they are in poverty and yet have dishwashers, clothes washers/dryers, and XBox, DVD Player, TV, Cable, etc.
Our definition of 'poverty' and 'middle class' has spiked in recent decades. We have it pretty good.
And our wealth distribution is no different than it has been for 100 years. I still don't see what everyone is complaining about.
Please do not compare American vacation time to Europe (where the economy is flat-out imploding). Do you REALLY want the US economy to mirror that of Europe right now? Think long and hard about that.
Not all of Europe is doing badly, you know. Germans, for example, have long vacations and high taxes and they're the ones doing the bailing out over there. Scandinavian countries are heavily socialist states who are also doing alright.
Seriously. I hate it when people only highlight the worst cases (Italy, Greece, &c) and totally ignore the successes (Germany &c)
Personally I will take the word of WHO over some blogger but that's just me....
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq
I am referencing this study which was done. As someone who voluntarily lived in an apartment (to save money and actually take care of myself) with no AC, insulation that was so poor that you could feel a breeze through cracks in the wall in the winter, and that the electricity was so bad that we couldn't run the shared building dryer at the same time as a microwave without blowing a circuit...I have a hard time feeling like our standard of living is slipping when people have the audacity to claim they are in poverty and yet have dishwashers, clothes washers/dryers, and XBox, DVD Player, TV, Cable, etc.
We may actually be kindred spirits as I voluntarily live in a crappy neighborhood because it's cheap and I save a lot of money. This gives me my own personal safety net and freedom, but at the same time I have to worry about my well being at times. That is the sacrifice I have chosen instead of debt slavery, but it is telling about the quality of life slipping in "the greatest country in the world".
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq
And our wealth distribution is no different than it has been for 100 years. I still don't see what everyone is complaining about.
Base numbers and the statistics on top of them are very different things. Did you look at the methodology behind the compilation of the info you gave? I hope so.
Read this to start. Again - It is always important not to simply take numbers you see at face value.
I am referencing this study which was done. As someone who voluntarily lived in an apartment (to save money and actually take care of myself) with no AC, insulation that was so poor that you could feel a breeze through cracks in the wall in the winter, and that the electricity was so bad that we couldn't run the shared building dryer at the same time as a microwave without blowing a circuit...I have a hard time feeling like our standard of living is slipping when people have the audacity to claim they are in poverty and yet have dishwashers, clothes washers/dryers, and XBox, DVD Player, TV, Cable, etc.
Our definition of 'poverty' and 'middle class' has spiked in recent decades. We have it pretty good.
And our wealth distribution is no different than it has been for 100 years. I still don't see what everyone is complaining about.
[I see that that chart still shows things like VCRs and answering machines, and acts as if cell phones are still a luxury (compared to a landline phone: most people nowadays will have a cell before a home phone). Things have sure changed since 2005.]
I agree with your general point that this is not a new thing. We only need to look at what people like Andrew Carnegie were able to get away with to see that things have not changed as much as the alarmists would have you believe. It's always been better for the descendents of the "haves" than the "have-nots." It's always been crappy.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by irishvan
cool advice. I don't feel the need to spend 20 minutes typing an explanation to why I'm pissed off at the state of our country to one someone that doesn't get it.
If you can't be bothered to spend 20 minutes to type 5 simple actions you want taken, then they must not be important to you.
By the way, 20 minutes? Here, I'll take a stab at 5 possible actions and time how long it takes me to type it:
1. All troops out of Afghanistan.
2. Stop all foreclosure proceedings immediately.
3. All student loans must have 15 years grace period before they come due.
4. No politician may spend more than $10,000 for election advertising in any format.
5. Kill all bankers above VP level.
That took less than 5 seconds to type. And I had to stop to make them up--supposedly someone else has written your list so you can just cut and paste it. Also, people don't care why you're pissed off. We already know. We want to know what you want done about it.
Because if you aren't pissed your delusional or the one percent. Instead I will send you the information that is all over the internet so you can cease to ask the same questions over and over. Your individual opinion means nothing to me, as mine means nothing to you. But testimonials from thousands of people may help you to understand.
I'm angry about the state of the country, but I bet it's not the same reasons you're angry and it's not for the same reasons the "occupy" groups are angry about. I don't feel corporations should be running things in our country, nor to I feel labor unions should be running things. I don't feel the majority of people are entitled to anything except what they work for. No one cares about my opinions, but I believe everything I read on the internet!!
Whatever happened to electing someone into office who would do what they said they would? It's becoming harder and harder to find a politician that actually tries to carry out their promises, let alone actually succeeding in carrying out those promises. This goes for Dems and Repubs alike.
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