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There is a shortage of trained, technically competent people in our country.
No there isn't. We have covered this and covered this extensively here. There isn't.
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The ALREADY have the capability to learn new skills. I don't think everyone needs to grow organic lettuce (LOL), but here in NC, where Tobacco reigned for centuries, those who know farming were forced to change. Example: Some of them went to cotton, some went to soy, some raised corn for ethenol. Those people were equivelent to your $14/hr is better than minimum wage. But a lot of people took what they already knew, and specialized in crops like herbs, or locally grown (for farm to table), or any host of other innovative, out of the box things. Many of those people are making a great living, and they are also employing people. One guy here took his farm and made it into a pumpkin farm. He recognized that he had a big audience, and started doing hay rides, then put in a train. Now he has a small-scale theme park that people come from long ways. He's doing well.
There have always been niche markets that people can exploit but they are not the answer to millions of needed jobs. His hay rides are not going to employ more people than the tobacco farmer before him.
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...or we could just tell everyone they should keep smoking, so we don't lose those jobs. Because in an analogous way, that is exactly what the Carrier Deal is doing.
No it isn't.
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So yeah, maybe the farmers can grow "organic lettuce" (or whatever). The people who worked in a textile mill could work in a high-tech fiber plant. The people who were displaced out of Carrier might work in a vaccine plant. It takes "some" training, but we have the resources in place to do that, and it truly would keep American great still (KAGS).
All theoretical hogwash. There is not going to be a vaccine assembly line. There are already people creating vaccine's.
The forgotten blue collar worker. Many Americans are coming out of colleges and have no job. College is not the answer. We have many industries that were totally destroyed by Nafta being shoved through . Since then we have had a major shift of what the landscape of American industry looks like.
Many areas across the country had factories that the local people depended on for a living. They have closed and the people have been forgotten. No party ever spoke up for the millions of Americans who kept losing jobs and wound up very poor . That was when they thought America was great. They pulled a good paycheck and life was good . They didn't have to depend on food stamps and scrimp by.
Today the men had to travel to find any kind of work and that ate up their paychecks.They had pride and wanted to work. Many have to go where the work is, leave the family , stay in a motel with other workers to make a few bucks. I talked to them on my travels. Do you think the senators and congressmen or the president cared about how they struggle?
They had no voice. They were invisible , off the radar . The cities , sure they had jobs but the towns across America were suffering and I saw the poverty. I talked to the people. One woman told me how the whole town was on welfare because their last factory closed. This woman and a few others were sitting on the stairs of the little church that was closed.
I saw main streets that looked like ghost towns . Everything closed. No money to keep them opened. Some were so far out from a grocery store they shopped monthly because they couldn't afford to go there weekly.
Yet our country allowed all these illegals in , cost us billions and billions while our own American family scrimped to get by. I saw trailers that should have been demolished they were so old and falling apart. It was hard to understand how it got like this. Poor people hide. The kids have no hope as their watch their family try to get by. Our country left many Americans behind and many made sure to go out and vote. They had hope again. They had someone talk about their plight. The forgotten man would not be forgotten anymore. Trump was right on every aspect and the people listened. They came out , rich and poor who knew he was talking for the forgotten American. I went to the rallies and they wanted better for the families who were brought down by our legislation of globalism. We stood for hours in the scorching heat to hear the message that rang true. We knew we had a country that destroyed many American families dreams. The left makes fun of those who are poor and in America. They have no compassion for their own. They think it is so easy for their path of prosperity was carved out for them. They should think,, by the grace of God go I.
Many try to overcome their poverty and it is hard to do when there is no way they can get out. Poverty is a stranglehold. A good job, food bought by the labor of your own hands and minds, strive to live a better life for your children. What parent wants to be poor and pass on poverty to their children? I know of none.
Trump has an eagle eye and saw how Americans struggle. His heart knows he can do so much more if he could be in the oval office to bring jobs to the people who are in need. This is why people voted Trump. Blacks , whites, Asians, Hispanics came out for the American family because of their compassion for their fellow American. God Bless the USA and its people.
That.
The Democrats have thrown the Northern White Working Class (NWWC) under the bus for the last 30-40 years. Since FDR and the New Deal, the NWWC had been a key Democratic constituency. In 2016, the NWWC finally woke up and realized that the modern day Democratic Party no longer represented them. The modern day Democrats stand for neoliberal economics, Wall Street, and corporate interests. The modern day Democrats are no different than the Republicans on economic issues, other than the willingness to throw poor people a bone with welfare and food stamps. But the NWWC doesn't want a handout, they want jobs that pay a living wage.
It's about the living wage. It didn't keep up with inflation.
If you've ever wondered why your paycheck is stretched so thin compared with what your parents had, we have bad news: According to a new report, you're making less money than any generation before you—and the chances of you catching up over the course of your career are basically zero.
The new report, released this week by the comptroller's office in New York City, paints a bleak picture for working millennials, showing that Generation Y earns about 20 percent less than that previous generation at the same point in their lives—and this sluggish salary start could stunt their lifetime earning power, which means millennials may never reach the same standard of living as their parents.
"Millennials were applying for jobs in the most difficult economic climate since the Great Depression and as a result, a growing number are now working in low-wage industries and earning less than their predecessors," comptroller Scott M. Stringer explains in a statement. "This group of young people is confronting unique economic challenges that their parents did not have to face. Every generation is expected to do better than the last, but too many millennials are not getting a fair chance to make it in New York City."
Of course, this report is specific to New York—but it's not a leap to assume that what is happening in this microcosm of America is also happening across the country. In fact, other data already shows it.
There, millennials are increasingly working in low-wage fields like retail, food service, and hospitality. These industries are adding jobs—hospitality and food services alone added 91,000 positions in the city from 2000 to 2014—but the pay isn't keeping pace. While jobs increased, salaries decreased, with real wages in both sectors falling by 16 percent in that same time, the report shows.
At the same time, millennials are not finding work in high-paying fields. Take finance: From 2000 to 2014, positions in this field declined by 11 percent, while real wages rose by 14 percent.
The comptroller ventures a departure from high-paying fields has little to do with education: millennials sticking to minimum-wage work often hold bachelor's degrees—with the percent of college-educated millennials working in low-wage industries growing from 23 percent to 33 percent between 2000 and 2014, the report shows. Hefty student loans may be forcing millennials to go for the first low-paying job they can grab, rather than waiting for high-paying work down the road.
“This generation is at a crossroads," Stringer said. "They worked hard, got an education, and then faced roadblocks to getting a good-paying job. It’s time for us to pay attention to the largest generation in New York City, and start to break down those barriers. We need to foster an economy here that helps young people get ahead, not one that holds them back." Millennials Are Making Less Money Than Any Other Generation | Glamour
Jobs that pay a living wage disappeared for a lot of people and they ended up in jobs that don't pay a living wage and have to work two or three. Trump wants to bring back jobs that pay a living wage again for people who work more than one job, etc.
It's not about bringing back homemakers, and racism like people try to spin it but you can't convince those who don't want to be.
Great post and spot on.
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Originally Posted by jeffbase40
America is not a terrible country, but it's failing in every major category. In no particular order:
Infrastructure - It's pathetic and even scary. Roads, bridges, electrical grid etc.. all outdated, all vulnerable to cause harm to many people. Other countries are way ahead of us in this category.
Treating Vets Like crap
Obamacare - never solved the problem of out of control healthcare costs and put a large burden on many more people than it actually helped.
Terrorism - Obama ignored it, pretended that it wasn't really happening, but within his 8 years, there have been countless attacks on the homeland. Ft. Hood was NOT workplace violence. Does anyone even remember the lady who got decapitated in OK?
More racial divide and hatred against cops
Economy - anyone who thinks Obama did a great job recovering the economy is delusional. Many people just simply gave up looking for work. When you have college grads working at Starbucks and living with their parents, something is seriously wrong.
Well stated.
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Originally Posted by sonnymarkjiz
I think he focuses more of a nationalist approach. What Obama basically did was start to sell America out to other countries. Tried to do the whole "one world" movement. Shipping our jobs overseas. Adding 9 trillion in debt that our kids will be paying off. Basically, in the big cities, rent and home prices tripled in value, and people in cities seemed to be doing okay, but that was really about it. Basically, another 8 years of Obama's policies would have crippled the US. This coming from a democrat/liberal.
Education system is terrible. We have some of the lowest test scores compared to other nations, and most people leave school these days not knowing anything. This is why I'm not sure why everyone is hating on Devos like she's the devil, when the DOE has not been great in years.
Obamacare helped people, but it also increased premiums and it was MANDATORY to get it or else you face a hefty tax penalty. If you're a small business, you were basically screwed because of the insurance companies raising the rates. My own insurance went up a significant amount.It's good in theory, but it's super flawed.
And now, well, look around you. Identity politics started to come into play during the Obama administration. I was discussing with a friend that 10 years ago, we didn't have all this BLM, or Women's Oppression, or LGBT issue. For the most part, race and identity wasn't a huge deal 10 years ago as it is today.
So to me, when he says "lets make america great again", it seems like he's trying to stop the USA from being basically sold and indebted to other countries and to stop us being the world police, and to focus on issues here at home first.
Then the media spun it with the race crap and made it "Oh hes only talking about white people!"
Exactly !
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Originally Posted by gladhands
So, instead of voting for the candidate that wanted to increase the minimum wage and make college more affordable, they voted for the huckster who promised to bring back coal and manufacturing, while simultaneously insisting that American wages were too high? Trump didn't offer anything for struggling people except trickle down. Nope. Trump tapped into people's racial resentment and they voted for him in droves.
You do realize this country and the middle class was built by manufacturing ? Wealth was created by making things the world wanted and paid for. Affordable college ? Great, what does that get you ? If you don't choose the right curriculum , and have the drive for it, you end up spending a bunch of money and for what ? College isn't for everyone. Some people like to create things not push papers around. Just the hint of making things like they once were, seeing my dad raise our family on a single income, never really hurting for anything. Seeing them now retired and doing well, actually much better than many that are working. Was worth the gamble. Yes , Trump played the right cards. What did the left do ? Call us uneducated, deplorable, racist, etc.
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Originally Posted by Blondy
I don't think the country is a cesspool, but there are undeniably problems that need to be solved.
Infrastructure is crumbling and needs to be fixed.
The southern border is out of control and needs to be secured. The effects of looking the other way as millions of illegal immigrants flooded the country needs to be resolved. There is nothing healthy about having a "shadow" population of illegal immigrants in the numbers of 11-30 million depending who you believe.
The middle of the country has been gutted by job loss. That needs to be addressed and hasn't been.
Obamacare is a disaster and collapsing under its own weight.....again something that must be addressed.
That's enough to start with.
Exactly.
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Originally Posted by Above Average Bear
If Main Street made made out as well as Wall Street and corporate America over the past 35 years everything would be honky dory in America. That is why Trump was elected.
Another great reply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Above Average Bear
Trump is like no other politician before or probably after. He goofs up, says what's on his mind, he speaks the language of the common man. He goes to the issues that matter to the middle class family the most. The middle class working man wants a job and does not want illegals here, wants rule of law, and wants our military and law enforcement officers respected.
Also regarding my comment about Main St vs Wall St and corporate America. Where do I start, bailouts, NAFTA, wages, squeezing more productivity out of us without compensation, the list goes on... I knew that Hillary would continue the war on the middle class man that's been going on since Reagan, I'm hoping that Trump will reverse this.
And this why we voted for him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzarama
Funny how with an opportunity to criticize Trump, liberals forget all the ways they constantly criticize America. Wealth inequality, corporations buying elections, institutional racism and white privilege, bombin and droning people all over the world, poverty and homelessness in a wealthy country, the high cost of education, the remaining millions of people without insurance, the school to prison pipeline, the war on drugs, and on and on.
Typical though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taratova
The forgotten blue collar worker. Many Americans are coming out of colleges and have no job. College is not the answer. We have many industries that were totally destroyed by Nafta being shoved through . Since then we have had a major shift of what the landscape of American industry looks like.
Many areas across the country had factories that the local people depended on for a living. They have closed and the people have been forgotten. No party ever spoke up for the millions of Americans who kept losing jobs and wound up very poor . That was when they thought America was great. They pulled a good paycheck and life was good . They didn't have to depend on food stamps and scrimp by.
Today the men had to travel to find any kind of work and that ate up their paychecks.They had pride and wanted to work. Many have to go where the work is, leave the family , stay in a motel with other workers to make a few bucks. I talked to them on my travels. Do you think the senators and congressmen or the president cared about how they struggle?
They had no voice. They were invisible , off the radar . The cities , sure they had jobs but the towns across America were suffering and I saw the poverty. I talked to the people. One woman told me how the whole town was on welfare because their last factory closed. This woman and a few others were sitting on the stairs of the little church that was closed.
I saw main streets that looked like ghost towns . Everything closed. No money to keep them opened. Some were so far out from a grocery store they shopped monthly because they couldn't afford to go there weekly.
Yet our country allowed all these illegals in , cost us billions and billions while our own American family scrimped to get by. I saw trailers that should have been demolished they were so old and falling apart. It was hard to understand how it got like this. Poor people hide. The kids have no hope as their watch their family try to get by. Our country left many Americans behind and many made sure to go out and vote. They had hope again. They had someone talk about their plight. The forgotten man would not be forgotten anymore. Trump was right on every aspect and the people listened. They came out , rich and poor who knew he was talking for the forgotten American. I went to the rallies and they wanted better for the families who were brought down by our legislation of globalism. We stood for hours in the scorching heat to hear the message that rang true. We knew we had a country that destroyed many American families dreams. The left makes fun of those who are poor and in America. They have no compassion for their own. They think it is so easy for their path of prosperity was carved out for them. They should think,, by the grace of God go I.
Many try to overcome their poverty and it is hard to do when there is no way they can get out. Poverty is a stranglehold. A good job, food bought by the labor of your own hands and minds, strive to live a better life for your children. What parent wants to be poor and pass on poverty to their children? I know of none.
Trump has an eagle eye and saw how Americans struggle. His heart knows he can do so much more if he could be in the oval office to bring jobs to the people who are in need. This is why people voted Trump. Blacks , whites, Asians, Hispanics came out for the American family because of their compassion for their fellow American. God Bless the USA and its people.
Another great post.
Well OP, seems like you have some great replies to your question. Are you going to open your mind and listen ?
I disagree. You can argue minutia if you want but the Scandinavian countries do a pretty good job of minding their own business, simply looking after themselves and taking care of their people.
The thing they have that we do not is they come far closer to agreeing what is best for their country.
Your observations aren't entirely incorrect, but you refuse to recognize the underlying cause.
When I say power, in the modern world, what we are really talking about is "money". Thus the goal of all governments, is "economic growth".
The most-powerful government, or political-alliance, is the one with the largest economy. With that money, they can develop technology, build a massive military, and then influence foreign governments(bribes, sanctions, covert operations, weapons-smuggling, financing rebels, etc).
Europe conquered the world because capitalism allowed the mass-production of technologically-advanced weapons(IE guns and bombs).
So again, the goal of all governments, in the broadest-sense, must always be economic growth. And from the perspective of politics, the various political parties merely call this economic growth, "progress". And they pretend that the goal of governments, is to promote economic growth for the sake of improving material standards-of-living.
That is not the primary purpose, but merely a secondary-effect. And a rather beneficial effect, being that modern economies depend on large-scale cooperation and the specialization of labor. Thus governments need people to "voluntarily" work for the "benefit of society"(IE for economic growth).
Nationalism rose up alongside democracy and industry. Because industry requires massive government involvement in not only the subsidization and protection of industry, but the building of infrastructure, which industry depends on.
The concept of nationalism was important, to get people to voluntarily contribute their money, and their time, for the benefit of the nation. The centralization of power into a single national body, requires the masses to see themselves as a part of that national body. To trust that national body.
One of the necessary ingredients for nationalism was a national-education system. Its most-basic function is to create "citizens". And what a citizen really is, is a "loyal and obedient worker and/or soldier". It achieves this by teaching an American History which paints our founders as heroes, and our system of government and our people as the best in the world.
Every government in the world does this. And they couldn't function if they didn't.
As to the Scandinavians, and the welfare state, this serves two functions. It actually promotes a feeling of nationalism/patriotism, where you begin to believe that the government is you, and you are the government, thus you have a social-obligation to contribute to your government. And secondly, somewhat paradoxically, it gives the government the moral-right to use its coercive power against you.
Basically, if you imagine your government to be an evil tyrant, you have a moral-obligation to resist it. Thus, tyrannical governments tend to be rather limited, in terms of their ability to tax and spend money. While democratic governments can often have tax-rates of 50% or more of the national income.
And in the case of the communist states, they could dominate the entire economy, and force the masses to do almost anything, as long as they provided them healthcare and housing, claiming to be a government "for the people".
Now, I fully concede that the Scandinavian model has a lot of benefits. But it is only possible because the Scandinavians have been very homogeneous countries, with large amounts of natural resources.
They exist, not really as independent nations, but merely as part of the larger Empires of the other world powers. As long as they are beneficial to America, we will protect them, trade with them, ally with them.
Ultimately, if America, or Europe, began to pressure these countries, they would buckle. Which is partly what has happened in the last few decades, which is leading to a lot of turmoil in those Scandinavian countries.
Let me help you. He's not talking about the Grand Canyon, or the New York skyline.
He's talking about Leftists and their determination to take down our remarkable form of government and replace it with what was East Berlin before the Wall came down.
Does the OP know of any Leftists that fit the description?
Maybe, but they're fringe types.
__________________
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Trump just started. IMO he started off poorly, EO, EO, EO, but this is where people should be hitting him. Not for getting along with Russia.
Bernie seemed to understand.
As to the thread title......why shouldn't I think the country awful for all the wars we have started? For our insistence that Wall Street is all that matters? For ignoring things like I posted earlier where a drug company wants to charge $90,000 that is available elsewhere for $1500?
Is all of this not enough?
Well, Bernie isn't a trust fund baby. I think he did understand. I think he still does.
Trump's version of "just started" is alarming and Russia SHOULD be a concern.
The drug example you gave was from another lunatic, narcissistic rich boy not caring about "the little people."
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You do realize this country and the middle class was built by manufacturing ? Wealth was created by making things the world wanted and paid for. Affordable college ? Great, what does that get you ? If you don't choose the right curriculum , and have the drive for it, you end up spending a bunch of money and for what ? College isn't for everyone. Some people like to create things not push papers around. Just the hint of making things like they once were, seeing my dad raise our family on a single income, never really hurting for anything. Seeing them now retired and doing well, actually much better than many that are working. Was worth the gamble. Yes , Trump played the right cards. What did the left do ? Call us uneducated, deplorable, racist, etc.
Exactly.
Another great reply.
And this why we voted for him.
Typical though.
Another great post.
Well OP, seems like you have some great replies to your question. Are you going to open your mind and listen ?
I always listen.
Just not to Trump. He's a mess.
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The Democrats have thrown the Northern White Working Class (NWWC) under the bus for the last 30-40 years. Since FDR and the New Deal, the NWWC had been a key Democratic constituency. In 2016, the NWWC finally woke up and realized that the modern day Democratic Party no longer represented them. The modern day Democrats stand for neoliberal economics, Wall Street, and corporate interests. The modern day Democrats are no different than the Republicans on economic issues, other than the willingness to throw poor people a bone with welfare and food stamps. But the NWWC doesn't want a handout, they want jobs that pay a living wage.
You know this sounds like they want someone to give them really good jobs without having to go to so much as the nearest community college to train for those jobs, yes?
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Well Trump seems to believe he is the 'go to guy' after in his campaign he did say 'I and I alone' it shows you how his ego out-ways his logic..
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Funny how with an opportunity to criticize Trump, liberals forget all the ways they constantly criticize America. Wealth inequality, corporations buying elections, institutional racism and white privilege, bombin and droning people all over the world, poverty and homelessness in a wealthy country, the high cost of education, the remaining millions of people without insurance, the school to prison pipeline, the war on drugs, and on and on.
