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Interesting article about the unusual "choices" the working class are being forced to make in 2017 as the economy, cost of living, etc keeps getting worse and worse:
It seems we are going "backwards" in this country, it seems once most of the population is poor or has no money, it's all downhill on the slippery slope to 3rd world status. Once enough people are broke or poor, it seems the "engine" of capitalism sputters and stalls out (as spending is the "fuel"). And it's even worse this time around with the prospect of robots/automation on the horizon, on TOP of the much larger (and still growing) human population.
It's eerily/strangely reminiscent of the old crony-capitalist "robber-baron era" from pre-1900's times, are we going "full circle"?
Think about how things were back then:
- most of the population poor or servants of the rich
- kids having to work to help the household make ends meet (this one probably "coming back" soon)
- no future, no "upward" mobility, no hope to advance economically... you're born poor, you die poor
- most of the population "renting" from the rich, living in subpar housing, etc
- no unions, no safety/sanitation rules, no consumer protections, no regulation
- low/flat wages, crappy jobs, and no job security at all
- no safety nets at all, you work til' you die or hope your kids watch after you
- no healthcare, if you got hurt/sick you were out of work and thus SOL
- a tiny % of rich own it all, own everything, have all the power, etc
- previously "essential" items such as cars, hygiene products, medicine, food, etc increasingly becoming a "luxury" (as the article details )
- cronyism and corruption rule the day, "pay for play" shamelessly out in the open for all to see
Of course, Trump and his right-winger supporters don't have a problem with any of this, they in-fact favor the rich over their fellow working poor and middle-classers. They're so cold/uncaring they don't even want their fellow Americans to have a living wage (forcing those low-wage workers to subsidize their $8/hr jobs with welfare, rent vouchers, food stamps, etc). They are also anti-consumer, as evidenced by the likes of Betsy Davos and that Indian tech dude that Trump put in charge of the FCC. "Great again"?? Or is it more like "poor again"?
Good thoughtful post, thanks for taking the time to write this.
I can't disagree with any of these observations, and I also can't disagree that the ultimate goal of the elitists on the far Right is to enrich the billionaires without limit, regardless of the damage to the middle class and the nation as a whole.
One thing we have to bear in mind though, the prosperity of the middle class from the end of WWII to the 1980's was in large part due to the fact that there was a strong labor market. The technological leaps in automation since then have greatly reduced the need for manual labor, not only in manufacturing and engineering enterprises, but in white collar office and business operations as well. In other words, corporations don't need human beings any more to help produce their goods and services. So there is no reason to share the wealth.
The problem of course is that this is unsustainable. Corporations and the billionaire class can keep concentrating the wealth more and more, but eventually there comes a point at which there isn't enough wealth being distributed into the economy to keep increasing their accumulation of wealth. In other words, the economic engine starves itself for lack of fuel, and the "success" of the billionaire class reaches a zenith.
The unintended consequence of pure capitalism or unlimited wealth aggregation at the expense of the lower class is social disintegration. We have been observing this in the USA since the 80's - the populist Trump phenomena is just the latest most visible sign of that descent. Family units, communities, and government begin to falter as the machine begins to disintegrate.
Realize that we are in completely uncharted territory here, since the technologies that have led to this situation today have never existed before in history. There is no way to avoid a crash in the standard of living for most people in the Western world as far as I can see. Also no way to avoid the social unrest that is going to go along with that. Ultimately, this will lead to a shift in global power as the West goes into decline.
If someone decides not to go to college or some sort of trade school or vocation and decides to work at Burger King who is responsible for that? Burger King needs to pay them $15 an hour because this person made bad choices in life?
No, but you end up having to pay for their food stamps, section 8, etc. Walmart alone costs the taxpayers billions in welfare for their workers. This is practically corporate welfare even if indirectly.
No, but you end up having to pay for their food stamps, section 8, etc. Walmart alone costs the taxpayers billions in welfare for their workers. This is practically corporate welfare even if indirectly.
Exactly, we all end up "subsidizing" low-wage workers "anyways" via taxes/welfare programs, because these people still need to eat, still need shelter, still need healthcare, etc. Whereas if they had an actual living wage they could support themselves with, they wouldn't need to be on welfare. Can anyone survive on $8/hour with a 2017 cost of living? It's simply not possible without outside/family help or welfare
It's almost like Republican right-wingers would just prefer to have all the poor people rounded up and shot, they seem to have this cold "well, let's just get rid of them!" sentiment. Someone earlier made an excellent comment: "Trump doesn't want people to be poor or 'hate' the poor, him and his kind simply JUST DON'T CARE about them".... or something like that
Interesting article about the unusual "choices" the working class are being forced to make in 2017 as the economy, cost of living, etc keeps getting worse and worse:
It seems we are going "backwards" in this country, it seems once most of the population is poor or has no money, it's all downhill on the slippery slope to 3rd world status. Once enough people are broke or poor, it seems the "engine" of capitalism sputters and stalls out (as spending is the "fuel"). And it's even worse this time around with the prospect of robots/automation on the horizon, on TOP of the much larger (and still growing) human population.
It's eerily/strangely reminiscent of the old crony-capitalist "robber-baron era" from pre-1900's times, are we going "full circle"?
Think about how things were back then:
- most of the population poor or servants of the rich
- kids having to work to help the household make ends meet (this one probably "coming back" soon)
- no future, no "upward" mobility, no hope to advance economically... you're born poor, you die poor
- most of the population "renting" from the rich, living in subpar housing, etc
- no unions, no safety/sanitation rules, no consumer protections, no regulation
- low/flat wages, crappy jobs, and no job security at all
- no safety nets at all, you work til' you die or hope your kids watch after you
- no healthcare, if you got hurt/sick you were out of work and thus SOL
- a tiny % of rich own it all, own everything, have all the power, etc
- previously "essential" items such as cars, hygiene products, medicine, food, etc increasingly becoming a "luxury" (as the article details )
- cronyism and corruption rule the day, "pay for play" shamelessly out in the open for all to see
Of course, Trump and his right-winger supporters don't have a problem with any of this, they in-fact favor the rich over their fellow working poor and middle-classers. They're so cold/uncaring they don't even want their fellow Americans to have a living wage (forcing those low-wage workers to subsidize their $8/hr jobs with welfare, rent vouchers, food stamps, etc). They are also anti-consumer, as evidenced by the likes of Betsy Davos and that Indian tech dude that Trump put in charge of the FCC. "Great again"?? Or is it more like "poor again"?
So you made a troll thread to complain about Trump using an article about the UK.
So you made a troll thread to complain about Trump using an article about the UK.
No counter-arguments eh? Only insult type responses?
BTW, the whole point of the article was to highlight just how bad things are getting "out there". Personally i know people that have had to cut down on "essentials" such as organic food because their student loans suddenly came into repayment, or because rent suddenly went up, money is TIGHT for a lot of people. One of my friend's student loans recently went into repayment, so "suddenly" he has $400ish less income per month. It might not sound like a lot, but even a $300-$500 shortfall in the monthly budget of an American family can have a BIG impact.
You do realize that if people have no money (due to unreasonably high COL, high insurance bills, high student loans, high rents, etc), they don't spend any money, right.............
This so-called economy is moving slower than even the slowest snail or laziest sloth
Isn't that the fault of the Obama administration? High insurance premiums are, at least. The student loan situation is a product of government meddling, but the high rent situation is a wash - money goes from you to me to the municipalities and so forth.
The economy is indeed sluggish. People need to make more money, and as far as I can see the only thing that truly raises wages is a labor shortage. Since we are at a nearly record low labor participation rate I don't see meaningful pay raises in most of our futures.
Democrats would simply mandate pay raises and dust off their hands. And that's foolish.
And pure socialism is the ultimate goal of progressives.
That seems a bit made up. But hey - look at Sweden or for that matter Germany. You can in fact have a healthy economy that serves the interests of the investors and the workers both.
So you're telling me the continuous rise of statism hasn't helped, and things are actually getting worse? I bet more state control will do the trick! /sarcasm
It's so frustrating for anyone who believes in individual liberty and laissez faire. You watch all this news about new regulations, new laws, new barriers for employers and employees, terrible economic and monetary policy, and all of these things (from both R's and D's) that are completely opposite of what we advocate, and then when things keep getting worse as predicted, the things we support take the blame and the same garbage continues. I'm just speechless when capitalism or free markets are blamed for anything these days.
My biggest annoyance the past few years...
"If you don't want big business, lobbyists, and politically connected cronies rigging things in their favor, don't let the government have that much power to give them in the first place"
*Ignores it* *Cronies continue to screw the general public*
"We need more regulations to stop them from doing that!"
"Except they're the ones writing and influencing the new regulations anyway! Get the government out of it and they have no special advantages!"
*Ignores it*
"See, this is what you get with unfettered capitalism..."
Couldn't have said it better myself. The healthcare debate is a perfect example of this & why you NEVER give the government more power. It is impossible to roll back once these types of things are in place, no matter how terrible they are. You have people that voted for repeal when there was no chance of passing reverse their votes because now there is a chance. Typical politician BS. They are the real leeches.
The ACA is doing it's job: Placing blame on free markets for a terrible healthcare system so that it pushes the U.S. to complete socialized medicine.
Last edited by GunnerTHB; 07-28-2017 at 09:20 AM..
That seems a bit made up. But hey - look at Sweden or for that matter Germany. You can in fact have a healthy economy that serves the interests of the investors and the workers both.
And all of the European societies you can cite rely upon newcomers -- usually non-Caucasian -- to shoulder the burden of the jobs nobody wants; someone still has to do the dirty, unwanted work. Furthermore, the prime candidates among those displaced from previously-secure positions, and the sons and daughters of the formerly-privileged, often have any number of defenses to shield themselves from a hard choice. It's a major contributing factor to the mess we're in today
This crappy/sluggish economy is literally driving people to suicide, it's killing people
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