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All we are is "just another brick in the wall". Just another "cog in the machine". Sad really.
It doesn't have to be like this.
No, it doesn't. What we have is a deck of cards. As long as we keep playing the game designed by the house to benefit them, it's a losing proposition.
We just need to play a different game... with pretty much the same cards. But those wedded to Blackjack go apesh*t when you try to describe, say, Go Fish to them. Nothing fits their rules, therefore it's nonsense.
No, it doesn't. What we have is a deck of cards. As long as we keep playing the game designed by the house to benefit them, it's a losing proposition.
We just need to play a different game... with pretty much the same cards. But those wedded to Blackjack go apesh*t when you try to describe, say, Go Fish to them. Nothing fits their rules, therefore it's nonsense.
Got any threes?
Ill see your "pair" and raise you a Pink Floyd video:
Can you explain in any short way how we would replicate that period?
High income taxes, labor unions, balanced trade. That's the highlights.
EDIT: Just to be clear I think the labor unions in the US were pretty hideous in this period, and I would not favor a return to *that*. The amazing thing is how well our economy did in spite of those unions. Labor unions in most countries function in a much more sane manner.
What's really needed is means of distributing wealth that also gives workers greater bargaining power. I think a BI tied to employment and GDP would do that in the simplest and least invasive way.
This is 6 year old data. Pretty sure we are hitting new highs now.
High income taxes, labor unions, balanced trade. That's the highlights.
Okay, wishing for 1955 is one avenue. Since we've been wishing for it real hard, with our eyes squinched shut, and re/electing pols on that promise for a couple of decades... do you have any way to actually hook these ideals to the present and near future?
Really, that's no better than the crowd here who insists that only a planetary population of 1B will fix things. We can all wish real hard, but reality's harder.
do you have any way to actually hook these ideals to the present and near future?
I know what to do, but I don't get to decide. Those who do get to decide, like it just the way it is. We didn't get such an outstanding economy for 45 years because it was good for us. That was just an incidental byproduct. We got it because it was good for "them". Even though they had to trade wealth for power, in the end if you lose power, then you lose everything. And now (for the last 40 years) they've been executing a new plan, that's much better for them in power + wealth terms, and just incidentally sucks for the rest of us.
And it's only going to get worse when AI hits full stride, and the symbiotic relationship that was birthed by industrialization is eliminated, and we are completely worthless. Where did you get the idea that reducing population would reduce disparity?
We didn't get such an outstanding economy for 45 years because it was good for us. That was just an incidental byproduct.
Exactly. Of a series of circumstances that basically cannot be replicated - especially not nearly 100 years later.
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We got it because it was good for "them".
No. We got it because the global/national dice rolled that way - and yes, some profited and benefited more in that period, but the benefit was widespread because it was an era of great prosperity and relatively low population, among other things. It really was "1955."
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And it's only going to get worse when AI hits full stride, and the symbiotic relationship that was birthed by industrialization is eliminated, and we are completely worthless.
That's one possible future, the one pretty much assured by holding to our current economic theories and praxis.
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Where did you get the idea that reducing population would reduce disparity?
I didn't - but the usual suspects bring it up every time we have one of these discussions. It's just an example of another "do this one thing, and everything will be wonderful" thinking... but since that one thing is somewhere next to impossible, they can shrug and say it's not fixable. Which, incidentally, is pretty much your repeated conclusion. They are going to keep control as we become irrelevant; too bad for us.
We can do better, and unlike most solutions, the choice is in the hands of individuals.
We got it because the global/national dice rolled that way - and yes, some profited and benefited more in that period, but the benefit was widespread because it was an era of great prosperity and relatively low population, among other things.
There was nothing about low population that was beneficial. Besides WW2, we fought 2 other substantial wars plus the cold war, and even went to the moon. And managed to pay for it all as we went.
The major difference was that the oligarchs really needed a robust economy more than they needed personal wealth. And a patriotic content population that would never dream of siding with the "commies".
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Which, incidentally, is pretty much your repeated conclusion. They are going to keep control as we become irrelevant; too bad for us.
My repeated conclusion is that the oligarchs have been getting what is ideal for them. Some times that has been great for the rest of us too, but lately not. And if we don't get our collective heads out of our butts pretty soon and steer things away from their "natural" course, what's best for the oligarchs is really going to suck for the rest of us.
There was nothing about low population that was beneficial.
How about... that it was optimal for production/industrial needs, with a very low percentage of displaced workers and continuing unemployment?
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My repeated conclusion is that the oligarchs have been getting what is ideal for them.
I know. However, you keep returning to this narrow point as if it explains everything. Of course those in power have always used that power to shape things to benefit themselves, whether the power was used in small ways or large. And right now we are seeing a power concentration like few times in history.
But the powerful using their power is pretty much a given, like gravity or thermodynamics. You have to account for it in your plans and ideas, but concentrating on it as the sole flaw in our economy/society is... simply idle dogmatism.
Connect this idea to things, don't just wave it as a flag.
Increase minimun wage to $100/hour. Universal income of $1 million per year per person
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