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Today, one in five Americans is unemployed, underemployed or just plain out of work. One in nine families can't make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages is in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 families are filing for bankruptcy every month. The economic crisis has wiped more than $5 trillion from pensions and savings, has left family balance sheets upside down, and threatens to put ten million homeowners out on the street.
If the facts above and the article below doesn't leave the reader outraged, infuriated or just plain scared sh**less, maybe we've become so jaded to bad news that it just washes over our shoulders.
Well, it has been 2 years and none of the doom and gloom predictions have come true about riots in the streets or economic collapse leading to a mad max style world. There is only so long where you can close the blinds, watch the news, and stay poop yourself scared...you have to earn a living and buy some groceries at least. If you stay still and frightened at minimum you will be left behind in the world, it keeps rolling if you like it or not.
If you stay scared all you will do is give yourself heart disease and not really do anything, if it's that big there is nothing to do, so move on with your life and do something that makes you happy.
Other the weather in the cities of the most northern midwest states I can't imagine that anything would be worth the trade off in the UK, France, Spain or dozens of other European countries. I've been to those places and believe me, even at the peak of their booms times life for MOST of those people was probably to closer to things during our "Great Depression" than anything most Americans would want.
Manual labor in the country side means MANUAL labor -- brooms, hoes, shovels and rakes outnumber tractors about 100 to 1. People ride ancient single speed bicycles, noisy and impractical scooters or WALK FOR HOURS to get places that folks in the rural US drive to in minutes.
Life in their cities is not all that much better with TINY apartments that compare with low end hotels in this country, water that tastes like someone washed their socks in it BEFORE it got to your kitchen sink and so much general grime that you half want to stop for a midday shower. Yes there are some good things too, but for the most part the gulf between the fancy stuff that tourists do and the life of regular people in all but the most well off of European countries is stark. In China and India and South American it is orders of magnitude more divided.
Other the weather in the cities of the most northern midwest states I can't imagine that anything would be worth the trade off in the UK, France, Spain or dozens of other European countries. I've been to those places and believe me, even at the peak of their booms times life for MOST of those people was probably to closer to things during our "Great Depression" than anything most Americans would want.
Manual labor in the country side means MANUAL labor -- brooms, hoes, shovels and rakes outnumber tractors about 100 to 1. People ride ancient single speed bicycles, noisy and impractical scooters or WALK FOR HOURS to get places that folks in the rural US drive to in minutes.
Life in their cities is not all that much better with TINY apartments that compare with low end hotels in this country, water that tastes like someone washed their socks in it BEFORE it got to your kitchen sink and so much general grime that you half want to stop for a midday shower. Yes there are some good things too, but for the most part the gulf between the fancy stuff that tourists do and the life of regular people in all but the most well off of European countries is stark. In China and India and South American it is orders of magnitude more divided.
I'm calling BS on that whole post.
I'd elaborate but I have to go back to work, I'm off for lunch right now.
And BTW, I used a rake and a broom and a shovel at work today, and walked to get there and to get back home. Right here in the good ole US of A.
Look Ma, my legs can still carry me without needing an SUV to haul my fat backside around.
Well, it has been 2 years and none of the doom and gloom predictions have come true about riots in the streets or economic collapse leading to a mad max style world...
Aren't folks on their third or fourth unemployment extension? I wonder what happens when millions of peoples' UI runs out...
Or maybe it will be extended forever....and we'll just call it "fire insurance" instead of unemployment?
Aren't folks on their third or fourth unemployment extension? I wonder what happens when millions of peoples' UI runs out...
Or maybe it will be extended forever....and we'll just call it "fire insurance" instead of unemployment?
Some folks are, not everyone on unemployment is on their fourth extension. It is a minority from the figures. Even with 10% unemployment...90% of the workforce is still employed.
In my own experience, and I only have an idea of knowing well what happens to people I know, pretty much everyone I know is employed and stayed employed. Those that did lose their job have found a new one, even though it was annoying, frustrating, and often changed their view about money and work.
Yes there is hope, as long as the parasites sucking the life out of the economy can be eliminated. The dead weight at the top needs to be removed, and the rules applied evenly to all and then the economy will prosper as asset deflation spurs new economic growth.
Some folks are, not everyone on unemployment is on their fourth extension. It is a minority from the figures. Even with 10% unemployment...90% of the workforce is still employed.
If the real number were *only* 10%, that may be true. And if the real number were 5% if would be even more favorable. But I think by now, most folks have figured the real number is Well Over 10%?
Quote:
In my own experience, and I only have an idea of knowing well what happens to people I know, pretty much everyone I know is employed and stayed employed. Those that did lose their job have found a new one, even though it was annoying, frustrating, and often changed their view about money and work.
Generally at lower income numbers, and with the next recycle downward, lower income, yet. Hence the title of the article in the OP --
America Without a Middle Class
Did you read the numbers?
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