Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With popular tv shows like "american idol" and "dancing with the stars" and no real education what else do you expect? Give them pro sports, feed them and get them laid and they will never know the truth.
With popular tv shows like "american idol" and "dancing with the stars" and no real education what else do you expect? Give them pro sports, feed them and get them laid and they will never know the truth.
So true. I just don't understand why people glorify dumbing down everything. It's sad. Good post Tallrick!
Great topic, the OP was spot on with the exception of one thing. The OP said this has been going on for several decades. When in reality it has been going on for exactly 3 decades. It started under Mr. Nixon when he broke the back of the Unions. See the Unions are good because they give workers the ability to negotiate their wages to the point where they (wages) can keep up with inflation. Once the Unions were weakened, they could no longer effectively engage in collective bargaining effectively. Hence wages slowly stagnated and in many cases declined. So, people where then forced to supplement their incomes with credit card debt and home equity to stay afloat. Therein lays our problem. While upping minimum wage would help some what it would be better to strengthen unions. People would need to then join and support unions and for collective bargaining to make a STRONG come back. It kills me that some people try to blame unions for the fall of the car makers etc. Here is the funny thing about that, Europe and Asia have FAR stronger unions than we ever have yet their companies do not seem to be in as much trouble as ours, why do you suppose that is? It’s a simple answer but I won’t go into it here. Bottom line is the American business and our economics and social model is inefficient/sucks and we are seeing the results of years of inefficiency come home to roast. Not to mention because of the greed of the oligarchs they will fight tooth and nail to see the unions don't make a strong come back. One because they know their silly business models won’t support higher wages for workers and two they don't want to cede even one red cent to their workers. We have to take America back folks, we are being fleeced.
I agree, Unions in my opinion are actually a good thing, it's someone fighting on your side for a decent wage.
It's funny how folks bash unions, they don't seem to understand that companies care mostly about investors, profit margins are so forth but then these are the same "Pull up your bootstraps" type of individual who are against anything government and expect you to power up like Superman to overcome any challenge.
South Florida has a lot of issues, for starters we have a pretty dumb population, I'm not one to talk since honestly I'm one of them. (a uneducated guy looking for stability).
I do believe people make mistakes and I believe a way should be able to fix those mistakes but with wages hovering around 10 and under for those without a high mark of credentials, living any type of American Dream is just a dream.
I think the system needs to be overhauled, the capitalist American systems need to be adjusted in a lot of ways. We need to create the jobs that the people can do, here in South Florida, let's set minimum wages at $10 per hour and lower these crazy cost of housing.
A little bit of socialism is what is needed in my opinion but only to combat the greed and overly hyper idiots who wish to take advantage of others.
Also, what can South Florida use are a market of growth? Tourism isn't the answer face it... too much crime and too many races will scare off those with money who come to visit. We need another choice....
Actually until we really know the extent of the underground economy it's hard to say for sure how much it is affecting everyone.
My personal belief it that it's vast and extensive. The illegals AND working off the books.
I had a dope in a BAKERY/Deli here want to pay me under the table. I said no you have a slicer and she rescinded the job. LOL....It was only a little part time job but still, she's paying THREE PEOPLE OFF THE BOOKS in that one little store.
Socialism won't fix that. Socialism IMO is another layer of decay. UP REAL HIGH in Washington DC.
They cant manage a single thing, they're not going to manage more social programs and their own corruption.
Term limits is the ONE THING that needs to happen ASAP imho.
THEN, since they all go to Lobbyist education week when they're new congresspeople, something has to be done about THAT. For now, "petitioning the government" in the constitution is being twisted to pertain to lobbyist payola.
Actually until we really know the extent of the underground economy it's hard to say for sure how much it is affecting everyone.
My personal belief it that it's vast and extensive. The illegals AND working off the books.
I had a dope in a BAKERY/Deli here want to pay me under the table. I said no you have a slicer and she rescinded the job. LOL....It was only a little part time job but still, she's paying THREE PEOPLE OFF THE BOOKS in that one little store.
Socialism won't fix that. Socialism IMO is another layer of decay. UP REAL HIGH in Washington DC.
They cant manage a single thing, they're not going to manage more social programs and their own corruption.
Term limits is the ONE THING that needs to happen ASAP imho.
THEN, since they all go to Lobbyist education week when they're new congresspeople, something has to be done about THAT. For now, "petitioning the government" in the constitution is being twisted to pertain to lobbyist payola.
Scumbags all of them in government IMO.
You touched on a good point about the underground economy. When I was doing my degree that is one thing they taught us over and over. The underground economy (illegal works, drugs etc) accounts for about 5% or so of GDP.
You touched on a good point about the underground economy. When I was doing my degree that is one thing they taught us over and over. The underground economy (illegal works, drugs etc) accounts for about 5% or so of GDP.
Seemingly legit businesses are just as bad. I used to own a pet store in PA and EVERY SINGLE ONE of my fellow privately owned stores work off the books. About 10 of them in my radius. We all knew each other because we shared volume discounts by ordering together.
They pay 10 hours per week to the employees on the books if that ....and they work 25-80 hours and get the balance in cash.
One guy I know even pays daily. To long term employees He feels it keeps them on their toes ha ha. goofs all associated with animals...
Anyway, it's a mess even WALMART has signed several consent decrees for that. Nationally. Forcing employees to work off the clock to get "their work done" meaning threatening them if they dont get their section in order they're fired so they knowingly allow them to work after they clock out.
I ALSO had a major grocery store chain force me to work off the clock during what was supposed to be my 30 minute lunch on the overnight tour.
The overnight manager didnt feel like filling in for me to take my corporate directed lunch so he refused to let me OFF THE cashier line but CLOCKED ME OUT.
HR warned me he'd decrease my hours if I complained more. I made it clear I didnt appreciate it.
My BF was in ICU for three months and I closed my pet store so I could work overnight somewhere and that was the only job.
After they owed me 700.00 for illegal clocking me out I told the store manager I was going to the NLRB if he didnt pay me and he did.
That same week he cut my hours from 40 to 4.
8.00 per hour has a valid issue here and it's heartbreaking that he has tried for so long to just be A GOOD EMPLOYEE and can't get it. But it's a very complex economy and maddening.
Just ask yourself, were you better off financially in the year 1980 (before free-market capitalism/supply-side economics was put into effect) or today (after 27-28 years of free-market economics)? I'm guessing that most people will say 1980. That is because since that time the average wage-earner's income has declined in real-value when adjusted for inflation. At the same time expenses for the average worker has increased 3-4X. I saw this statistic somewhere recently and its shocking that this has been allowed to go on for so long. So what's the common factor? The minimum wage. We haven't raised the minimum wage much during that stretch, and when you consider inflation wages have declined significantly.
Also, as others mentioned labor unions being destroyed is a significant part of the equation because they were designed to keep wages in check. I think its silly that so many people are against labor unions because there really aren't many labor unions still around outside of the auto industry who have any real bargaining power. The corporations pretty much have free roam in most sectors these days.
This is why the Republican party is in such trouble right now. They are against labor unions, against labor laws/regulations, against the minimum wage, and against health-care for employees. At the same time they are pro-big business, pro-stock market, and pro tax cuts for corporations/wealthy. So the perception is that all of their policies are designed to work in favor of corporations and wealthier class people who have money to invest in the markets, but at the same time they are against anything that would hamper a corporation's profits including employee wages/benefits. Until they reverse their stances on those issues they will continue to lose voters IMO especially if this economy worsens.
As a country IMO we need to get back to a keynsian economic system based on demand rather than this supply side garbage. We need to wake up and realize that when you put more money/income into the average worker's pocket he will have more money to spend into the economy to stimulate growth and consumer spending. The way we've done things the past 2-3 decades has been the opposite. We've designed policies that have re-distributed the wealth into the hands of the upper-class, and the rich don't re-invest the money back into the economy. Instead, they invest it in the markets or in hedge funds which do not produce anything of real value.
One more thing, I object to the notion that we should revert to socialism. Capitalism is a great system if it is practiced properly. The problem is the past 2-3 decades we've stripped away all of the regulations that made capitalism work effectively. Now the type of capitalism we practice is inefficient. We don't need to switch to socialism, we just need to go back to how we did things prior to Ronald Reagan. Just because you re-introduce government regulations or terriff-taxes on imported goods doesn't mean we are suddenly socialists. No matter what we are nowhere near socialism as it is practiced in Europe let alone China or Russia.
^^ hmmmm.....1980? You mean after Carter? THAT"S why Regan won in a landslide.
Were you an adult then? NO OFFENSE but Carter turned the country upside down. The gas lines were unbelievable and people were pulling out weapons to get to the pump first.
Carter came on TV telling everyone to wear a sweater and was wearing a tan one himself LOL. I'll never forget it.
Also Carter was the one who started the entire housing issue with the CRA.
I guess history is seen through everyone's personal glasses.You realize Clinton balanced the budget as a result of a Republican congress and working in a bi-partisan manner, right? In other words he was led kicking and screaming to the budget.
My company has a thriving labor union and is hiring all over FL at high wages and full benefits, btw.
Are you saying inflation is and has been high? Inflation was at it's all time high after Carter and has been under 6% since then and mostly under 4 %. We get a COLA increase every year in our union contract and haven't gotten any to speak of since there's been hardly any inflation at all.
Are you saying that moving left will provide anything more than government jobs? Based on what data? And what examples do you have that big government is well run? Anywahere?
The Republican's error was going left not having firm priciples regarding spending and allowing the congress to ignore warning signs about the housing market/banking. A simple diagnosis really....imo, the oversight LAWS were IN PLACE but nobody did the over-seeing. OVERSEEING not operating.
And not EDICTING what kind of cars and what kind of housing and what kind of healthcare the citizens 'SHOULD" WANT.
Even the left wing economists who love Obama say that inflation is going to be a bear after they get finished printing all this money now to fulfull the social programs that the Dems pent up demand are determined to unleash on us. Think about it. If you are in a downturn with your personal money, do YOU SPEND SPEND SPEND?
And so far, there are NO JOBS created by this stimulus unless you include 60,000 NEW GOVERNMENT JOBS, while the unemployment count on friday was still almost 600,000. Of couse, who knows how that's being reported. I don't trust any government numbers anymore.
One more thing, I object to the notion that we should revert to socialism. Capitalism is a great system if it is practiced properly. The problem is the past 2-3 decades we've stripped away all of the regulations that made capitalism work effectively. Now the type of capitalism we practice is inefficient. We don't need to switch to socialism, we just need to go back to how we did things prior to Ronald Reagan. Just because you re-introduce government regulations or terriff-taxes on imported goods doesn't mean we are suddenly socialists. No matter what we are nowhere near socialism as it is practiced in Europe let alone China or Russia.
YAY I just noticed you said that when I posted.
Just study your pro-Carter position, please. Carter's policies sucked too.
I'm am a populist and you sound like one too!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He feels it keeps them on their toes ha ha. goofs all associated with animals...
