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The only problem is "with socialism, eventually you run out of other people's money".
Who said that? Margaret Thatcher - the iron lady herself.
Great quote.
Why work hard at a menial job when you can live on subsidies and still have beer money?
Tax revenues go down as you have less people paying taxes while expenses go up as more people are receiveing entitlements. There's a tipping point that Greece already found and most Western countries are approaching pretty quickly. Raising taxes on the working folks can only bring in a finite amount of money.
The crime here is that when we do eventually reach that tipping point, there will be no way to acurately differentiate the truly needy from the truly lazy, and those deserving the compassion and support of society will suffer along with those exploiting the system when we can no longer fund the entitlements.
Start at 100% "entitlement" and dip down every X amount of time. Limited entitlement total lifetime. No care for kids, dogs, ferrets, or gerbils, you get a limited amount and it goes down no matter what. Required public service equal to a F/T position while on any public aid. Flat tax for everyone, no discounts, savings, hideaways. Fix our trade system, I prefer reciprical trade status'.
The crime here is that when we do eventually reach that tipping point, there will be no way to acurately differentiate the truly needy from the truly lazy...
To read some of the posts here, I'd say a number of people have already given up on that. To them, anyone who receives aid must be milking the system.
Specific to LI, I think the majority of folks are just NIMBY enough to ignore what is happening all around and certain areas could easily fall prey to the potential future shown here.
I'd say for Long Island that's the biggest worry.
Britain's present situation should represent a warning about America's future as well. Of course there have always been pockets of white poverty in the U.S., particularly in places like Appalachia, but generally the country has been shaped by a belief in class mobility.
I'd say economic mobility rather than class mobility is what shaped the US. The problem arises when you can't move up the ladder, or if things get tough, down the economic ladder as several people I know have done. Many Islander's have their wealth tied into their homes and if they can't sell when times are tough in order to live within their now current means they have the choice of burning through what cash they have or foreclosure. Neither optimal. Of course it's not a situation unique to the Island.
I'd say economic mobility rather than class mobility is what shaped the US. The problem arises when you can't move up the ladder, or if things get tough, down the economic ladder as several people I know have done. Many Islander's have their wealth tied into their homes and if they can't sell when times are tough in order to live within their now current means they have the choice of burning through what cash they have or foreclosure. Neither optimal. Of course it's not a situation unique to the Island.
I'm not certain I understand the distinction between economic and class mobility, but I certainly hear you with regard to "downsizing". Those in a position to contract with the economy are probably in the best shape. Those "trapped" will be faced with the ugly options you mention.
What I think is so potentially frightening is that a significant populace are still not feeling the crunch, yet... The pretenders have been chewed up and spit out, but the "getting by" crowd is still holding on. Once that group starts to erode and fall behind on their bills, it could be the tipping point.
Class mobility is more social and cultural where economic mobility is all about income. For example, I know people who are in social circles that I could never belong to that I make more money than.
When the "getting-by"s hit the end of their rope then we're all in for a rocky ride.
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