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Generally I don't agree with your idea that as a Capitalist society we NEED a poorly paid underclass. Some of our forefathers insights may be of value.
Generally I don't agree with your idea that as a Capitalist society we NEED a poorly paid underclass. Some of our forefathers insights may be of value.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
ummm, weren't these the same guys that used slave labor?
ummm, weren't these the same guys that used slave labor?
Yes, actually. But, they did not consider slaves to be "humans" persay - should we treat the low-end people the same way? Oh wait, we already do.
Ambition and drive may have been all you needed 20+ years ago, but those two things don't cut it anymore. You need more than just the ambition to push a little further, you need assistance for the rising prices of college - which still doesn't guarantee income.
Nowadays, so many jobs are being outsourced for cheaper labor. Each month, more and more people are being laid off - it's not because they're lazy. It's because American workers cost more than workers in Mexico, India, and the Phillipines.
So, to cut production/maintenance costs and increase profit ((since they're not going to lower the price to consumers)) many jobs are no longer here. Boo hoo, right? They shoud have been more marketable? Sorry, but just about every job that doesn't deal with face-to-face interaction can be outsourced.
The only jobs that can't really be outsourced are the face-to-face live person jobs. Cashiers, janitors.. basically all of the low-end jobs. That's why more and more people have low end jobs. They COULD get a decent job if companies stayed in America rather than outsourcing - and many people will settle with a low end job over having no job at all.
On the other hand, we also deal with insourcing. Overseas companies in other developed countries are actually using the United States for cheap labor. STIHL, a german-owned and operated company, is an example of this. They could either pay German engineers the equivalent of $30+/hr to make all aspects of their product. However, they happily outsource to Virginia Beach where they pay an average of $15 starting to make the "non-technical" pieces for their chainsaws.
This country is changing rapidly into a service-based economy instead of the manufactoring-based it had been for so long. However, service jobs, for the most part, pay a heck of a lot less than a manufacturing one.
Therefore, we're eliminating the middle class - forcing those in that class to scramble to "High" class or be forced into the low class.
We offer the benefits of a society that allows upward mobility for those who work hard, and encourages education for all--free as far as high school. Those who are lower economically can get a lot of help to go to college. That is a pretty good benefit right there.
Citizens of the US who work at poorly paid jobs can receive Section 8 housing benefits, food stamps, and help with day care.
Since we will always have immigration, though it should be done legally, we will always have people desperately trying to get to the US to work in the poorly paid jobs.
So no, I don't feel that bad. We are still the land of opportunity. When opportunity knocks, though, you have to answer the door.
The trends cite that inter-generational mobility in America has been decreasing over the past few decades AND, that inter-generational mobility is much less mobile in the US than in other countries.
Devil's advocate -- is it possible that the higher income mobility in Europe could be due to lower income inequality? For example, if a poor person in America doubled their income they might be more likely to stay in the same "income bracket" than someone in Europe doing the same, since the brackets in Europe would be narrower and the distance between rich and poor smaller. I'm not saying this is the case, as I haven't read the studies I posted on this in depth, but does anyone have the answer?
EDIT:
Maybe not, this is from one of the studies I put up a few pages back
Two explanations for these international differences in income mobility appear particularly compelling. First, it seems plausible that high income inequality at a given time could cause a high intergenerational persistence of economic status. The United States and Great Britain have high income inequality coupled with low income mobility, whereas Scandinavian countries display the opposite pattern. Canada, however, casts doubt on this explanation, because it has relatively high income inequality coupled with high income mobility.
Second, given the limited ability of low-income parents to invest in their children's education, it is possible that progressive public policies toward education financing could explain why some countries have higher rates of economic mobility. Research shows that differences in education financing alone do not explain mobility differences between countries, but education financing is an important part of the explanation, together with other factors that differ between countries, such as the earnings return to education (how much another year of education increases one's earnings) and the heritability (either genetic or environmental) of income-predictive traits. 47
Last edited by fishmonger; 10-23-2007 at 11:55 AM..
My understanding of how the global economy is supposed to work
corps will continue to move jobs to the lowest cost areas that still provide value for their money. this will lead to a lower American standard of living, but raise the rest of the worlds. supposedly, at some point, we will all be about equal.
Yes, it bothers me that we have them and yet don’t have benefits or a safety net for them. Yes this country needs them, and yet we (most Americans) abuse them with low pay and no benefits. Most of them are hard working and make an effort to support their families. Most of them don’t have a chance to become something better or make something more out of their lives. Yes there are many who do, but much of that becomes just lucky. Those who go to school, or get more training, or start their own business are lucky. Others work two or three jobs and don’t have time to attend school, or don’t have any way to get backing on starting their own business. They are always just close enough to the carrot but not able to get it. They can make an extra buck and then something happens that takes it away from them.
And hey- why bother with the fence anyway, its important that Govenor Ahnold Shwarzenegger can pay his Guatemalan gardener 3.00 a day.
Our taxes can pay for all the illegals needing medical care- let us each reach into our pockets amd shell it out: Thanks, Bush.
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