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He is living proof that at least one can achieve the American Dream (lower end). he is not proof that everyone has the same talent, opportunity, perseverance and connections. Achieving the AD middle and upper versions is even less likely. The reality is most of us are playing at a crooked casino with a stacked deck.
Life isn't fair and never will be. It is impossible to make it so too. What is fair to you is not fair to someone else and vice versa. We need to stop coddling the lowest common denominator and let people be in control of their own destiny. If they make bad choices oh well, if they make all the right choices and still don't end up where they WANT to be that's on them too. Everyone has a different vision of where they WANT to be. Some are delusional and others more realistic. It's just the way life is.
got my first job as a mechanic DURING highschool
started of as a new car prep (check fluids, install trim/hubcaps,etc)
WORKED MY WAY UP to class c mech
WORKED MY WAY UP to class b mech
WORKED MY WAY UP to class a mech
WORKED MY WAY UP to shop foreman
WORKED MY WAY UP to shop supervisor
will retire comfortably ..BEFORE 57(about 2 years from now)
Good for you. How are your kids doing? As well as you? Did they go to college?
The point is, that doesn't happen for everyone, so the idea that if a person works hard they will achieve the "American Dream" may be a bit misleading if it is presented that such will happen for everyone...
Nobody ever said everyone working hard will achieve the American Dream.
Remember, lots of people who work hard make really bad decisions.
The US does not have the worst income inequality in the world, but there is a limit where it gets politically unstable. The way it is headed is alarming. The American middle class is screwed.
If you work hard and are ambitious, do you not have the opportunity to live a comfortable life? Why do I care if someone else has a private jet and a yacht? Would my life be better if they just had a yacht? The economy is not a zero sum game - so it's not as of someone else having X prevents you from getting Y.
And sorry - if you are mad you can only afford a middle seat on an airplane and not an aisle or first class - you don't want to reduce income inequality. You are basically advocating communism where outcomes are exactly the same. Frankly - I like our system where I am responsible for my life. If I want to sit in an aisle seat, I know there are opportunities for me to be able to do that - it's up to me to make it happen. Is everyone going to have a private jet? No. Do opportunities exist for every single American to be able to fly in an aisle seat? Absolutely - but it's up to you to make it happen.
Spoken like someone with privilege who has never known adversity. (I'm guessing semi-young, semi-attractive and very healthy male WASP or Catholic.)
"Just get out of that wheelchair and walk! I can't show you how because i've never had to but i'm sure it is your own fault for not being able to."
I'm so tired of this divisive issue called income inequality. You know what? We have always had will always have income inequality . Some people are always going to have more money that you and some less. WHo the f**ck cares! Why do people like you care so much about what other people have? How about worrying about your own finances and how you can get ahead instead of letting Obama, Sanders and the other liberal idiots think for you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
There are enough charts and graphs and Wikipedia to explain the inequality in income. It is the highest since the 1920's
Do you see this in your own life, among friends and acquaintances, your children's lives?
I see it in the parelell universe that the super rich and the rest of us live. The number of super rich has grown as a percentage.
I see it in air travel. There were always first class but what we call coach is how most of us travelled in. It was comfortable and actually fun. Now I cannot get anything other than a middle seat if I want to fly to LA in Jet Blue. Of course I can PAY extra and get the aisle seat, pay to bypass security, pay to board first. So there is your class system.
This kind high class and low class exists in every aspect of life so the rich never have to deal with all the non- rich out there.
Most people need two incomes to have a decent life. Young people incur huge debts to finish college without which they cannot get a decent job.
Consequently the rich get tax breaks, corporations get laws favorable to them passed by buying pols, and the rest contend with poor roads, poor public transit, poor schools.
Do you belive this inequality is bad for democracy and our way of life? If so, What is the solution? Who, the Dems or GOP, would address it?
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