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Yes, I agree things are a lot different. The Janitors children are now Harvard Educated and are living in a McMansion somewhere in gated suburbia. The standard of living has gone down? We are the only country in the World, where you can walk into an extremely poor persons house and they have a, tv, vcr, dvd, washer/dryer, playstation 1,2,and 3, an xbox, clothes, and a minimium of food. You could not say the same for a poor person in America 30-40 years ago. Our standard of living has increased, but due to inflation it just cost a bit more to maintain. It has not gone down, that is not an accurate statement.
Good for their children, but what about todays janitors? Their children aren't going to Harvard. You just made my point. Also, standard of living cant be compared from one country to the next. I'm comparing them to the same country in two different time periods. We are still one of the richest countries in the world, but things are changing. All these things you just mentioned that poor people have, its all technology. The one sector that changes so fast that prices cant fall fast enough. They dont have any savings like they used to. They dont own a house, or if they do, it's in foreclosure. Their kids aren't going to good colleges, unless they get a scholorship. But they have an xbox, so everything is cool.
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Originally Posted by truthhurts
Bill Gates, is lobbying congress, because we do not have enough qualified high tech professionals in the US. When those individuals come over here, they get paid the going rate of a US high tech worker. NOw, if he offshored their services he could get them for much cheaper. However, while I agree with part of what you said, the real reason he's doing it, is we simply are not producing enough high tech talent in this country to compete. Currently, India, Ireland, and a few other countries, have a comparative advantage, in churning out certain IT fields, at a cheaper more efficient cost, than the United States. Bill Gates, has lobbied for better schooling, so that we can compete with the new 300 million well educated workers of the world.
There are plenty of kids coming out of college that are smart enough for high tech jobs. Gates just doesn't want to compete with wall street for salaries. I am not denigrating Bill Gate's charitable contributions, but what he is doing now is just wrong. Bill can hire great people and pay them high salaries and just make a billion less this year. The salaries of the masses HAVE to rise, if nothing else, to keep up with inflation. All the money CANT be in the hands of a few, or else we are just another Mexico.
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Originally Posted by truthhurts
Don't disagree with any of this stuff. I totally agree, it's how things work. However, I was watching 60 minutes and they had Carl Ichan on and he was talking about CEO pay. I think what he said was spot on. He stated nothing is wrong with CEO pay when they are performing at extremely high levels, but when a guy like Terry Semels, gets 180 million dollars in pay, while his company is under-performing the market, we have a problem. We shold not be rewarding failure, inefficiency, and under-performance. The problem in Ichan opinion is Corporate Boards are not holding CEO's accoutable for there lack of performance. Instead of firing them, they pay them extremely balloned Salaries, for underperforming, this is a real issue.
I'm not for pay caps at all, but i am for pay for performance. Pay caps are ridiculous and they have them in Australia. Leads to inefficiency and paying inefficient workers more than they are worth. While it helps the few groups that work hard, that may not always get a fair shake in salary, it usually hurts everyone more than it helps the small group its designed for etc. Not to mention it is a horrible way to give people incentives for performance. It is very communist in nature and poses more threats than solutions.
We are in agreement here. No caps. But lets try to inject a little more morality into the way some businesses are run. It will pay off in the end.
Last edited by AnesthesiaMD; 03-15-2008 at 05:10 PM..
I agree. No one is worth more than $10 an hour. I wish that is all that they paid the surgeon that worked on me 3 years ago. I'm sure he would have done just as good of a job.
You would be dead right now, because there wouldn't be any surgeons. lol
Who is going to go to school for 15 years and rack up 250K in student loans to make 10 bucks an hour. We will all be working in blockbuster watching movies all day.
Nah, I just do telemarketing at home for $10 a hour... and watch tv while I telemarket... no need to leave the house... or at $10 an hour, my 200 sq. foot apartment...
It's a personal issue, I suppose. Each person determines what THEY think is a viable income. For me, it's $10 an hour. There is no reason that ANYONE is worth more than $10 an hour.
One should be able to get all the NECESSITIES of life at that wage. Extras are just that...extra.
Funny
Who determines what the "NECESSITIES of life" are. The "Peoples Bureau of Necessities"?
10 bucks an hour in NJ is less than I would collect on the dole.
Yes, there should be a cap on income by Politicians. Any pay increase/raise should be voted on by the constituents and not by the politicians themselves. Everyone else, no, no cap.
I agree. No one is worth more than $10 an hour. I wish that is all that they paid the surgeon that worked on me 3 years ago. I'm sure he would have done just as good of a job.
Or flying "no frills but lots o' thrills" with a $10 per hour 747 pilot
Yes there should be a cap. The extra money should go toward beautifying the city or town surrounding and also toward improving schools etc. Since ALOT of the wealthy have stepped on others to get rich, I believe it would be a good thing to spread that money around for good causes.
Who determines what the "NECESSITIES of life" are. The "Peoples Bureau of Necessities"?
10 bucks an hour in NJ is less than I would collect on the dole.
A 20 bedroom mansion, 7 cars, 2 indoor pools, several boats, massive amounts of jewelry, expensive clothes etc. are NOT necessities of life, anyone who thinks they are is on crack! Necessities are food, water, air, shelter and such. And by the way, I am SURE that no one here is filthy rich, and never will be so why would you care? That extra $ would go to things that would improve your quality of life!
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