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Wow. You are either so well off (kudos to you, if you are) that you are oblivious to the decline, or just completely ignorant, or just trolling.
Well, I got a similar response before ("if you don't see the problem, you're not paying attention"). Sorry, but that is not an answer. If you can't define in a few simple sentences what the symptoms of this "decline" are, how can we ever determine who is to blame?
It's not about being wealthy; as I said, I and most people I know are all middle class. Most of them have nice, spacious homes. (By contrast, my parents housed a family of 8 in a 1700 sq ft home). Most have decent cars. Pre-pandemic, a lot of my middle class friends would go on vacations to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe. They've put most of their kids through college. Life is not perfect for any of us, but certainly we are more prosperous today than at any time in history.
True, plus when you buy an iPhone you're not just paying for the components and the assembly. You are paying for all the scientific, engineering and software development that went into it. That's the real value of a smart phone. Who would've thunk 30 years ago that we would be carrying basically a supercomputer around in our pockets?
Well, I got a similar response before ("if you don't see the problem, you're not paying attention"). Sorry, but that is not an answer. If you can't define in a few simple sentences what the symptoms of this "decline" are, how can we ever determine who is to blame?
It's not about being wealthy; as I said, I and most people I know are all middle class. Most of them have nice, spacious homes. (By contrast, my parents housed a family of 8 in a 1700 sq ft home). Most have decent cars. Pre-pandemic, a lot of my middle class friends would go on vacations to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe. They've put most of their kids through college. Life is not perfect for any of us, but certainly we are more prosperous today than at any time in history.
Just as a note, those trips used to be exclusively the purview of the very upper middle class and wealthy.
why should GE (an American company HQ'd in Boston) make all its alarm clocks etc in Mexico and Malaysia???
think about it
median USA hourly wage is 23-25/hr
median Mexico wage 160/week
You just answered your own question. They should make their clocks in Mexico because it's cheaper. And then they can sell them cheaper to American consumers, who benefit. And they can make more profit for their American stockholders, who benefit. Win Win.
Oh, you say it's not fair, because you don't want to work for $160/week? Last I checked the unemployment rate was about 3.5%, so you have plenty of other jobs to choose from.
It's not about being wealthy; as I said, I and most people I know are all middle class. Most of them have nice, spacious homes. (By contrast, my parents housed a family of 8 in a 1700 sq ft home). Most have decent cars. Pre-pandemic, a lot of my middle class friends would go on vacations to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe. They've put most of their kids through college. ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person
Just as a note, those trips used to be exclusively the purview of the very upper middle class and wealthy.
Exactly. I'd define "middle class" as not being food-insecure. As having access to clean water and sanitation. As being able to walk to school, without getting assaulted by bandits. Being able to buy the daily necessities of life... soap, flour, chicken, porridge, potatoes. Being able to afford to see the village medic. Having a functioning school. And so on.
We're feeling dejected and despondent because the meaning of "middle class" has crept upward. What's next... "middle class" means having a private jet?
Well, I got a similar response before ("if you don't see the problem, you're not paying attention"). Sorry, but that is not an answer. If you can't define in a few simple sentences what the symptoms of this "decline" are, how can we ever determine who is to blame?
It's not about being wealthy; as I said, I and most people I know are all middle class. Most of them have nice, spacious homes. (By contrast, my parents housed a family of 8 in a 1700 sq ft home). Most have decent cars. Pre-pandemic, a lot of my middle class friends would go on vacations to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe. They've put most of their kids through college. Life is not perfect for any of us, but certainly we are more prosperous today than at any time in history.
I've provided examples , as did others and you just fail to grasp what was presented to you. It really matters little to me if you see it or don't, although i do find it a bit uncanny. Unless you are purposefully being obtuse.
But I'd say it narrows down to a $20 bill. If George Floyd had a real $20 bill, the cops wouldn't have been called.
Then, Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. If Chauvin wasn't the officer called and George Floyd wasn't killed that day, he wouldn't have been the news. There wouldn't have been the riots, and BLM gaining as much power and recognition.
Biden could have picked Klobuchar as running mate as white women were still in the mix. He had just promised a woman before Floyd's death. Or maybe Asian Tammy Duckworth. More likeable and probably would have still won, at least promising a better future for the Democrats, than Kamala Harris. If the black woman vote stayed home and Trump had won, at least we wouldn't have all the election fraud talk and subsequent laws that went into effect that will reduce voting rights and access.
Well, I got a similar response before ("if you don't see the problem, you're not paying attention"). Sorry, but that is not an answer. If you can't define in a few simple sentences what the symptoms of this "decline" are, how can we ever determine who is to blame?
It's not about being wealthy; as I said, I and most people I know are all middle class. Most of them have nice, spacious homes. (By contrast, my parents housed a family of 8 in a 1700 sq ft home). Most have decent cars. Pre-pandemic, a lot of my middle class friends would go on vacations to Mexico, Hawaii, Europe. They've put most of their kids through college. Life is not perfect for any of us, but certainly we are more prosperous today than at any time in history.
Curious what the age group of your friends are. Boomers are the wealthiest generation. I'm Gen X and doing well having gotten into software development as has most of my friend group. But many Millennials I know struggle to make a 3x rent requirement in order to get a basic apartment much less buy a house or have fancy vacations. They're well behind on career/wealth development compared to prior generations.
I'm glad that a few people on here know enough about politics to know that Newt Gingrich did more than any other person to create the stalemate between the parties. Anyone who wants to understand what Gingrich did could just read a section on his Wikipedia page titled "Role in political polarization." The first sentence states: "A number of scholars have credited Gingrich with playing a key role in undermining democratic norms in the United States, and hastening political polarization and partisan prejudice."
I won't go as far to say he or anyone is most responsible for the fall of modern America? I don't think America has fallen yet, but if it does, blame Gingrich for starting the fall, and Trump for trying to overthrow the republic.
Wiki is hardly a dispassionate source.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterfall8324
Its not about having dirty manufacturing jobs, its about having a producer base industrial or craft.
Without we are just a service sector economy at the whims of the financial market.
I remember not so long ago all the smart people were yakking up and bragging about how we were going to become a service economy. As if that was a good thing. As if no manufacturing capability is somehow the sign of an advanced civilization.
Quote:
Originally Posted by newtovenice
Look at the polls.
70% of all Americans thought race relations were good when he took office. He killed all that goodwill in just 8 years.
Bomma, aka The Mole? Yes, he rode that race card into the White House and now into a 14 million dollar house on the beach, where the high tides from globaloney warming will one fine day sweep it, and all its contents, off the beach and out to sea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
I do get the point. The molding plant I worked at closed sometime in the mid-80s, no doubt after losing work that supported assembly plants such as Sylvania. So not only did the Sylvania plant support its own workers, but how many more that supplied and supported it.
And two years later I lost my job as a newspaper reporter in northeastern Ohio. Turns out the first thing that unemployed auto and steel workers cut out of their budgets is a newspaper subscription. The line of support an industry or employer provides isn't always direct or obvious.
The past two years have taught us many things; one of them is we need to start making our own stuff again.
I remember not so long ago all the smart people were yakking up and bragging about how we were going to become a service economy. As if that was a good thing. As if no manufacturing capability is somehow the sign of an advanced civilization.
You have that sentiment voiced in this very thread. Dirty factory jobs.
Quote:
What sort of production plants were in Sylvania?
Sylvania is/was an electronics manufacturing company. It's now owned by a Chinese consortium and makes a lot of vehicle lights.
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