Income (in)equality in the United States

#5
#5
obviously the rich are now hiring robots to work for them instead of Americans. maybe we should pass a low that every rich person should all his money to a poor person. that would take care of it.
 
#6
#6
#7
#7
fact is low income people are far more easily outsourced. lost in the rich raping the poor garbage is that we now have a world labor force and americans face labor competition far more than they did in prior years. this isn't a recipe for the unwashed masses making more money.
 
#8
#8
DC Vol said:
Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap - Yahoo! News

Just curious what everything thinks about this.
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I'm thinking it depends on whether things are getting better for the poor also but just not at the same rate. To be meaningful, you can't pull these numbers from recession years.

Most of the time this kind of data is presented as a rationale for some sort of gov't action to "level the playing field". The irony I suppose is that the rich have far more access with the political elites so each time gov't gets more power and control... the spread between the rich and poor becomes more fixed if not wider.

If you believe that a bigger, more intrusive, more controlling gov't is the path to making it easier to close the gap between you and the very rich... then you are exactly the kind of fool they're looking for.
 
#9
#9
lumberjack4 said:
The rich continue to do the things that make them successful and rich, while the poor continue to do the things that makes them failures and poor. It takes more than wanting to be rich to get rich, some people just don't understand that and paint a picture showing that rich people are only rich because they steal from poor people.
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What are they (the poor, stupid people) doing and what should they do to fix it?
 
#11
#11
Ethics and values are better indicators of success than are talent or intelligence. Another reason the way forward must include school choice to include private and religious options.
 
#12
#12
sjt18 said:
I'm thinking it depends on whether things are getting better for the poor also but just not at the same rate. To be meaningful, you can't pull these numbers from recession years.

Most of the time this kind of data is presented as a rationale for some sort of gov't action to "level the playing field". The irony I suppose is that the rich have far more access with the political elites so each time gov't gets more power and control... the spread between the rich and poor becomes more fixed if not wider.

If you believe that a bigger, more intrusive, more controlling gov't is the path to making it easier to close the gap between you and the very rich... then you are exactly the kind of fool they're looking for.
Click to expand...

I have carefully eschewed giving my own personal opinion in these "debates".
 
#13
#13
"The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want."
 
#15
#15
DC Vol said:
What are they (the poor, stupid people) doing and what should they do to fix it?
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Personally, I believe that government dependence adds to this problem.

Would be interesting to see a corresponding chart of government program growth over the same time period. My bet is that it is correlated.

Also, I'd say Droski hit the nail on the head - we have become a global economy and that genie cannot be put back.

I'd also say look to the Dept of Ed changes over the time period. Perhaps our educational efforts have been diverted over the past 30 years resulting in less equipped people for the realities of global markets.

It's just a little ironic that the Dept of Ed was signed into law the same year this data starts...
 
#16
#16
DC Vol said:
What are they (the poor, stupid people) doing and what should they do to fix it?
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Any effort on their part might be a step in the right direction. Making sacrifices to advance their careers would be another good step.

Obviously what they are doing now isn't cutting it and staying on the same path and complaining that nothing is changing is not productive.
 
#18
#18
DC Vol said:
What are they (the poor, stupid people) doing and what should they do to fix it?
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they need to stop expecting the govt to fix their issues and realize that $30 an hour for unskilled manufacturing jobs isn't ever going to happen again. learn a skill that can't be outsourced. mechanic, plumber, etc.
 
#19
#19
volinbham said:
Personally, I believe that government dependence adds to this problem.

Would be interesting to see a corresponding chart of government program growth over the same time period. My bet is that it is correlated.

Also, I'd say Droski hit the nail on the head - we have become a global economy and that genie cannot be put back.

I'd also say look to the Dept of Ed changes over the time period. Perhaps our educational efforts have been diverted over the past 30 years resulting in less equipped people for the realities of global markets.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely problem #1 in my book.
 
#20
#20
droski said:
they need to stop expecting the govt to fix their issues and realize that $30 an hour for unskilled manufacturing jobs isn't ever going to happen again. learn a skill that can't be outsourced. mechanic, plumber, etc.
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Had a cousin that worked at the Volkwagen plant in PA back in the 70s. He basically put a piece of tape on every door of the car as it went by on the line. No future in that.
 
#21
#21
we still have by far the best colleges in the world. the higher education system is just fine. i'm not sure i see an argument that better education for those not going to college is going to result in higher economic growth.
 
#23
#23
droski said:
we still have by far the best colleges in the world. the higher education system is just fine. i'm not sure i see an argument that better education for those not going to college is going to result in higher economic growth.
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I've been teaching college for over 20 years. Math skills have been in steady decline and students can do enough to get by in college but they aren't really math proficient.

Improving K-12 would make a difference.
 
#24
#24
droski said:
we still have by far the best colleges in the world. the higher education system is just fine. i'm not sure i see an argument that better education for those not going to college is going to result in higher economic growth.
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The problem comes in the thinking that every student is made to go to college. There needs to be an option starting in middle school that kids can start learning and going to a trade school if they want. I don't understand why this country thinks having a skilled labor force is a bad thing.
 
#25
#25
DC Vol said:
What are they (the poor, stupid people) doing and what should they do to fix it?
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Save instead of spending money they don't have. Eliminate luxuries until they can be afforded. Stay out of trouble and stop spending money on alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc. Basically, stop engaging in self-destructive behaviors even if they are more "fun" than being responsible and, dare I say, "moral".

Stop having children out of wedlock. Marry and build a life around the husband and wife who are dedicated to each other, their future, and their children. The family is the first and most fundamental building block of society and a civil, well governed society. No society has ever survived the breakdown of the family unit. We are approaching critical mass with 40% illegitimacy and about the same percentage of divorce.

Take responsibility... ALWAYS. Stop quitting when the world is "unfair". Take responsibility and find a different way to succeed. Success seldom comes because there were no challenges or failures. It is almost always the product of the refusal to quit or blame someone or something else.

When you fail, get up and get going. Don't wallow in or be defeated by past failures.

Just a start.... but if you show me a poor person in America and give me access to their background... I can almost guarantee that they have failed on these very basic things.

I know quite a few people who would be considered "poor". Every one of them avoids taking responsibility for themselves and their choices. All on one level or another tries to blame someone or something else. ALL would rather make excuses than work through or around challenges.
 
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