Wealth Stratification

#26
#26
therealUT said:
Gibbs, deciding not torespond directly to the question and instead vomit more anti-capitalist nonsense onto the thread.

The question is: is wealth stratification inherently bad?

If the most impoverished have more real wealth, food, shelter, and hygiene at time y than time x, yet the wealthiest have three times as much real wealth at time y and only had twice as much wealth at time x, then is the world better off at time y than at time x?
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Is it possible for wages to grow less than inflation and still maintain a standard of living that reflects that growth? Or can that only be accomplished by increasing debt and sacrificing your future? I guess what I'm saying is not everyone should be able to afford that smartphone with the stagnant wages, but they are anyways and while they are at it, they are sacrificing investments and retirement. This has been going on for the last 30 years, and we are paying for it with foreclosures and lack of turnover in the job market from seniors working longer. Which in turn is bad for the investing class in the future. Instead, wages grow with the increase in the standard of living and the investing class profits from a steady growth instead of a boom and bust economy.

I just made this **** up on the spot and probably reflects streaming thought.
 
#27
#27
IPorange said:
What if a bottleneck occurs with other resources, before labor is pressured towards a shortage? Couldn't there be unemployment in inherent in the system, depending on other variables?
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Yes but the pressure would continue to push back toward employment of resources.

On an unrelated note regarding another of your posts in this thread, you really have got to learn what the word "theory" means outside of it's use in casual conversation.
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I do understand. A theory is an idea that is being worked toward proof. Absolute proof may be difficult or even impossible. However the theory can be considered reasonable if its use consistently makes correct predictions. FTR, if results force the constant and radical change of a theory then the theory should not be pressed as "fact".
 
#28
#28
Weezy, there is a reason I used the term "real wealth" in my post.
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#29
#29
sjt, I would argue a theory can be a "fact," without every element of the rationalizations of the theory being immutably factual. But I'm plunging us into semantics frivolous to the thread, so I'll stop.
 
#30
#30
IPorange said:
sjt, I would argue a theory can be a "fact," without every element of the rationalizations of the theory being immutably factual. But I'm plunging us into semantics frivolous to the thread, so I'll stop.
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And I would disagree and suggest that these semantics are used by some to obscure or rationalize philosophical presuppositions.
 
#31
#31
IPorange said:
This was something rolling around in my head upon reading this thread. I mean, is there a possible relationship?
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In any capitalist economic model, there has to be a certain percentage of unemployment. There is a concept called NAIRU which is derived from the Phillips curve, which shows an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment. Milton Friedman did the most influential work in this area,

Basically, any healthy capitalist economic model features degrees of wealth inequality and both frictional and classical unemployment.

Being in public health, the area of research which I've found interesting is a recent area, is the effects of wealth disparity on health. Long story short, there is significant, overwhelming scientific evidence that shows lack of wealth has severe detrimental effects to ones health. Not that lack of money obviously affords one less ability to eat healthy, or access to quality medical care, but that it can be a significant, direct cause of poor quality of health.
 
#32
#32
Is poor health caused by lack of wealth or associated? Are people unhealthy and unwealthy because of personal discipline and values... or does poverty itself somehow cause poor health?
 
#36
#36
utgibbs said:
It's not what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

Stratification isn't even majority culture in our own historic time (and this is the time of stratification).

You absolutely must get out of the house more.
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May I suggest Beyond Good and Evil.
 
#37
#37
milohimself said:
That poverty is a direct cause of poor health.
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Poverty was the rule throughout the thirties and we didnt see health issues explode or people get fatter. Poor health is discipline, decision making and education driven. Poverty is an excuse.
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#39
#39
I agree that a certain level of unemployment and wealth disparity is healthy. But there have to be certain levels that are unhealthy. And we are hitting a wealth gap that we haven't seen since the depression.
 
#40
#40
BigPapaVol said:
Poverty was the rule throughout the thirties and we didnt see health issues explode or people get fatter. Poor health is discipline, decision making and education driven. Poverty is an excuse.
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Diet and lifestyle choices completely aside, there is very significant evidence showing that poverty in and of itself is a direct cause of poor health.
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#41
#41
milohimself said:
Diet and lifestyle choices completely aside, there is very significant evidence showing that poverty in and of itself is a direct cause of poor health.
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The evidence shows a strong correlation and I agree. If it's claiming causation, it's idiotic (and I'm pretty much addressing obesity and smoking).
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#42
#42
Yes, it bothers me.

In a perfect world, my grandmother who worked 40 hours a week in a plant fixing breakfast and lunch for the workers wuld have made enough to have her dream home and dream car. It isn't a perfect world though.

I wish everyone who wants to work can achieve all their dreams and desires.

I also wish the plague on all those who want a free ride.
 
#43
#43
utgibbs said:
Of course it is a huge problem, and the polarization is absolute stark and indefensible in global terms. Over 2 billion people live on less than 2 dollars a day including over 600 million children (UNICEF). These are appalling figures and getting worse.

In addition, you have mistakenly attributed the gifts of the Enlightenment to an economic causation (or at least that's the way I read your point).
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therealUT said:
Gibbs, deciding not torespond directly to the question and instead vomit more anti-capitalist nonsense onto the thread.

The question is: is wealth stratification inherently bad?

If the most impoverished have more real wealth, food, shelter, and hygiene at time y than time x, yet the wealthiest have three times as much real wealth at time y and only had twice as much wealth at time x, then is the world better off at time y than at time x?
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I answered your question too directly and too fully for you to comprehend? :dunno:

I'm hoping BPV attacked your algebra above because it is WAY off the mark, even as example. Just so BPV could save some intellectual credibility.

Just one example:

ceominwageratio-359x220.gif
 
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#44
#44
utgibbs said:
I answered your question too directly and too fully for you to comprehend? :dunno:

I'm hoping BPV attacked your algebra above because it is WAY off the mark, even as example. Just so BPV could save some intellectual credibility.
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Algebra silliness doesn't obfuscate your attempted evasion. We all see it and he didnt do any algebra. He asked you a hypothetical question - you know, the one you ran from.

And what a worthless chart.
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#45
#45
Gibbs, I am going to break this down for you.

If you had the opportunity to eat two eggs today but just one egg yesterday, were you better off today than yesterday?
 
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