[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', '
')That begs the question, what's going to happen during the next 20 years or so, is he assuming that growth can be restarted?

[Newfie]

Oakly, Thanks.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('careinke', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'a')n now the power is being switched to the GOP/ Teabagger party.

The 1%'ers will do anything to hang onto their 'god given right' of wealth and the American way of life!

It's going to be interesting........

[SeaGypsy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('careinke', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'a')n now the power is being switched to the GOP/ Teabagger party.

The 1%'ers will do anything to hang onto their 'god given right' of wealth and the American way of life!

It's going to be interesting........

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'M')inimum wage in the USA is what? $7 something an hour?
Let's call it in oil 2 or 3 gallons an hour.

Minimum legal wages in Asia are close to 1 to 2 gallons a DAY.

Illegals in both environments work for less; let's say about half that.

Productive, creative work (non stamp licker/ pen pusher) is over time becoming less well paid, it's a race to the bottom for the real working class.
Exceptions to this scenario are few and far between.

Australia is doing ok mostly because it is a young country with a small population and vast resources, besides being an island continent with quite tight border control.
The USA has none of these advantages, it is more on a par with India and China; old, overpopulated, exploited and import dependent for key resources/ oil, coal, fertilisers and minerals.
The USA dominated for a variety of complex reasons for the last hundred years; over the last few decades, due to smoke and mirrors bankster/ government collusion/ delusion games based on impossible debt.

Well guess what?
It's time to pay the piper.

Real wages around the manufacturing dependent world are about to go to parity, dominated by the biggest populations of manufacturers: China and India.
Many countries which have passed peak before peak oil will go down the gurgler with the USA; 1st world Asia is very high on the list, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Singapore has very cleverly carved itself a niche as the city state and will soon be the only 1st world 'country' in Asia.

I have raised these points in other threads over the last couple of years; they are almost invariably ignored. This I read as the board being largely American and not wanting to face these quite obvious facts.

[Kristen]

Well hopefully, their middle class won't be a representation of what "middle class" ensues in the United States (Endlessly obsessing over material things and experiences). In the meantime, we're at a crossroads of sorts... We've been in war for the better half of the 0's that goes undiscussed in our thoughts, Everyone pretends nothing is wrong, and usually if such a subjected is brought up, it ends pretty quickly. Perhaps ambiguity is warranted. It's like an alarm clock beckoning in the middle of a dream.

I can sleep for ten more minutes.....

[SeaGypsy]

My home in Asia is the local version of middle class:

In a compound with 6 families (only 2 foreigners)
60 meters fo floorspace/ 2 bedrooms/ 1 bathroom.
125cc motorcycle with detachable sidecar capable of carrying 6 people.
Computer & cable tv.
Refridgerator/ washing machine.
Power bill $25 a month (power is parity priced as is fuel).
No aircon or running hot water.
Total household expenditure for 3 adults and 1 child: $1000 a month.
(That includes my beer!).

People moving far above this level become targets for tall poppy syndrome.
I fee way safer here than I do in Australia or the USA.