[Oakley]

Think of a bell curve normal distribution; 68.2% of the population would fall within one standard deviation of the mean, and 95.4% of the population would fall within two standard deviations of the mean. This leaves just 4.6% with 2.3% at each extreme on the ends of the bell curve.

Historically, societies that are free have something that resembles a normal distribution. That means that there is a large middle class (68.2%), with about an equal size upper middle class and lower middle class (13.6% each). Those at the extremes of great wealth and great poverty are abnormal, falling beyond 2 standard deviations (2.3% each).

Contrast the normal distribution to what we see in a typical banana republic where there is a skewed distribution of wealth. There is a very large group living in poverty, a small middle class, and the few at the top possess the lion's share of the wealth. Sound familiar? It should because this is what is occurring in the US as the middle class is being driven toward poverty and those at the top capture more and more wealth.

This skewed distribution of wealth is occurring because government and special interest have colluded to pass laws that rig what at one time were free markets, so that the majority now have a disadvantage and the few have advantage. The wealth of the majority is being transferred to the few at the top through schemes like the Federal Reserve System and the government regulation and control of the Health Care industry with licensing of professionals, hospitals and drugs. Government distortion of the market place is pervasive and is at the root of the redistribution of wealth to the few. This is economic fascism, a system of slavery; government produces our poverty.

The obvious answer is to restore freedom. Unfortunately, many of those dispossessed of their wealth do not seem to comprehend what has been done to them, and instead of demanding freedom from this slave system, they demand more government to plunder more of the wealth of everyone else to give to them.

Those in power are not about to end the current system of plunder and control voluntarily; for the masters, slavery is highly beneficial. Those who see the solution as more government will unlikely see the true nature of their demise, so will unlikely demand freedom; they see freedom as their enemy because they mistakenly think this fascist system is free market capitalism. That leaves those who see the current system for what it is, destroyed free markets; they demand a restoration of freedom and an end to the era of big government rigging the markets for the few at the expense of the many. When the pain becomes unbearable for enough of the population there will be a long violent resolution, with these three factions killing one another until one prevails. The outcome is uncertain.

When you stack the pain and suffering that comes from the current fascist economic system on top of an economy entering a long term contraction period from the lack of energy to fuel it, we have an unbelievably explosive period of history ahead. Some observers think they see a correlation between the high electromagnetic activity associated with high sunspot activity and outbreaks of violence like wars and revolutions. If there is any credence to this concept, we are currently moving out of a period of low sunspot activity into a period of high activity with a peak area being 2012 to 2015. I don't personally see much hope for a peaceful resolution of our political differences; whether the violent eruption is sooner or later, I think this will be our fate.

[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oakley', '
')This skewed distribution of wealth is occurring because government and special interest have colluded to pass laws that rig what at one time were free markets, so that the majority now have a disadvantage and the few have advantage. The wealth of the majority is being transferred to the few at the top through schemes like the Federal Reserve System and the government regulation and control of the Health Care industry with licensing of professionals, hospitals and drugs. Government distortion of the market place is pervasive and is at the root of the redistribution of wealth to the few. This is economic fascism, a system of slavery; government produces our poverty.

[Oakley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissident', '
')So, according to you, corporations have not made any decision to transfer US jobs to China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, etc. It was all big government and undefined "special interest" that did this. In the real world it was big bad government whoring for the private corporations (the actual "special interest") that has allowed the selling of America and other western countries down the river. After all, profit margins are lord and master of creation so hiring sweatshop labour in Asia is the best choice possible. You just keep voting for politicians that pump free trade and don't impose any filthy regulations (like workplace health and safety and minimal standards for product quality) on Chinese junk. We wouldn't want to stop the corporate gravy train.

[AgentR11]

After-effect of the housing bubble; notice this is about neighborhoods. What was built?? Huge 1000sf+/person homes; old stock in the 500sf/person range dwindled, and subsidy housing for lower income brackets increased. Tada, result as cited.

I've seen those megahouses destroy people and their families. Sure it made money for someone; but it was never in the interests of regular middle class folks to buy 3000 sf homes. NEVER. And its still not. I hope to all that is decent and just, that the lesson has been learned, and those sins won't be repeated in my lifetime.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')color=#FF0000]regular middle class folks to buy 3000 sf homes[/color].

[AgentR11]

My home is 1500SF. Its absolutely the perfect size. Again with your ridiculous assumptions.

And yes, selling oversized homes to people who could never honestly afford them was at the heart of the re bubble crash. I saw it up close, watched it happen. Watched it destroy families.

And no, a 3000sf home is not an indicator of being in the 1%; anyone in the top 20% can afford such a place on a 30 yr note. Whether its wise to feed such a monstrosity is a different issue...

[vision-master]

The top 20% is not regular middle class.

$15 hr ain't shit these day's.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'T')he top 20% is not regular middle class.

[vision-master]

you argue just to argue.

[AgentR11]

This is a debating style forum... no? I don't post here to summon rain.

[Timo]

A big part, but in no way the sole source of the declining middle class here in the US are the free trade agreements our government has signed with most other economies on the planet. When corporations are allowed to cheaply export widgets to American consumers, while paying next to nothing in labor costs, it is obviously in that corporations best financial interests to do just that. The downside to this is that Americans lose production and manufacturing jobs because our monetary system has grown exponentially more affluent than all 3rd world countries. The only solution is to have an economic level playing field across the whole planet where the costs of production and consumption are equal across all economic and political lines. That situation would put the actual production of widgets much closer to their markets, thus ensuring production is spread out, and us 'Merkuns would have menial factory jobs and wages equal to factory workers in Chindia. What were all seeing right now is the inherent drawback to a very quickly vamped-up global economy. Corporations win. The former Haves of the world lose because their jobs have been outsourced to keep prices affordable for those former Haves without jobs. Thank god Walmart keeps half of all 3rd world countries gainfully employed for pennies a day.

[Windmills]

The US government has exacerbated the exporting of American jobs by bowing to corporations that want the stifling of legislation that would require companies to provide more clear information about how and where their products are produced. I'm sure more Americans would be willing to help keep their neighbors employed by buying American products if there was a way they could better determine what a mostly-American product was. In the mean time, it's in the corporations' interest to keep that information obscured and confused.

[AgentR11]

Nah, consumers in the US already assume that everything is made in China, even if it was really manufactured in Mexico, the US, or Canada, they'll still assume its Chinese.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'N')ah, consumers in the US already assume that everything is made in China, even if it was really manufactured in Mexico, the US, or Canada, they'll still assume its Chinese.