[onlooker]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... 9ce4cb0320

"The alarming statistics that show the U.S. economy isn’t as good as it seems – “We have a ‘Two Realities’ economy in America”
Applicable worldwide. The increasing have nots and wealthier haves

[onlooker]

Refers to this point I just made

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... poorest-50
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population, according to a charity warning of an ever-increasing and dangerous concentration of wealth.

In a report published to coincide with the start of the week-long World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam said it was “beyond grotesque” that a handful of rich men headed by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates are worth $426bn (£350bn), equivalent to the wealth of 3.6 billion people.

The development charity called for a new economic model to reverse an inequality trend that it said helped to explain Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.


Oxfam blamed rising inequality on aggressive wage restraint, tax dodging and the squeezing of producers by companies, adding that businesses were too focused on delivering ever-higher returns to wealthy owners and top executives.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) said last week that rising inequality and social polarisation posed two of the biggest risks to the global economy in 2017 and could result in the rolling back of globalisation.

[GHung]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'h')ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/05/25/the-alarming-statistics-that-show-the-u-s-economy-isnt-as-good-as-it-seems/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d9ce4cb0320

"The alarming statistics that show the U.S. economy isn’t as good as it seems – “We have a ‘Two Realities’ economy in America”
Applicable worldwide. The increasing have nots and wealthier haves

[onlooker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('GHung', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'h')ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/05/25/the-alarming-statistics-that-show-the-u-s-economy-isnt-as-good-as-it-seems/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d9ce4cb0320

"The alarming statistics that show the U.S. economy isn’t as good as it seems – “We have a ‘Two Realities’ economy in America”
Applicable worldwide. The increasing have nots and wealthier haves

[evilgenius]

The big question is, when was the switch made? When did the economy start working for the rich rather than the ordinary man? Of course, it's always worked for the rich. So, when did what the ordinary man could get start to go away, and why? The answer is political, I think.

You can't really talk about this without talking about the labor movement. I don't want to, for reasons of not wishing this thread to go that way, so I'll leave it at that. Suffice it to say that those less well off will always have to organize in order to get what they want. When they are successful, they will receive backlash. That backlash will come not just in the form of rich people groaning about them when they are asked. The rich will come after the power they have lost. Losing power means losing money! They will try to ensure that loss doesn't happen again.

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, someone once said. That vigilance isn't about packing, or jiu jitsu. It's about telling yourself the truth and not cutting yourself off from your emotions. We live in a world where our attitudes concerning things like unionization are mostly shaped by the rich, and our own desire to take advantage of loopholes that exist for us to make gains if we abandon the positions of our fathers. There's nothing wrong with looking after yourself. You just have to understand that when you take that plunge you do it alone. There are no guarantees beyond the economic truth of the time you entered the fray. Those you contract with don't necessarily have to keep their word. That can change with the economy. When that changes you will still be alone.

Since at least the 70's this has been the case. And, as if union leadership were any more on the ball, there hasn't been much to encourage working stiffs coming from unions as a result of the pressures felt over the decades. What they've mostly done has been to preserve the old guard at the expense of the new. They basically agreed with the idea that there should be a vanishing generation of pensioners, and no more after them. I suppose that's fair, though, because they could see who was working vs. who might be down the road. It's bird in the hand thinking. Somehow, tomorrow's youth didn't make the grade. Now we've got that same problem throughout society, on a generational basis. All of us loners are also picking what is in the hand. Today's youth are making do with something that costs a lot more for them to participate in at the same level as those who came before them.

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'R')efers to this point I just made

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... poorest-50
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population, according to a charity warning of an ever-increasing and dangerous concentration of wealth.

In a report published to coincide with the start of the week-long World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam said it was “beyond grotesque” that a handful of rich men headed by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates are worth $426bn (£350bn), equivalent to the wealth of 3.6 billion people.

The development charity called for a new economic model to reverse an inequality trend that it said helped to explain Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.


Oxfam blamed rising inequality on aggressive wage restraint, tax dodging and the squeezing of producers by companies, adding that businesses were too focused on delivering ever-higher returns to wealthy owners and top executives.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) said last week that rising inequality and social polarisation posed two of the biggest risks to the global economy in 2017 and could result in the rolling back of globalisation.

[onlooker]

Good detailed analysis Evil. However, if I may broaden the scope of it. The essence of Capitalism was never intended to work for the ordinary person or poor person. It has always been about the ownership class. As much as some here like to discredit Marxism, that did correctly identify the class struggle at the root of Capitalism. We in the US have been shielded to this because of the almost unique positiion of the US as being the wealthiest country in the world. So, the industrialists obviously knew they needed a decently paid working class to buy the products made available by the Industrial Revolution. Think Thomas Edison said something to that effect regarding paying sufficient wages to the workers so they could buy the cars.

Now, what we have is undeneath all this is the basic irrevocable limits to growth. More people. less accessible resources etc. Then, we also have the machinations of the Ownership class via the Stock Market and policies of the US govt to weaken the middle and poor class. This is cyclical. But what is different is this time not enough to go around for everyone. So, US is beginning to resemble more the rest of the world where it is just the rich and poor , no middle class. But in summary, this is the nature of Capitalism in allowing Capital to use its advantages to attain ever more capital. So a concentration of wealth. That is how it works. And now workers can be attained worldwide for pennies on the dollar, ergo US layoffs and downsizing. The dream of Capitalists to have the entire Earth to exploit and Globalization was their tool

[onlooker]

Newfie, while in theory what you say is correct. In reality, you and I and others know it is not. The digitized wealth is real because the system says its real. Even now the rich are buying up state of the art bunkers , with the plan to ride out serious existential disturbances, right now they are swimmng in pools, dining in fancy restaurants etc. Can they lose this "money" of course yes. But what their money buys is quite real.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'N')ewfie, while in theory what you say is correct. In reality, you and I and others know it is not. The digitized wealth is real because the system says its real.

[onlooker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') The beltway clowns seem less and less reliable to me as time goes on.

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', ' ') Think Thomas Edison said something to that effect regarding paying sufficient wages to the workers so they could buy the cars.

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'N')ewfie, while in theory what you say is correct. In reality, you and I and others know it is not. The digitized wealth is real because the system says its real.

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'N')ewfie, while in theory what you say is correct. In reality, you and I and others know it is not. The digitized wealth is real because the system says its real. Even now the rich are buying up state of the art bunkers , with the plan to ride out serious existential disturbances, right now they are swimmng in pools, dining in fancy restaurants etc. Can they lose this "money" of course yes. But what their money buys is quite real.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'N')ewfie, while in theory what you say is correct. In reality, you and I and others know it is not. The digitized wealth is real because the system says its real.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'T')he big question is, when was the switch made?
...We live in a world where our attitudes concerning things like unionization are mostly shaped by the rich, and our own desire to take advantage of loopholes that exist for us ...

[GHung]

Can you say disproportionate share? Betcha some of you can't.

[GHung]

Jeez, O_S, don't confuse Cog with pragmatic arguments. He needs his value/judgement-based world view just to exist.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('GHung', 'J')eez, O_S, don't confuse Cog with pragmatic arguments. He needs his value/judgement-based world view just to exist.

[mmasters]

I think any POer would be for Trump tariffs. Bringing back the jobs and the products from overseas makes not only for a better product in many cases but the US is less vulnerable/dependent on other countries and more self sufficient. It's a better scenario post peak.

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mmasters', 'I') think any POer would be for Trump tariffs. Bringing back the jobs and the products from overseas makes not only for a better product in many cases but the US is less vulnerable/dependent on other countries and more self sufficient. It's a better scenario post peak.