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+---- Thread: US income inequality continues to grow (/Thread-US-income-inequality-continues-to-grow)
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - PhilHos - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 02:13 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Sure, studies are fallible. However, conclusions drawn from them are exponentially more reliable than conclusions drawn from anecdotal evidence. That is my point.
Ok.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 02:14 PM)PhilHos Wrote: First off, my wife is not in her 40s. She's in her 30s.
More importantly, housing was provided for us by our employmer. Had they not provided us the housing, we still could have afforded housing.
I didn't say we struggled.
Yeah, if you ignore eveything I said and post things that I didn't say.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. When you said you had to stay with family for a couple of months I thought you meant you had to stay with family.
You guys buying a house now?
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - PhilHos - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 02:21 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Apology accepted.
(07-24-2018, 02:21 PM)fredtoast Wrote: When you said you had to stay with family for a couple of months I thought you meant you had to stay with family.
Yes, because it took my wife and I awhile to find an apartment that we both liked that had the amenities we were looking for. It wasn't because we couldn't afford housing.
(07-24-2018, 02:21 PM)fredtoast Wrote: You guys buying a house now?
No. I like living in an apartment. Not having to mow the lawn or shovel snow is a bigger deal than I though. Also, because my bank is the one that accepts property taxes for the county, I see what people have to pay and, man, I don't think I'll ever own a house.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - Beaker - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 01:20 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This makes zero sense. The middle and lower classes do not have the wealth or influence to change the system.
Are you completely ignorant of all history regarding industry, wages, and workers rights?
Are you completely ignorant that the people are the economy, and if you want to change things it begins with individuals?
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - Beaker - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 01:23 PM)fredtoast Wrote: But why should the lower and middle classes have to adjust to living on less when their labor is creating new wealth for the owners.
Why should the people who have money be able to control the system so they make more while exploiting the labor of the lower and middle classes?
How much does a business owner have to pay his employees to not be consider "exploiting the labor"?
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - Beaker - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 02:08 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This kind of proves my point.
Two people in their 40's with college degrees working full time still could not afford a place to live when they lost their jobs. Hard working middle class people should not have to struggle like this when the stock market is booming and industries are recording record profits. The people at the top are raking in all the growth while hard working middle class people are still struggling to just get by.
He didnt say they could not afford a home, he said they had to live with family while finding a new home. Its called transition, not struggle. They both found new stable employment. What do you think should have happened in their time between jobs? Should their former employer have been obligated to put them up in a hotel while they found new work?
This kind of proves my point.
Two hard working, able bodied people got themselves out of an undesirable position with perseverance.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 05:13 PM)Beaker Wrote: Are you completely ignorant that the people are the economy, and if you want to change things it begins with individuals?
An individual can not change a tax law.
An individual can not change an interest rate.
An individual can not impose trade tariffs.
An individual can not stop a company from moving overseas.
An individual can not regulate lending practices.
An individual can not create a job market.
An individual can not give a corporation bankruptcy protection.
So, yes, I am completely ignorant of how an individual can change the economy. Please give me the details.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 05:17 PM)Beaker Wrote: How much does a business owner have to pay his employees to not be consider "exploiting the labor"?
Wages should rise based on inflation, worker productivity, and profits. When inflation, worker productivity, and profits are rising while labor wages remain the same or even drop then the employer is exploiting the workers.
Do you agree or disagree?
I can't give you a dollar amount because every job is different.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - XenoMorph - 07-24-2018
(07-20-2018, 04:00 PM)GMDino Wrote: Sigh...I guess the rest of us just have to "work harder".
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/19/income-inequality-continues-to-grow-in-the-united-states.html
are they factoring in homeless and people that wont work as well?
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 06:20 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: are they factoring in homeless and people that wont work as well?
Yes. Same as they always have.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - bfine32 - 07-24-2018
Why do folks hate Capitalism?
We are an economic Superpower and the the World's top economy:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/worlds-top-10-economies.asp
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - GMDino - 07-24-2018
![[Image: tom-invisible-hand.jpg]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tSomdTDpu2U/Tmk9TvjGvXI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/S-oLnUu45jo/s1600/tom-invisible-hand.jpg)
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 06:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Why do folks hate Capitalism?
We are an economic Superpower and the the World's top economy:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/worlds-top-10-economies.asp
Who hates Capitalism?
(07-24-2018, 11:50 AM)GMDino Wrote: Were the 50's and 60's a socialist time in America?
(07-24-2018, 12:00 PM)fredtoast Wrote: We have to have a capitalist based economy. The competition drives innovation and efficiency. But at the same time capitalism places profit motive over human lives and compassion.
So we need a capitalist system that is well regulated.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - bfine32 - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Who hates Capitalism?
So we need a capitalistic society that is regulated by the government?
Not sure that's Capitalism.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:12 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So we need a capitalistic society that is regulated by the government?
Not sure that's Capitalism.
Why would it not be capitalism? That is what we have right now and you agree that we currently have a capitalist economy.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - BmorePat87 - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:12 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So we need a capitalistic society that is regulated by the government?
Not sure that's Capitalism.
I think most people oppose crony capitalism, where businesses exert disproportionate power over the government. It's a bastardization of capitalism.
Personally, since we know pure capitalism is impossible, I'd lean more towards a mixed market economy.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - GMDino - 07-24-2018
![[Image: 37807537_1797265593696023_40450806827649...e=5BE2661D]](https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/37807537_1797265593696023_4045080682764959744_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=3153c9bef580e2d320f883391770efa8&oe=5BE2661D)
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - bfine32 - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:20 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: I think most people oppose crony capitalism, where businesses exert disproportionate power over the government. It's a bastardization of capitalism.
Personally, since we know pure capitalism is impossible, I'd lean more towards a mixed market economy.
It's actually a bastardization of government to allow themselves to be manipulated so.
The problem is not with the capitalists; it's with the government and some folk's answer is let's get the government more involved.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - fredtoast - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:27 PM)bfine32 Wrote: The problem is not with the capitalists; it's with the government and some folk's answer is let's get the government more involved.
The government has to get involved. Capitalists are not necessarily evil, but capitalism is. If a CEO doesn't do everything he can to keep wages low and increase profits then he will be replaced by stockholders.
Capitalism favors profits over the environment, workers health, and even human lives. If you don't believe me then read a history book about what was going on before the government got involved.
RE: US income inequality continues to grow - Belsnickel - 07-24-2018
(07-24-2018, 07:38 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The government has to get involved. Capitalists are not necessarily evil, but capitalism is. If a CEO doesn't do everything he can to keep wages low and increase profits then he will be replaced by stockholders.
This is where the real bastardization of capitalism has occurred. Once upon a time, corporations were concerned about all of their stakeholders. This meant the customers, employees, management, and any others that came in contact with the corporation. There was a shift that came where corporations became only focused on their stockholders. This is where the shift to "profit above all" came into play.
Capitalism itself isn't evil, either. People have corrupted it and caused the need for regulation. Capitalism, socialism, neither is a great solution. A mixed economy is always going to be best. Much like most things in life, black and white never provides a good answer. It's all about the grey.