Let's talk about income inequality

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(05-21-2015, 10:20 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: Not everybody can become a skilled worker just by "studying harder" there are different levels of intelligence and aptitude across the population. My biggest problem with low paying jobs, is if you work 40/hr weeks it should pay enough money to not have to be on food stamps or Medicaid. A full-time job should pay enough to get you above the poverty line regardless of what the job is.

A lot of our service industry people came from the manufacturing sector after most of those jobs were outsourced over the past 30 years. There just aren't enough well paying jobs for people who got screwed by big business and our government passing free trade agreements and now another one is coming down the pipe.

This. Right. Here.

While I also agree with the gist of what Sunset is driving at, there are those who have been phased out by these ludicrous free trade policies that are designed for nothing more than to line shareholders' pockets. What those shareholders are losing sight of is......if everyone can no longer afford their goods, then how the hell are they going to stay in business? It appears we have forgotten our history lessons. The last time the wealth gap was this large, and wealth controlled by such a small percentage of the population, was near the end of the roaring 20s and the Gilded Age. What happened in October 1929?

I'm not for wealth redistribution......but that's not just a one way street either. Trickle down economic policies implemented in the 80s and moving from fair trade policies to free trade, have essentially redistributed quite a substantial amount of wealth from the middle/working class, right back into the pockets of the elite. At the rate we're going, I'm afraid the masses won't "eat cake" for long......