Let's talk about income inequality

[Benton]

(05-22-2015, 01:28 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Great thread, many good responses, particularly by 'Zona and Benton.  

I think that some of you missed the point I was aiming at.  Many people want to complain about income inequality, demand that they be paid more money for the lowest forms of employment, yet choose not to make themselves worth more to the job market.  It is entirely possible for anyone, even coming from the most dire of circumstances or upbringings to at least elevate themselves to Middle Class.  There are all sorts of jobs/professions that pay middle class money, yet do not require a great degree of intelligence or even a 4 year degree.  Pretty much anyone can pick a skilled trade, begin as a laborer and rise in rank over time.  Pretty much anyone that managed to graduate High School is intelligent enough to complete an Associate's Degree program at a Community College.  Heck, if you're broke, you can even go for free in most cases.

America is still the land of opportunity, where anyone that is willing to put in the effort, can achieve success and earn a comfortable existence.

For the most part, I agree with the bolded. People can elevate themselves here much better than a large chunk of the world.

I would say that ability is shrinking though. I'm not poking at you here — I think going back and getting an education and a new career is admirable — but you do serve as an example of that. You had a trade, but that market shrunk and you were forced to make changes. Luckily, you had that ability to go back and get an education. For some people, that trade is the best they could hope for.

Most of our industry has moved out. As it does, it decreases those opportunities for people to move up economic classes. Because as those jobs go, so do the other unskilled jobs that depend on them — construction workers, laborers, carpet layers, moving companies, ground keepers, etc. That's what happens when you have a large concentration of wealth at one place. The fewer people buying goods, building houses, getting services, then the less need you have for those occupations and the less they can generate.

In high school I worked construction work with any contractor I could get. I usually made $10-$15 cash as a laborer through the summer and on weekends. That was in the 90s and was about the average here where there was a fairly large chemical industrial complex. Now, 20 years later, the average for a day laborer here is 9-12$. For my area, it's the same as most — local industry shuffled companies around to lay off workers and rehired guys at one half to a third of what they used to pay, which hit everyone's earning potential. Company stocks were up, though.