The Hard Truth about Economic Inequality that Both the Left and Right Ignore

[MeKevin]

I think everyone so far is on point, every post is pretty valid.

I always thought rising inequality has something to do with an increase in technology and increase productivity and efficiency. Now this argument has been made since the 1860s. This is a really rough example. Before a leap in farming technology, 1 person can only produce x amount of wheat. Increased efficiency means that he can now produce 5x. People flipped out. What they didn't understand, was yes, 4 other people now don't have to produce wheat, and the first guy is 5 times richer. Inequality. However, this guy being richer, his standard of living increases. So he is able to pay one of the other guys to make a lamp for him. Other guy now has a job, selling lamps. Maybe the other people start making clothes. As every sector gets more efficient, the standard of living goes up. And prices go down with efficiency. In todays world though, one guy can produce 1000 x. (say, 8,000 acres of wheat) But there has to be a point inequality does start. What if we start building robots to do all work. And robots to build and fix the robots. What would happen if it got to a point where it would take 1,000,000 workers to run all industry. They would be working and have money, but what about the other 80,000,000 prospective employees.

I am not saying this is the reason that we don't have jobs, but in terms of inequality, maybe. Right now, even the mildly rich have an extremely high standard of living, and that money is not being redistributed. There's only so much they can buy.

Always funny when elected leaders blame the iphone and its efficiencies for the recession.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Blames iPad For American Unemployment (VIDEO)

 

[Brazilnut]

Oh I understand what you and the OP are saying, although I know quite a few people that came from lower class that became successful because they had the drive, and didn't want to live like that the rest of their lives.

My wife came from a family of 9 kids. Her Dad earned middle class wages working for Ford, but with that large of a family they didn't live middle class. She knew what it was like to have hand me downs and do without. As a result she has worked hard for the last 34 years, been on her current job 27 years, and is tighter than bark on a tree when it comes to money....because she never wants to go back to living meager.


Just as a FYI I didn't retire from my business. I shut it down 11 years before I retired and went back to work for my previous employer that I had been employed by for 15 years before going into business. (left on good terms obviously)
The stress and the hours were making an old man out of me quick. Fortunately the business was debt free by that time and the sale of assets went back into retirement investments.

I know many people like your wife. My girlfriend is one. But her parents were still the definition of "middle class" in that they worked at a steady job making real wages and benefits, kept a more or less stable home environment, and understood the value of an education and its effect on their children's fiscal futures. And I'm glad you got out of that high-stress environment-it would have killed you. It kills western middle-class wage earners in job lots every year. China is discovering this now--their health care costs are rising meteorically. As is Taiwan's, Korea's, and India's.

We spend our health like water trying to make money. Then we spend all our money trying to get our health back. Who said that?

 

[Brazilnut]

"germain"

Thanks a lot BrazilNut, thats the second word I had to Wiki tonight!

Yeah, right, QBob. Don't come off all folksy and ignorant on me. I know better. Besides, if you were a numbskull like me, would you even be reading this thread? I rest my case.

 

[Jymbopalyse]

On top of what the OP's text covers is the fact that we in the west have exported the vast majority of our labour roles and as mentioned replaced with service roles. I think though that the amount of jobs available in whatever future economic shifts will be constantly reducing.

Automation and Ai will increase. jobs we can do will decrease.

Where we go from there is a bit scary. It'll feels a bit like the opposite of the trickle down effect. Those businesses that rely on an economically active community to thrive are going to see those communities economic power slowly reduce.

So we'll have a cronically poor working class, a severely squeezed middle class, and the wealth will be held be an even smaller group than is now.

left and right are both wrong in this scenario.

Future economic shifts ? ? ?

Well. What has happened since 2013

 

[Brek]

Future economic shifts ? ? ?

Well. What has happened since 2013

my bad, necro'd. They need to turn that shit off lol.

 

[mgenet]

It could happen.

I am witness to that fact.

Somnabitch, I just noticed this was a Necro.

Dammit. Neato thread though. Maybe worth
re-visiting since it was written 9 years ago.

Stuff to think about.

 

[SteveC]

This thread is gonna turn into a.......

We're not in 2013 any more, Toto

 

[dc007]

Peace out bros.
Just getting that in here 4 it goes byebye

 

[efstop]

The OP is definitely a TL;DR

 

[VictorB]

This thread is gonna turn into a.......

View attachment 586970


We're not in 2013 any more, Toto

Indeed