Quote:
Originally Posted by Danzig
risk...a question i asked elsewhere that i'll put to you-and whoever else wants to answer that i can actually see their response...
how come it used to be you held a job in the u.s., you could survive. now, that's no longer the case. we've had these 'lower rung' jobs for decades, it used to be enough. now, it's not--and somehow that's the workers fault?
what has changed that what once meant being above poverty no longer does--and how did we decide that it's the employees fault, rather than the employers?
i would LOVE to know how that sea change occurred.
i already know the answer, it really is a rhetorical question.
the amount of payroll is the same, but more now goes the very top.
we have more than ever before graduating from college-the best educated populace in the history of the u.s. but wages are stagnant, or worse.
we have made change after change to our tax policies, to supposedly get the job creators to make more jobs...yet, that doesn't happen.
my son came home and said 'but, if walmart paid more, they'd sell more'. nope.
like i told him, it used to be the employer paid a living wage, and reaped the benefits by selling to their workers. but now, we, the taxpayer make up the difference between the **** wage those companies pay and what it takes to survive.
so, if walmart and the rest boosted their pay, it would take their employees off the dole...but wouldn't mean one more red cent to those businesses, because the peoples' overall income would remain the same.
and the banks and stores like walmart sure make money off those ebt cards, don't they?
the banks and corporations pay for the regulations, or lack thereof...and they pay to keep the min. wage from going up, and they laugh all the way to the vault.
and then when i bring up the bizarro world--i'm crazy? only in 'murica
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We have 7.4 million less manufacturing jobs than we did in 1979. Contrary to the philosophy of the Dell's of the world, Everybody can't be a captain of industry, rise from the ashes, and change the world.
Sometimes, folks just need a job that puts a roof over their head, offers them rudimentary healthcare, and at the very least affords them the mirage of hope- that when it's all said and done, they raised a family, put their kids through school in the hopes that their kids might have a better way, and didn't need to worry about dying in the streets in the process.
Those jobs are gone - unless you want to move to Bangalore, India, China, Bangladesh, etc...
I grew up in DC, not far from Baltimore, in fact spent a great deal of time there, back then. I remember Bethlehem Steel, General Motors (all the Chevy Astro vans were assembled there), GAF, all the cannery's along the harbor, along with a million other places that offered a decent (not great, but livable) wage and benefits (that wouldn't bankrupt you if you ever dared to use them) if you were willing to work for them. And the majority of folks did.
That's all gone. Walmart, McD's, etc - these jobs are their replacement - like it or not. The sad fact of the matter is that there is a majority of the population that is either not mentally, physically, financially adept enough to excel in the current climate (similarly to the way they were back then) - the difference - Back then, they could work an assembly line, operate plant machinery, etc... Now they are Cashiers and Greeters - if they can even get those jobs.
At the end of the day, the more they earn, the more they pay in taxes and the less of a burden overall the lower class is on the system. That is a positive for all of us (unless you're the corporation).