"If the economy is doing well for almost all Americans...the case for interventions such as income redistribution, industrial policy, and a larger welfare state collapses."
TLDR: "The Americans are living well. How do I know? Well, I'm living well and all my friends are living well, and that's the statistical evidence you just can't beat. Brought to you by BlackRock".
Thanks for sharing the article. I guess you've covered the third part of your slogan for this month. When I've seen this Boudreaux guy claim that the CPI "overstates" the rate of inflation, I cracked up.
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I agree with you that’s “CPI is overstated” is a head scratcher.
But the main premise - current income comparisons omit benefits paid to “poor” Americans AND taxes paid by “rich” Americans - remains intact. I never realized this until now.
Then consider the fact our own eyes confirm all governments exist to grow their control and power (Covid policies, new laws, new programs, etc). Where interests are aligned, a conspiracy is not required.
We’re are struggling. But “tax the rich” to play Robin Hood ain’t the answer.
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I've picked up a different message from the article. It says: Not Going Hungry is the New American Dream. Shifting the goalposts obviously isn't just the leftist pastime.
The whole article is just the rich telling us that everything is fine and if they can, please, keep their money, because it's not like they're hurting our existence. But they are. Big time. Not because they're rich, but because of the way most of them are getting there.
They're teaching us that the redistribution is an ugly word, if it means progressive taxation. I used to agree with that. But what they didn't tell us is that their Wall Street shenanigans, governmental subsidies and money printing are also redistribution - going their way, at our expense.
So, tax them away, I say. Answer or not, it would be nice to let them feel our pain for a bit. But no government is gonna do it, anyway. The problem with the government is not so much that it's too big (and getting bigger) - as is that it is not "for the people and by the people".
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I appreciate the different perspective, but this article seems like a bungled attempt to defend America and capitalism as if we even have either of those two things anymore. To state that the "CPI is an index known for almost 30 years to substantially overstate the rate of inflation" is patently absurd and directionally wrong -- and to source that to the Social Security Adminstration (given their motives) is laughable. American inequality is real, and that would be fine if we had a level playing field, but we don't. The fix is not to redistribute income. The fix is to level the field by putting an end to the broken, crooked, debt-based fiat money system, returning to a gold (or Bitcoin) standard.
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I have come to believe that the underlying premise of the Democrat party is control. People attracted to that party have an unusual affinity for totalitarian methods and ends. When given a choice of "freedom" versus centralized planning or control they generally choose control. Every societal problem or concern requires a government response, rather than a plea for personal responsibility and acceptance of risk.
Yes, there are a couple of exceptions--namely abortion and sex (both of which are interrelated), but even their response to people who disagree with them on these issues is totalitarian.
So when the author above comments on Leftist's propensity to ignore plainly available evidence that challenges their worldview, it is completely understandable that they ignore it, rather than be content that we might have actually improved a societal problem. The goal is not improvement, but to impose their will on others.
I believe that many people on the Left are on a spectrum of mental illness, and have unhealthy psychoses towards their fellow human beings. They choose not to "live and let live," but to "judge and control." They themselves are largely controlled by their inner feelings and instincts rather than the objective data that lie before them. That they are not celebrating this paper is more key evidence to that assertion.
Regarding sex and abortion - these too are about more control and less individualism. Let me elaborate.
What most people forget about this, is that these things used to be private matters. That meaning, that the government had absolutely no business in these. Now these strictly private matters become public matters, see the gay parades, the LGBT festivals, the trans education for children, etc. The first move of socializing something is always making a private matter public. Once the overton window has been widened to accept that a previously private topic is now public, the government can come in and regulate it and be ever more dictatorial and authoritarian about it. This is why they are so interested in everything related to sex and reproduction.
I agree that the Left is constantly attempting to push the Overton window. They understand how society changes, and they seemingly have a lot of free time to be activists for their causes.
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You can see this authoritarian tendency in the left with regard to incarceration as well. "Free all the prisoners!" (Except the ones we want in jail. they should be locked up forever without due process or trial. See: Trump, Penny, Chauvin, etc.) And, of course, things like science, religion, and so on. If they don't personally like a finding or belief, it is wrong and needs to be stamped out. Definitely not openly debated. This is indeed a form of psychosis.
Pardoning all the political prisoners in jail for their January 6 sightseeing tour of the Capitol must be the first thing President Party of Trump (GOP exists no more) must do.
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"The second of these major flaws is the common practice of adjusting for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index – an index known for almost 30 years to substantially overstate the rate of inflation." This is a wild claim.
Income alone is not a great metric for this debate. It would be better to look at purchasing power of accumulated wealth, but calculating this accurately due to the problems with CPI would be difficult. A better metric might be share of wealth and that data seems to substantiate the claim that the middle class is being curb-stomped into the poor house:
Wealth is not a fixed entity. Therefore "share of wealth" is misleading. There could be massive amounts of wealth being created, and you might only make a bit for yourself, but that doesn't mean you are worse off.
I've never understood the propensity of people to be spiteful or envious when someone else creates tremendous value that millions of people voluntarily trade with. This excludes crony capitalism or theft, of course. Both of those problems are government related.
But if you are suggesting that the middle class should be "given" wealth that others have created simply because they exist in the same society, then you are talking about something different than a free society where people are allowed to create as much value and trade as they wish.
If people feel that they are not adequately compensated for the value they create, then they should look to alternative wealth creation. That is how a free market works. The guy cutting the lawns all day can work to create his own landscaping company. No, it's not easy, but it seems that many people consider their situation to be the result of others "curb stomping them into the poor house" rather than taking control of their own destiny.
"Wealth is not a fixed entity. Therefore "share of wealth" is misleading. There could be massive amounts of wealth being created, and you might only make a bit for yourself, but that doesn't mean you are worse off."
Directly addressed in my comment: "It would be better to look at purchasing power of accumulated wealth, but calculating this accurately due to the problems with CPI would be difficult." If you have a better measure, I'm all ears.
"But if you are suggesting that the middle class should be "given" wealth that others have created simply because they exist in the same society, then you are talking about something different than a free society where people are allowed to create as much value and trade as they wish."
Maybe I took too much from your comment "...that data seems to substantiate the claim that the middle class is being curb-stomped into the poor house."
First, I don't believe this insinuation. If anyone becomes "poor" in our economy it's usually because they are spending too much, not because they don't make enough. Usually. Sometimes it's a terrible event or something out of their control, and I absolutely feel for those folks. But for the vast majority, poverty is brought upon themselves. If they don't make enough there are ample opportunities for all people of all skill sets to better themselves. But not all people want to make the sacrifices necessary to do that. That's fine, but please don't suggest that their own condition is due to some wealthy bogeyman who is purposefully stealing their wealth.
Wealthy people are mostly wealthy because they have a "wealth mindset." Yes, that means they have largely figured out how to create wealth and continue to do so. That does not preclude anyone else from also creating wealth.
So, what are you suggesting, here, if not what I originally thought?
You are way overboard on the idea that you are the "captain of your fate."
Sure there are good and poor decisions, but there are people that have worked hard their whole lives and made pretty good decisions but they have never accumulated a bunch of "wealth." There there are people like.......Hunter Biden.
You sound like one of those cold hearted bastards that thinks only bad things happen to bad people, or people are victims of their own decision. You mean like the 8 year old that gets leukemia....and his parents spend everything they have and then go into huge debt trying to get him through it? People shouldn't have to sell their lives trying to get medical care for their child........and don't give me any shit about how much medical services cost when we send billions to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine as if we are "saving lives" rather than just paying to kill more.
Look at the billionaires of today.........the ultra "successful" or our society. If you took their money away and made it so they couldn't go get anything but a payday loan, most of them would be street urchins within weeks. For every wealthy person you could list today that went from rags to riches by their own hard work and ingenuity, I could list a dozen that rode to wealth by riding someone else's money.
There hasn't been any pure capitalism in this country since the Whiskey Rebellion of 1793. There haven't been any "free markets" in the last 40 years. I agree there are a lot of freeloaders.......always has been when they are enabled. But we have a system today that is tilted hard to reward those with money and penalize those of us that have to work for a living.
You make a fair point, and I don't disagree. But I also see a lot of the little things that people do that have a large cumulative impact on their ability to face major life tragedies. Being prepared is a big deal. I'm not blaming them, just saying that don't cry because you are not a millionaire.
And I don't think any of the things that you said, to be honest. I just know that "shit happens" and the best thing you can do is be prepared for it. It happens to everyone. But going out and buying a brand new car when you are a cashier at Best Buy is dumb. But people do, because we live in a materialist society.
And, your example of the child with cancer's family going bankrupt is over the top. You wouldn't know that I served on the board of a charity that helped with that very thing. I have huge empathy for families, because I love children. Not having health insurance for your children though, but spending money on other things in this day and age where all you have to do is enlist on a website is borderline criminal. Priorities. You may not like it, but indulging our softness does no one any favors.
My point is that you can live comfortably if you choose, but to get "wealthy"--as many people complain about--you have to make special sacrifices and it's incredibly difficult.
Overall, I tend to agree with the article, in that poverty is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be, and that's largely because our society is much more "equitable" than it used to be. There are many social safety nets that didn't exist many years ago.
And, as to us not being in a true free market -- I 100% agree. And yes, capitalism rewards capital. That's how it is. If you want a system that does not reward capital, then no one would accumulate it, and you then would have Marxism. It simply doesn't work.
You make some good points. My child with cancer example was extreme, but not unrealistic. My main point is that things happen out of our control......even when we plan well. Sure there are a lot of stupid, delinquent people out there that deserve what they get based on their decisions, but there are a lot of good people that suffer hard times that are out of their control. We really need to go case by case rather than assuming "one size fits all" in any given condition.
After reading the sentence given to Stewart Rhodes by a third world immigrant, who thinks himself worthy to lecture a veteran on what's best for our republic, we are reminded again that we are not in control of our world and its circumstances.
The divide is not about dollars and cents........although that is what it has been dumbed down to because of the worship of money in our society. The divide over income is a metric for the lazy and ignorant.
The true divide is over freedom. Sure, the sheeple may be getting bigger pastures, greener grass, sweeter feed, cleaner water, better veterinary service, but they are still sheep that are fenced and herded at the will of the ranchers.
I for one have more money now than I have ever had in my life but I am not near as free as I was 25 years ago. As long as you are on the herd program you can do whatever else the herd is doing. The rancher will hold out the feed bucket and lead you around to where he wants you to go.......and reward you when you get there. You go on the government, welfare take, and you will do what you are told or you will be cut off........and even punished. We are paid to look like the herd, act like the herd, and think like the herd. Everything is awesome when you are just one of the herd. Try and take some independent action, or think and speak independently, and you had better have a huge bank roll to fund your legal expenses. Freedom of speech is under attack because that is the next level of freedom on the schedule to be removed. A man in Germany just got 3 years in prison for making pro-Putin comments. Plenty of sheeple in this country have gotten censored or cut off or fined for saying things deemed to be "hate speech" by the ranchers.
Many of the sheeple think they live in a free society and have equal justice under the law. And that false premise would be due to the fact that they have never had a run in with the "law" and have no idea that the level of justice you get in 'Murica! is directly related to the size of your bank account. Sheeple are never presumed innocent until proven guilty; they are presumed guilty until they can buy their innocence.
What percent of Americans are debt free? Sure they eat better, have more things, drive nicer cars, and have internet, but how many Americans are debt free today in comparison to 25-35 years ago? I bet less than 10% of Americans are debt free. You can say that is by choice, but I would say take a look around, we live in a society designed and programmed to put people in debt. Debt is not freedom; debt is slavery. Corporate ranchers have created a world and gotten political ranchers to pass laws that force the sheeple to the corporate trough. You think the grass is free? Just ask Monsanto, they got the Supreme Court to agree that it isn't.
Often, when I think on this subject, I think of Les Miserable and the "Master of the House" where you were charged if you wanted the window open or charged if you wanted the window shut. You were charged for a not having to go up the stairs and you were charged for using the stairs. Our society has become one giant "House" run by a handful of "Masters" that has figured out how to charge us for everything. When they get their new digital fences up, they are going to charge us for everything.......right down to the air we breath.
Nobody's been fed more by the government than the rapacious CEO's of companies who are now history. BBBY, Toys R Us are but two examples. Borrow money, buy a company, pay out with borrowed money implode the company. let the PBGC pick up the pieces. Make the uninsured depositors of SVB, and the other crashed entities whole. WTF, Chris? https://www.epsilontheory.com/the-united-states-of-bed-bath-beyond/
I think it's actually about representation. There is an entire third or so of this country that works in lower to middle class jobs, supports the country via taxes and their blood, and yet has no representation in government or among the elite institutions. To use a leftist phrase: they don't see themselves in the institutions that are supposed to be supporting them. They are overtly, illegally discriminated against in hiring (especially high-paying government jobs) and in college admissions. They are purposefully excluded from the national conversation. To me, that's the "inequality" that the populist right is talking about. And they are correct in that assessment.
What do you expect? We are the minority. We might be a majority in comparison to all the other groups......minorities........but when you add them together, there are way more of them.
We have become marginalized in our own country and mostly because we have let our children become educated against us. Send them to the government indoctrination facility for the first 22 years of their life so they can be told the government is God, parents are just care takers, and the world owes them for something that has happened to them........mostly that we were their parents and the abuse they suffered as a result of it........while we were abusing all the other minorities in the world. When that is the case......since the 60s.......with each passing generation, our way of thinking gets fewer and fewer members. Our "way of thinking" never recovers until some serious pain and suffering takes place.
As long as they can hand out money along with unlimited bread and games, their ranks will continue to grow, and the pain and suffering will be put off again. Our lack of representation only gets worse from here.
Just saw Baby J. Is this like his GQ interview? Income and support and 55" color TV's are commonplace all the way down. Rudy Havenstein writes about WEALTH inequality all the time, and the share of wealth held by the .1%, 1%, as opposed to the bottom 50% has risen dramatically courtesy of the Fed. Do you disagree with those alternative facts?
I believe the cited authors are correct, that the systemic "inequality" claim is mostly a myth. But in my view most of them miss a separate, more important point in the inequality discussion. This is the issue of wealth re-distribution caused by the Fed, mostly during QE. Since 2009, the Fed (and other central banks) have pumped up asset prices, benefiting mostly the biggest owners of assets. This was a massive transfer of wealth to the very wealthy from nearly everyone else. The injustice of this transfer cannot be ignored. It is not to say upward mobility is gone, or that the American dream is dead. But the asset bubble was rigged in favor of the very rich. We must not forget this problem, and we must fix it.
It seems to me that there have been quite a few stories lately about the fact that a family of four can obtain support to the tune of $100k or more in a number of states adding up unemployment, SNAP, welfare and other transfers, so clearly, not counting those would be incorrect. However, it is also difficult to look around and not see the extreme increases in wealth from the super rich.
Ultimately, I would contend the issue is the lack of personal responsibility by many and their unwillingness to take ownership of their actions and decisions and how that affects their lives.
I’m sure all those sweet benefits were used in purchases of assets like real estate, equities, gold and silver, and bitcoin countering the affects of inflation. Yeah, probably not.
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TLDR: "The Americans are living well. How do I know? Well, I'm living well and all my friends are living well, and that's the statistical evidence you just can't beat. Brought to you by BlackRock".
Thanks for sharing the article. I guess you've covered the third part of your slogan for this month. When I've seen this Boudreaux guy claim that the CPI "overstates" the rate of inflation, I cracked up.
Yea
I have been scratching my head on that one. That is the first time I have ever seen someone state that.
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I agree with you that’s “CPI is overstated” is a head scratcher.
But the main premise - current income comparisons omit benefits paid to “poor” Americans AND taxes paid by “rich” Americans - remains intact. I never realized this until now.
Then consider the fact our own eyes confirm all governments exist to grow their control and power (Covid policies, new laws, new programs, etc). Where interests are aligned, a conspiracy is not required.
We’re are struggling. But “tax the rich” to play Robin Hood ain’t the answer.
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I've picked up a different message from the article. It says: Not Going Hungry is the New American Dream. Shifting the goalposts obviously isn't just the leftist pastime.
The whole article is just the rich telling us that everything is fine and if they can, please, keep their money, because it's not like they're hurting our existence. But they are. Big time. Not because they're rich, but because of the way most of them are getting there.
They're teaching us that the redistribution is an ugly word, if it means progressive taxation. I used to agree with that. But what they didn't tell us is that their Wall Street shenanigans, governmental subsidies and money printing are also redistribution - going their way, at our expense.
So, tax them away, I say. Answer or not, it would be nice to let them feel our pain for a bit. But no government is gonna do it, anyway. The problem with the government is not so much that it's too big (and getting bigger) - as is that it is not "for the people and by the people".
Student Loan Debt: $1.6 trillion
Credit Card Debt (revolving): $488 Billion
Auto Loan Debt: $1.5 Trillion
Source: Nerd Wallet
Americans living paycheck to paycheck: 64%
These debt numbers suggest not a dying middle class, but a dead middle class.
Our nation has been looted. Who?
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I appreciate the different perspective, but this article seems like a bungled attempt to defend America and capitalism as if we even have either of those two things anymore. To state that the "CPI is an index known for almost 30 years to substantially overstate the rate of inflation" is patently absurd and directionally wrong -- and to source that to the Social Security Adminstration (given their motives) is laughable. American inequality is real, and that would be fine if we had a level playing field, but we don't. The fix is not to redistribute income. The fix is to level the field by putting an end to the broken, crooked, debt-based fiat money system, returning to a gold (or Bitcoin) standard.
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From our first children’s book on sound versus fiat money. Fiat-
And sound money-
I have come to believe that the underlying premise of the Democrat party is control. People attracted to that party have an unusual affinity for totalitarian methods and ends. When given a choice of "freedom" versus centralized planning or control they generally choose control. Every societal problem or concern requires a government response, rather than a plea for personal responsibility and acceptance of risk.
Yes, there are a couple of exceptions--namely abortion and sex (both of which are interrelated), but even their response to people who disagree with them on these issues is totalitarian.
So when the author above comments on Leftist's propensity to ignore plainly available evidence that challenges their worldview, it is completely understandable that they ignore it, rather than be content that we might have actually improved a societal problem. The goal is not improvement, but to impose their will on others.
I believe that many people on the Left are on a spectrum of mental illness, and have unhealthy psychoses towards their fellow human beings. They choose not to "live and let live," but to "judge and control." They themselves are largely controlled by their inner feelings and instincts rather than the objective data that lie before them. That they are not celebrating this paper is more key evidence to that assertion.
Regarding sex and abortion - these too are about more control and less individualism. Let me elaborate.
What most people forget about this, is that these things used to be private matters. That meaning, that the government had absolutely no business in these. Now these strictly private matters become public matters, see the gay parades, the LGBT festivals, the trans education for children, etc. The first move of socializing something is always making a private matter public. Once the overton window has been widened to accept that a previously private topic is now public, the government can come in and regulate it and be ever more dictatorial and authoritarian about it. This is why they are so interested in everything related to sex and reproduction.
I agree that the Left is constantly attempting to push the Overton window. They understand how society changes, and they seemingly have a lot of free time to be activists for their causes.
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You can see this authoritarian tendency in the left with regard to incarceration as well. "Free all the prisoners!" (Except the ones we want in jail. they should be locked up forever without due process or trial. See: Trump, Penny, Chauvin, etc.) And, of course, things like science, religion, and so on. If they don't personally like a finding or belief, it is wrong and needs to be stamped out. Definitely not openly debated. This is indeed a form of psychosis.
Pardoning all the political prisoners in jail for their January 6 sightseeing tour of the Capitol must be the first thing President Party of Trump (GOP exists no more) must do.
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"The second of these major flaws is the common practice of adjusting for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index – an index known for almost 30 years to substantially overstate the rate of inflation." This is a wild claim.
Income alone is not a great metric for this debate. It would be better to look at purchasing power of accumulated wealth, but calculating this accurately due to the problems with CPI would be difficult. A better metric might be share of wealth and that data seems to substantiate the claim that the middle class is being curb-stomped into the poor house:
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Top 1% https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBST01134
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the 50th to 90th Wealth Percentiles https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSN40188
Share of Total Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSB50215
Wealth is not a fixed entity. Therefore "share of wealth" is misleading. There could be massive amounts of wealth being created, and you might only make a bit for yourself, but that doesn't mean you are worse off.
I've never understood the propensity of people to be spiteful or envious when someone else creates tremendous value that millions of people voluntarily trade with. This excludes crony capitalism or theft, of course. Both of those problems are government related.
But if you are suggesting that the middle class should be "given" wealth that others have created simply because they exist in the same society, then you are talking about something different than a free society where people are allowed to create as much value and trade as they wish.
If people feel that they are not adequately compensated for the value they create, then they should look to alternative wealth creation. That is how a free market works. The guy cutting the lawns all day can work to create his own landscaping company. No, it's not easy, but it seems that many people consider their situation to be the result of others "curb stomping them into the poor house" rather than taking control of their own destiny.
Everything the Fed has done since 2007 has been curb stomping us rubes while enriching Jeff Epstein's friends. Stock buybacks. Read Ben Hunt.
"Wealth is not a fixed entity. Therefore "share of wealth" is misleading. There could be massive amounts of wealth being created, and you might only make a bit for yourself, but that doesn't mean you are worse off."
Directly addressed in my comment: "It would be better to look at purchasing power of accumulated wealth, but calculating this accurately due to the problems with CPI would be difficult." If you have a better measure, I'm all ears.
"But if you are suggesting that the middle class should be "given" wealth that others have created simply because they exist in the same society, then you are talking about something different than a free society where people are allowed to create as much value and trade as they wish."
When did I ever suggest this?
Maybe I took too much from your comment "...that data seems to substantiate the claim that the middle class is being curb-stomped into the poor house."
First, I don't believe this insinuation. If anyone becomes "poor" in our economy it's usually because they are spending too much, not because they don't make enough. Usually. Sometimes it's a terrible event or something out of their control, and I absolutely feel for those folks. But for the vast majority, poverty is brought upon themselves. If they don't make enough there are ample opportunities for all people of all skill sets to better themselves. But not all people want to make the sacrifices necessary to do that. That's fine, but please don't suggest that their own condition is due to some wealthy bogeyman who is purposefully stealing their wealth.
Wealthy people are mostly wealthy because they have a "wealth mindset." Yes, that means they have largely figured out how to create wealth and continue to do so. That does not preclude anyone else from also creating wealth.
So, what are you suggesting, here, if not what I originally thought?
You are way overboard on the idea that you are the "captain of your fate."
Sure there are good and poor decisions, but there are people that have worked hard their whole lives and made pretty good decisions but they have never accumulated a bunch of "wealth." There there are people like.......Hunter Biden.
You sound like one of those cold hearted bastards that thinks only bad things happen to bad people, or people are victims of their own decision. You mean like the 8 year old that gets leukemia....and his parents spend everything they have and then go into huge debt trying to get him through it? People shouldn't have to sell their lives trying to get medical care for their child........and don't give me any shit about how much medical services cost when we send billions to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine as if we are "saving lives" rather than just paying to kill more.
Look at the billionaires of today.........the ultra "successful" or our society. If you took their money away and made it so they couldn't go get anything but a payday loan, most of them would be street urchins within weeks. For every wealthy person you could list today that went from rags to riches by their own hard work and ingenuity, I could list a dozen that rode to wealth by riding someone else's money.
There hasn't been any pure capitalism in this country since the Whiskey Rebellion of 1793. There haven't been any "free markets" in the last 40 years. I agree there are a lot of freeloaders.......always has been when they are enabled. But we have a system today that is tilted hard to reward those with money and penalize those of us that have to work for a living.
I'd say that the infamous date when Woodrow Wilson signed the law setting up the Fed was the beginning of crony capitalism. Jim Grant for President.
You make a fair point, and I don't disagree. But I also see a lot of the little things that people do that have a large cumulative impact on their ability to face major life tragedies. Being prepared is a big deal. I'm not blaming them, just saying that don't cry because you are not a millionaire.
And I don't think any of the things that you said, to be honest. I just know that "shit happens" and the best thing you can do is be prepared for it. It happens to everyone. But going out and buying a brand new car when you are a cashier at Best Buy is dumb. But people do, because we live in a materialist society.
And, your example of the child with cancer's family going bankrupt is over the top. You wouldn't know that I served on the board of a charity that helped with that very thing. I have huge empathy for families, because I love children. Not having health insurance for your children though, but spending money on other things in this day and age where all you have to do is enlist on a website is borderline criminal. Priorities. You may not like it, but indulging our softness does no one any favors.
My point is that you can live comfortably if you choose, but to get "wealthy"--as many people complain about--you have to make special sacrifices and it's incredibly difficult.
Overall, I tend to agree with the article, in that poverty is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be, and that's largely because our society is much more "equitable" than it used to be. There are many social safety nets that didn't exist many years ago.
And, as to us not being in a true free market -- I 100% agree. And yes, capitalism rewards capital. That's how it is. If you want a system that does not reward capital, then no one would accumulate it, and you then would have Marxism. It simply doesn't work.
You make some good points. My child with cancer example was extreme, but not unrealistic. My main point is that things happen out of our control......even when we plan well. Sure there are a lot of stupid, delinquent people out there that deserve what they get based on their decisions, but there are a lot of good people that suffer hard times that are out of their control. We really need to go case by case rather than assuming "one size fits all" in any given condition.
After reading the sentence given to Stewart Rhodes by a third world immigrant, who thinks himself worthy to lecture a veteran on what's best for our republic, we are reminded again that we are not in control of our world and its circumstances.
Here's wishing you and yours all the best.
The divide is not about dollars and cents........although that is what it has been dumbed down to because of the worship of money in our society. The divide over income is a metric for the lazy and ignorant.
The true divide is over freedom. Sure, the sheeple may be getting bigger pastures, greener grass, sweeter feed, cleaner water, better veterinary service, but they are still sheep that are fenced and herded at the will of the ranchers.
I for one have more money now than I have ever had in my life but I am not near as free as I was 25 years ago. As long as you are on the herd program you can do whatever else the herd is doing. The rancher will hold out the feed bucket and lead you around to where he wants you to go.......and reward you when you get there. You go on the government, welfare take, and you will do what you are told or you will be cut off........and even punished. We are paid to look like the herd, act like the herd, and think like the herd. Everything is awesome when you are just one of the herd. Try and take some independent action, or think and speak independently, and you had better have a huge bank roll to fund your legal expenses. Freedom of speech is under attack because that is the next level of freedom on the schedule to be removed. A man in Germany just got 3 years in prison for making pro-Putin comments. Plenty of sheeple in this country have gotten censored or cut off or fined for saying things deemed to be "hate speech" by the ranchers.
Many of the sheeple think they live in a free society and have equal justice under the law. And that false premise would be due to the fact that they have never had a run in with the "law" and have no idea that the level of justice you get in 'Murica! is directly related to the size of your bank account. Sheeple are never presumed innocent until proven guilty; they are presumed guilty until they can buy their innocence.
What percent of Americans are debt free? Sure they eat better, have more things, drive nicer cars, and have internet, but how many Americans are debt free today in comparison to 25-35 years ago? I bet less than 10% of Americans are debt free. You can say that is by choice, but I would say take a look around, we live in a society designed and programmed to put people in debt. Debt is not freedom; debt is slavery. Corporate ranchers have created a world and gotten political ranchers to pass laws that force the sheeple to the corporate trough. You think the grass is free? Just ask Monsanto, they got the Supreme Court to agree that it isn't.
Often, when I think on this subject, I think of Les Miserable and the "Master of the House" where you were charged if you wanted the window open or charged if you wanted the window shut. You were charged for a not having to go up the stairs and you were charged for using the stairs. Our society has become one giant "House" run by a handful of "Masters" that has figured out how to charge us for everything. When they get their new digital fences up, they are going to charge us for everything.......right down to the air we breath.
Nobody's been fed more by the government than the rapacious CEO's of companies who are now history. BBBY, Toys R Us are but two examples. Borrow money, buy a company, pay out with borrowed money implode the company. let the PBGC pick up the pieces. Make the uninsured depositors of SVB, and the other crashed entities whole. WTF, Chris? https://www.epsilontheory.com/the-united-states-of-bed-bath-beyond/
I think it's actually about representation. There is an entire third or so of this country that works in lower to middle class jobs, supports the country via taxes and their blood, and yet has no representation in government or among the elite institutions. To use a leftist phrase: they don't see themselves in the institutions that are supposed to be supporting them. They are overtly, illegally discriminated against in hiring (especially high-paying government jobs) and in college admissions. They are purposefully excluded from the national conversation. To me, that's the "inequality" that the populist right is talking about. And they are correct in that assessment.
What do you expect? We are the minority. We might be a majority in comparison to all the other groups......minorities........but when you add them together, there are way more of them.
We have become marginalized in our own country and mostly because we have let our children become educated against us. Send them to the government indoctrination facility for the first 22 years of their life so they can be told the government is God, parents are just care takers, and the world owes them for something that has happened to them........mostly that we were their parents and the abuse they suffered as a result of it........while we were abusing all the other minorities in the world. When that is the case......since the 60s.......with each passing generation, our way of thinking gets fewer and fewer members. Our "way of thinking" never recovers until some serious pain and suffering takes place.
As long as they can hand out money along with unlimited bread and games, their ranks will continue to grow, and the pain and suffering will be put off again. Our lack of representation only gets worse from here.
Just saw Baby J. Is this like his GQ interview? Income and support and 55" color TV's are commonplace all the way down. Rudy Havenstein writes about WEALTH inequality all the time, and the share of wealth held by the .1%, 1%, as opposed to the bottom 50% has risen dramatically courtesy of the Fed. Do you disagree with those alternative facts?
when I read CPI understates inflation, I cancelled my membershio
I believe the cited authors are correct, that the systemic "inequality" claim is mostly a myth. But in my view most of them miss a separate, more important point in the inequality discussion. This is the issue of wealth re-distribution caused by the Fed, mostly during QE. Since 2009, the Fed (and other central banks) have pumped up asset prices, benefiting mostly the biggest owners of assets. This was a massive transfer of wealth to the very wealthy from nearly everyone else. The injustice of this transfer cannot be ignored. It is not to say upward mobility is gone, or that the American dream is dead. But the asset bubble was rigged in favor of the very rich. We must not forget this problem, and we must fix it.
It seems to me that there have been quite a few stories lately about the fact that a family of four can obtain support to the tune of $100k or more in a number of states adding up unemployment, SNAP, welfare and other transfers, so clearly, not counting those would be incorrect. However, it is also difficult to look around and not see the extreme increases in wealth from the super rich.
Ultimately, I would contend the issue is the lack of personal responsibility by many and their unwillingness to take ownership of their actions and decisions and how that affects their lives.
Agree with Illinois Entrepreneur 💯%
I’m sure all those sweet benefits were used in purchases of assets like real estate, equities, gold and silver, and bitcoin countering the affects of inflation. Yeah, probably not.
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