Once More Into The Bad News, Dear Friends

I was especially impressed by the "Where did all the money go" section that shows how over the last 30 years the wealth of the top few percent went from 30% of the nation's wealth to 60%. Over that same time period our productivity more than doubled. Did the top executives and CEOs really deserve the credit for that doubling of production? Did the middle class really have nothing to do with it?

Yet I am told by some in their comments that the rich deserved and earned all that increase in wealth and proportion of wealth. I wonder how they justify the statistics. I know that it's all part of the Reagan Legacy but still...

Yes, and the nobility always felt that they should have everything, and many of the serfs agreed with them. LOL
Note that many of the CEOs and CFOs were the ones to bankrupt their companies.

"...one third of the profits the country produced went to the richest 1 percent of American society. Today it's almost 60 percent."

Hmmmm.... The top 1% are making all that extra money, yet the economy would be hurt by rescinding the tax cuts that give hundreds of billions more to the top percentages?

Notice that is was in the 1920 when that ratio was that bad or worse.

My usual comment re: the economy. How about cutting defense spending? Do we really need to spend a trillion a year to build more and more submarines and fighter jets, to fight whom? Terrorists? We could spend twice what the next largest defense spender spends and have 3/4 of a trillion left over, every year. For REAL defense spending, the middle class whom this article talks about spends more than half of their taxes each year on the latest submarine to add to our dozen fleets, and the latest airplane that is 3 mph faster than all the other planes we have and to support the 800 military bases around the world with their tennis courts, swimming pools and bowling alleys.

Thanks for cheering me up, George. Don't you hate guys like me who keep saying "I told you so?"

No, because that is what I have been saying for over 9 years.

This is exactly why education is so important.

There are way too many people in this world today, those smart enough and yes crime is also involved in this, manage to get ahead. Others will serve over the counter and manage cash registers and mow lawns.

That's the way it is and this will not change as it in reality has always been like this. There are just more people now, so the problem seem worse.

Yes Richard, every successful society has had a lower strata, which is necessary. But it doesn't have to be like the film Metropolis where the few live above ground in the pleasure gardens while the masses toil below earth making it all run.

There are degrees in how this equation can be managed.

Robert has it right. There are gradations, and the U.S. is moving backward in its income distribution.

The article said: Finley also noticed a change. Suddenly twice as many people were taking advantage of his social service organization's free meals program, and some were even driving up in BMWs -- apparently reluctant to give up the expensive cars that reminded them of better times.

I'm sorry, but someone who still drives a BMW is not poor. Perhaps by California standards, but not by the standards of the south or the mid-west.

I think what everyone needs to remember is that every town in America is not the same. Every region is not the same.

Yes, I put myself into that "everyone needs to remember." As I hear about how horrible things are in the US, I sit in a state with pretty high unemployment - Ohio. In my neighborhood, there have been people laid off. The man across the street lost his job in October of last year. But...his wife has taken up the slacks and has 3 part time jobs that more than make up for what he lost in income and he has become a house-husband.

In my neighborhood, it is now the norm for young moms to stay home with their kids - because the jobs for them are few and because day care is costly. Most have had the same cars for the last few years and they're not thinking of buying new ones any time soon. But they're not going into foreclosure on their homes, they're not losing their cars or even considering having only one vehicle to share, and they are paying utilities and feeding their families.

I realize that my neighborhood is not where everyone lives and I need to remember that. But it's just as important to understand that there are neighborhoods like mine all over the US. It's important to understand that some people are able to survive crisis because they have learned to rely on themselves, their families, and their friends and neighbors in times of need, rather than turning to the government. If only we could re-teach everyone else to be self-reliant and self-sufficient, our country would be back on the right track again.

"I'm sorry, but someone who still drives a BMW is not poor. Perhaps by California standards, but not by the standards of the south or the mid-west." They are if they are homeless -- unemployed and foreclosed and all they have is the BMW. That was the point that was being made. If you are in your 50's, you lose your job, you lose your home, and you live in your car, you are poor.

Thanks for that, George. People have to understand, if you're living in your car, you've got Big Problems. Regardless of whether it's a high-end luxury vehicle or an old beater.

The problem is that to some people, if they admit that, they have to think -- ah, there is the rub.

Sorry, I don't understand. My 18 year old Chevy would get me about $350 if I sold it. I could live in a flea bag motel for a month on that. If I had a BMW, I wouldn't live in it, I'd sell it so I could live somewhere else and eat.

And in Ventura, you would look for work, how? and if you got a job, you would go to work, how?