Two of my kids are and in their 30s with three kids each who are six years old and younger. They work for your supposed greedy corporations. Funny thing is, they are paid very well so maybe the corporations are as greedy as you believe.
The harder I work, the luckier I get. Look around. Most poor people have stacked up so many bad choices that they are uncountable. They weren’t just unlucky. We are all lucky to be in this country. If you can’t make it here, you’ve mad way too many bad choices.First of all, welcome new member. As you haven't seen my older posts we can rehash some of them here, albeit abbreviated. Do take care to Ignore the personal insult artists on here. Many of them have lost a debate to me, and are still bitter about it.
My hypothesis is such that; a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Are all of them a victim of circumstance? Probably not. Are they all a victim of their own bad decisions? Probably not again. So some messed-up their own lives, and some simply had bad luck. Difficult to tell which is which sometimes. But assuming the latter in favor of the former (as most folks on here do) is not correct. We only have some degree of free agency over our own lives. It's not unlimited. My greater point would be such that; living in America has gotten so expensive that in most situations it necessitates both parents working full time, or in the case of a single-parent household, one parent working much more than full time.
And in doing so has had deleterious effects on our society, and our children in particular. Negative effects which many on here only blame the individual for, rather than offer any meaningful solutions. Once again, they think if they scream "personal responsibility" really loudly that the problems will all just magically go away. Do you think my mortgage lender will accept that as payment?
I've lived in my fair share of sh!t-hole places myself. Roaches, rats, possums, burglars. Mine was also 6 hours away from home because that was the only full time job available after the great recession; because the republicans rat-f@cked the world economy with their financial deregulation.
I did the same thing with two friends, but there's only so many bedrooms in the house, and I wasn't there to watch over the place so you can only do that so much.
Yes, but that goes back to was it their fault, someone else's, or just bad luck. Hard to tell which is which with someone unless you know them, and the entirety of their circumstances. The default assumption from the far-right members on this forum is that everyone in a bad financial spot is there due to their own actions and "sucks to be you." Hardly a fact-based opinion.
I know both, those that over-spend, and those that save every dollar; only to be kneecapped by circumstances beyond their control.
If that's possible for you than good. But that math doesn't math for everyone in America. Just because you were able to make it work doesn't mean that all 342 million Americans can. Look man, somebody has to flip burgers and mop the floors. And the math of that doesn't work out if only one spouse is working. Like I said in another reply to a different member, the only couples with kids that are financially succeeding that I know of, are the ones with two incomes; aside from the ones where one spouse is a doctor. The capitalist machine demands all of their time, and then blames them for not having enough time for their kids. Pretty sick if you ask me.
Back to the; is it them, or something else argument...Now think of a family situation in which none of the grandparents are available, or even alive to help offset the costs of child care, or offer any support whatsoever...Perhaps you have more luck than many out there.
Careful now, I recall Hillary Clinton saying something like that in the 2016 election and Republicans got big mad over it. You don't want to make any enemies this early on in the thread...(sarcasm)
Same for me.
I also have plenty of what I call "f@ck-up friends." They're fun to be around, but I don't emulate their life choices. But bad choices alone don't account for the financial difficulties of tens of millions of Americans. Thinking so is just a far-right cop-out for letting big corporations screw over their workers, and then blame them for their own poor economic circumstances. Nobody who works 50 hours a week should be on food stamps.
Ahh, the first person on here acknowledging that luck plays a role, careful now, if you don't buy into this groups "meritocracy only" myth, they may try and digitally tar-and-feather you. Just because someone lost the lottery doesn't mean we should blame them for it.
Warren Buffett on the Ovarian Lottery - Conversable Economist
Warren Buffett used to talk from time to time about the implications of what he called "the ovarian lottery"--the random accident of why you were born with one time, place, and identity rather than another. It's not a new idea. Some of you will know it as a version of what the philosopher John Rawlsconversableeconomist.com
It could be that as well. The old "keeping up with the Jone's" situation. But I was primarily referring to the capitalist machine that requires one to be on the financial treadmill your entire life, less ye want to become homeless and have to beg for scrapes from passerby's. Big business paying workers as little as possible for their labor, whilst claiming poverty, all the while making record profits. As our country continues the slow separation into two Americas. The haves, and the have nots; because the right-wingers endlessly simp for the corporations. A new Gilded Age if there ever was one.
In case you can't tell by now; it's the large corporations, the citizens united ruling, the Oligarchs who buy elections and convince all of these "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" on here that tax cuts for the rich and deficit spending will make our lives better (spoiler alert, it won't). But most of all...it's Shareholder Value Theory. Every single bad economic/fiscal decision this country has made for 50 years can be traced back to this god awful idea. That's what needs to go more than anything else. Sadly its a mindset, so short of electro-shock therapy on the majority of the country I don't see it going away anytime soon.
That's the thing, the negative trade-offs resulting from structural changes are minimal, at least for the median American anyways. Jeff Bezos may have to downsize his Yacht, and Zuck may have to sell a bunker, but if that means more Americans can buy boats, and second homes, then its worth it.
Your post seems to understand both the concept of context and nuance, something that many of the posts on this thread usually lack...Stay classy Tex.
He believes corporations are just supposed to be employment agencies and not make decent profits.
Yes and there are still people missing. We had another 1000 year flood in the same canyon in September 2013 after 24 inches of rain with 12 inches falling on the last day alone. It killed fewer people but was actually worse as far as damage. In 1976, people got in their vehicles and tried to outrun the wall of water that resulted from the Lake Estes damn break. In 2013, people climbed to safety, including two of my guides and four hunters. I rented a helicopter to rescue them because 17 miles of highway disappeared right down to the bedrock.
Thank you for that response. I absolutely agree that there are a lot of dynamics that contribute to success or failure. I struggle with the idea that the state has a role in creating success. I do believe it has a role in protecting the vulnerable and enforcing rules. But, more than that scares me.Thank you. I will accept this as a compliment. I think it may be my first on here.
Technically I think lower middle class. But it depends on the definition one uses.
I think of them more as a "side hustle," but I suppose the IRS classifies them as businesses..."Sole Proprietorship" as they say.
I think last I checked my wife and I recently broke the top 10% of households in America, by both Net Worth and by Income. We are now in the 24% marginal tax bracket for MFJ.
America is Flawed? Yes (every place has it's own flaws though). Causes poverty? No. The studies and associated math are mainly to show that many of the politicians on the right are trying to put the blame of folks living in poor financial situations on their own actions, and ONLY their own actions. When for millions of folks (possibly more), that simply isn't true. The situation is far more complex. There are plenty of folks that have fallen on hard times because of their own bad choices in life. But I can think of plenty of situations where that is not the case, and the blame can be laid at the feet of greedy C-suite executives working in conjunction with the republican politicians they paid off.
Yes, thank you for asking.
Example #1: My first full time job out of grad school in FL was working for a defense contractor. This was many years ago, fresh off the Great Recession caused by Republicans big ideas about financial deregulation. Anyways, the company was private and had recently been bought out by a private equity firm.
Camber Corporation - New Mountain Capital
Camber Corporation is a leading pure play provider of professional and management services for federal government agencies, specializing in information technology, decision support systems, training, engineering, and modeling and simulation, primarily within the Department of Defense. Under the...www.newmountaincapital.com
The target ROI for the business when it was private was 12-14%. Respectable. But not enough for its new masters. Their initial ROI expectation was 17-20%. They reviewed everybody in the office for profitability that year, and anyone that was still not "performing" was let go. To be clear, the employees fired were all working hard and actively making money for the company. It's just that they were not meeting their target rate of 17-20% for their projects, and were fired. But what about their mortgage payment? Tough sh!t. Their wife and kids? Tough sh!t. You see, even when you make money for large companies their is no loyalty. They don't care about you, into the unemployment line you go, no severance package. Good luck.
Luckily my project/contract was the main anchor for the office, and I was spared (if I told you what it was for you wouldn't believe me). They met their target that first year, and what did we all receive for it? A 1% raise, and a pizza party. Gee thanks. After only 1.5 years i decided it was time to leave. It didn't help that management there was dog-sh!t. And they raised their target ROI to 20-23% for the next year.
Around that time they also fired a guy because he was gay. New office-level management was very far-right, and not so happy about having him on the payroll. So you can see that working hard doesn't matter, making your company profit doesn't matter, it's never enough. There was more going on, but I suspect many of you have stopped reading by now.
Example #2: My cousin worked for Northwest Airlines for decades. Then it filed for bankruptcy and later merged with Delta. Good for shareholders and wall street in the long run. Bad for employees. Just like all of the other major airlines did. Shedding their pension obligations among other costs. He still has a pension but he had to work years longer for a smaller pension than he was promised his whole working career. And what was the end result? All the major airlines get to welch on their pension obligations, and only a few years later they have plenty of cash for dividend increases and stock buybacks.
So who pays? First, the employees get shafted, and then American's pick up the tab for what's left. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation steps in, but from time to time it needs federal tax dollars to keep it afloat. Tens of billions of our tax dollars. This is on top of multiple bail-outs from congress for that industry. They privatize profits and socialize the risk.
Well, this certainly explains a lot. There are plenty of examples of companies who treat their employees quite well. You are biased based on your limited experience.Thank you. I will accept this as a compliment. I think it may be my first on here.
Technically I think lower middle class. But it depends on the definition one uses.
I think of them more as a "side hustle," but I suppose the IRS classifies them as businesses..."Sole Proprietorship" as they say.
I think last I checked my wife and I recently broke the top 10% of households in America, by both Net Worth and by Income. We are now in the 24% marginal tax bracket for MFJ.
America is Flawed? Yes (every place has it's own flaws though). Causes poverty? No. The studies and associated math are mainly to show that many of the politicians on the right are trying to put the blame of folks living in poor financial situations on their own actions, and ONLY their own actions. When for millions of folks (possibly more), that simply isn't true. The situation is far more complex. There are plenty of folks that have fallen on hard times because of their own bad choices in life. But I can think of plenty of situations where that is not the case, and the blame can be laid at the feet of greedy C-suite executives working in conjunction with the republican politicians they paid off.
Yes, thank you for asking.
Example #1: My first full time job out of grad school in FL was working for a defense contractor. This was many years ago, fresh off the Great Recession caused by Republicans big ideas about financial deregulation. Anyways, the company was private and had recently been bought out by a private equity firm.
Camber Corporation - New Mountain Capital
Camber Corporation is a leading pure play provider of professional and management services for federal government agencies, specializing in information technology, decision support systems, training, engineering, and modeling and simulation, primarily within the Department of Defense. Under the...
The target ROI for the business when it was private was 12-14%. Respectable. But not enough for its new masters. Their initial ROI expectation was 17-20%. They reviewed everybody in the office for profitability that year, and anyone that was still not "performing" was let go. To be clear, the employees fired were all working hard and actively making money for the company. It's just that they were not meeting their target rate of 17-20% for their projects, and were fired. But what about their mortgage payment? Tough sh!t. Their wife and kids? Tough sh!t. You see, even when you make money for large companies their is no loyalty. They don't care about you, into the unemployment line you go, no severance package. Good luck.
Luckily my project/contract was the main anchor for the office, and I was spared (if I told you what it was for you wouldn't believe me). They met their target that first year, and what did we all receive for it? A 1% raise, and a pizza party. Gee thanks. After only 1.5 years i decided it was time to leave. It didn't help that management there was dog-sh!t. And they raised their target ROI to 20-23% for the next year.
Around that time they also fired a guy because he was gay. New office-level management was very far-right, and not so happy about having him on the payroll. So you can see that working hard doesn't matter, making your company profit doesn't matter, it's never enough. There was more going on, but I suspect many of you have stopped reading by now.
Example #2: My cousin worked for Northwest Airlines for decades. Then it filed for bankruptcy and later merged with Delta. Good for shareholders and wall street in the long run. Bad for employees. Just like all of the other major airlines did. Shedding their pension obligations among other costs. He still has a pension but he had to work years longer for a smaller pension than he was promised his whole working career. And what was the end result? All the major airlines get to welch on their pension obligations, and only a few years later they have plenty of cash for dividend increases and stock buybacks.
So who pays? First, the employees get shafted, and then American's pick up the tab for what's left. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation steps in, but from time to time it needs federal tax dollars to keep it afloat. Tens of billions of our tax dollars. This is on top of multiple bail-outs from congress for that industry. They privatize profits and socialize the risk.
The state can/has created success in many ways. Here are some infrastructure related examples (as I am primarily a Transportation Engineer); the interstate highway system, airports, seaports, dams, the electrification of rural America, the TVA, railroads in the 1800s. All of these have depended heavily on government involvement. Their creation has bred enormous successes for American corporations. How large and profitable would McDonalds be without an interstate or US route system? How efficiently could Walmart move goods without railroads and seaports? Would United Airlines exist if the gov wasn't subsidizing their infrastructure costs? How about the internet and the World Wide Web?
Yes, as the old saying goes; Capitalism is the least bad choice among economic philosophies. Republicans are always championing de-regulation, but we've seen how bad things get with un-regulated capitalism. It can actually destroy and canabalize itself.
I think a mob and a large bureaucracy are different. One is actively violent, while the other is just apathetic at times. As a current bureaucrat myself, I can tell you that no one I work with wakes up everyday thinking about how they can screw over people. We mostly gather data and write reports that are used to inform the executives.
Sometimes they do. I've worked for both large and small businesses. And I can tell you the smaller the better in terms of an employee's perspective. Smaller businesses can have a family setting, although not guaranteed. The controls are needed mostly for the larger businesses. The larger they get, the more controls they need. The more misdeeds they do. Walmart needs more controls that my local hardware store. Did you know that Walmart once got caught bribing officials in central/south America (among other crimes)? To the tune of $100 million dollars (not inflation adjusted)? The guy running my local hardware store doesn't have that kind of money for bribes. The playing field is not equal, that's what the regulations are for. Go look up HSBC drug scandal Mexico. My local credit union doesn't need regulations to control it in the same way HSBC does. Or like when the ACA forced health insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions and not discriminate against them anymore.
I mean I literally left that corporate MIC job, and took another one 6 hours away from home to live in a rat/roach apartment. That's how bad it was. Perhaps that job has colored my beliefs in big business, or perhaps it just opened my eyes.
Yes, I had some advantages that are not available to everyone. And I acknowledge those. That's why I always quote the Oracle of Omaha's sage advice about the Ovarian lottery. Think about it, I...
Yes. I knew early on that a general business degree wasn't going to be worth very much. UCF graduates 1000 of those every semester. Same with Psychology majors. So I chose a much more difficult but lucrative path, but one I was also interested in personally. And have a high aptitude for mathematically. I knew that if I worked hard earlier on that eventually I would land a good paying job with at least a decent boss, and I could work less then. And that strategy has worked well for me. I'm a believer in delayed gratification. Just don't wait too long, or your life passes you by.
Yes, see above. My dad had student loans that caused him financial issues, and he didn't want his kids to have that same issue, since it held him back in life.
Oh man, one of my side hustles is a book I'm writing entitled "The Life and Times of Pasco County"...If I ever get it finished. Nothing but one messed up Florida Man story after another, many include my friends bad decisions.
Sometimes that's true. I would say some tools that no longer exist that used to decades ago was affordable college, reasonably priced healthcare, and affordable starter homes. All contributed to the success of the baby boomer generation.
This could also be a survivorship bias as well? We would nee much more data to gauge it in a wider context.
True, nor should we expect them to.
I don't view the burger flipper as any less than me, nor the janitor. Folks on here throw a lot of shade at those professions. I simply ask; why don't they get to earn enough money to survive off of? Why are we intentionally paying large groups of people poverty wages?
All I know is when Jeff Bezos has a $1 Billion dollar yacht, and 48% of his NV workers are on welfare, and 29% of Walmart of hourly workers too, I know thats morally wrong. Nobody who works full time should be on food stamps. They can pay them more. I've been through the math with both Walmart and McDonalds on this very thread. It works out. It's not my job to subsidize Walmarts profits to enrich wealthy shareholders.
There are ways to design social programs that encourage personal growth without sacrificing needed benefits. The avg. SNAP benefit for NC is $332/month. You think folks would choose to live in poverty for $332/month? That's not enough. If a one parent household worked 45 hours a week, they could recovery that amount by being paid an extra $1.70 an hour by their employer. Thats not going to bankrupt Walmart...America's largest employer. In fact that's equal to about 17% of Walmart's profits if every hourly employee gets that raise. Let's say they need an economic incentive, right? Otherwise why not just take the gov money instead. So let's say Walmart sweetens the pot and uses 34% of profit to give them raises of 3.40. 1/2 makes up for the SNAP, and 1/2 they get to keep. Walmart could take it out of profits, or even pass it along to the consumers. But now not one of their employees are on SNAP welfare. If they can pass on Trump's tariffs costs, they can pass on some raises to the consumers, or a combo thereof.
Some market distortions are good. They're not all bad.
Sure, but regulations on industry and those on people are different things.
www.bbc.com
www.bbc.com
www.facebook.com
For some of our discontented anti capitalist members here.
When feelings of envy, bitterness, resentment occur. Taking ::30 to appreciate what you have work magic. Contentment can’t come from money, things or a job. Or hating corporations. If you don’t have gratitude . Those things won’t provide it.
I’ll guarantee even in Nepal right now those rural people are content and feel gratitude. It’s the way they’re wired. They work very hard for very little and are some of the happiest people I have interacted with on the planet.
815K views · 16K reactions | Most people don't understand the difference between happiness and fulfilment... | Tony Robbins
Most people don't understand the difference between happiness and fulfilment...
