Income Inequality

[Moiraine]

47 minutes ago, TheSker said:

Income inequality exists in literally every society and culture.....and has throughout the history of the world.

 

An individual can let it get them down or take responsibility for at least trying to better their situation.

 

 

There are loads of poor people working 2 jobs. They are already taking responsibility, and it's not helping. This could be avoided with less stupid tax rates and higher wages, imo. Income inequality is a problem if there are people who can't make ends meet while there are others who are hoarding millions off of their backs. It's ok for people to be rich but when there are more and more people who can barely even make it, or not make it at all, something should be done about it. They aren't failing to make it because they're all lazy.

Also, no amount of personal responsibility by the worker can prevent the water/air being polluted and causing illness, sometimes terminal illness, and right now the government is doing everything they can to make it more likely that companies that care only about the bottom line will make these things worse.


Let's say you have machines farming and producing all the food, and you have enough to feed 1,000,000 people. If 95% of the food is going to 10,000 people who own the machines, it's something that can and should be changed. If the 10,000 people who own the machines refuse to let the others eat, there should be made a way to eat. After all they are not using that excess food, they are just putting it in storage.

[TheSker]

19 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

There are loads of poor people working 2 jobs. They are already taking responsibility, and it's not helping. This could be avoided with less stupid tax rates and higher wages, imo. Income inequality is a problem if there are people who can't make ends meet while there are others who are hoarding millions off of their backs. It's ok for people to be rich but when there are more and more people who can barely even make it, or not make it at all, something should be done about it. They aren't failing to make it because they're all lazy.

Also, no amount of personal responsibility by the worker can prevent the water/air being polluted and causing illness, sometimes terminal illness, and right now the government is doing everything they can to make it more likely that companies that care only about the bottom line will make these things worse.

Pollution is a different topic.

 

Many people currently work or have worked more than one job.

 

Myself included.

 

I decided the only one who could really change my situation was the guy in the mirror.

[Moiraine]

1 minute ago, TheSker said:

Pollution is a different topic.

 

Many people currently work or have worked more than one job.

 

Myself included.

 

I decided the only one who could really change my situation was the guy in the mirror.

 

 

It doesn't work that way for everyone, even if they are doing everything they can possibly think of to improve their situation. In fact it doesn't work for most who start off poor.

I mentioned pollution because it was part of my post you replied to.

[TheSker]

5 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

It doesn't work that way for everyone, even if they are doing everything they can possibly think of to improve their situation. In fact it doesn't work for most who start off poor.

I mentioned pollution because it was part of my post you replied to.

Defeatism is indeed not easy to overcome.

[Ric Flair]

32 minutes ago, Moiraine said:

 

 

It doesn't work that way for everyone, even if they are doing everything they can possibly think of to improve their situation. In fact it doesn't work for most who start off poor.

I mentioned pollution because it was part of my post you replied to.

 

Poor people are going to have a harder time. But a high school education is guaranteed and for poor people, a college education almost is too. The amount of loan, grant, and other free or cheap money available is staggering.

 

So go to school. Finish school. And opportunities will abound.

[Big Red 40]

2 hours ago, TheSker said:

Defeatism is indeed not easy to overcome.

So is psychobabble BS and preconceived ideas of how everyone else should live their lives . 

[TheSker]

1 hour ago, Big Red 40 said:

So is psychobabble BS and preconceived ideas of how everyone else should live their lives . 

If you think income redistribution through taxation is psychobabble, so be it.

[Guy Chamberlin]

19 minutes ago, TheSker said:

If you think income redistribution through taxation is psychobabble, so be it.

 

Some people think income inequity and wealth redistribution is driven from the poor side of the ledger by the federal government, and thus dub it socialism.

 

But it's hardly a secret that wealth begats wealth, and when the rich and powerful choose to protect their own, they have more pervasive tools at their disposal. That includes diverting and co-opting the consumers who might provide the checks and balances. Sometimes free-market consumerism can prevail by sheer numbers, but by then a lot of people have been f#&%ed over by the wealthy income-redistributors who rarely face the appropriate consequences.

 

You have never seen bigger and badder wealth-redistribution than last year's GOP tax cut.  It was socialism's prick cousin, shameless oligarchy. 

[TheSker]

16 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Some people think income inequity and wealth redistribution is driven from the poor side of the ledger by the federal government, and thus dub it socialism.

 

But it's hardly a secret that wealth begats wealth, and when the rich and powerful choose to protect their own, they have more pervasive tools at their disposal. That includes diverting and co-opting the consumers who might provide the checks and balances. Sometimes free-market consumerism can prevail by sheer numbers, but by then a lot of people have been f#&%ed over by the wealthy income-redistributors who rarely face the appropriate consequences.

 

You have never seen bigger and badder wealth-redistribution than last year's GOP tax cut.  It was socialism's prick cousin, shameless oligarchy. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that the points of this diatribe are true and have been true in every society and culture in history.

[Guy Chamberlin]

23 minutes ago, TheSker said:

I mentioned in an earlier post that the points of this diatribe are true and have been true in every society and culture in history.

 

Thanks. I couldn't remember who I was diatribing at.

 

It's just that some people think free market consumerism is the only corrective mechanism needed, and forget that government intervention to offset the influence of a wealthy minority was once considered a thing that Made America Great. 

[TheSker]

17 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Thanks. I couldn't remember who I was diatribing at.

 

It's just that some people think free market consumerism is the only corrective mechanism needed, and forget that government intervention to offset the influence of a wealthy minority was once considered a thing that Made America Great. 

Yep, wealth and influence are heavily related.

 

And as wealthy as Trump allegedly is, he barely ranks in the top 250 of wealthy Americans.

[Guy Chamberlin]

17 minutes ago, TheSker said:

Yep, wealth and influence are heavily related.

 

And as wealthy as Trump allegedly is, he barely ranks in the top 250 of wealthy Americans.

 

Informed speculation is that Trump is well below the Top 250 and that revelation remains his single biggest fear. 

[Landlord]

9 hours ago, TheSker said:

Income inequality exists in literally every society and culture.....and has throughout the history of the world.

 

An individual can let it get them down or take responsibility for at least trying to better their situation.

 

This just...isn't helpful. It removes all nuance from the complicated reality, and it turns it into a binary situation rather than a spectrum. Income inequality exists to some degree in literally every society and culture. It is actually inevitable (human beings need hierarchies in order to live in society with one another, and hierarchies produce inequality), but it is significantly more unequal in some places compared to others. And when it gets bad enough, throughout history, revolution happens. 

 

Secondly, an individual can let it get them down AND take responsibility for trying to better their situation. Both of those things can happen in the same person, at the same time, and often do. I know so many poor people, and I imagine you do too, who are so frustrated and angry because of their lot, but also work their damn asses off trying to get ahead. Poverty is generally not caused by bad attitudes or faulty lifestyles or lazy work ethic - it's generally caused by things like low wages, lack of jobs, and poor education. 

 

The thing is though...it's too damn expensive to be poor. It's a compounding disadvantage. You make less money which makes it harder to save which makes it more difficult to transition into a better job. It makes things like first and last month's rent way more difficult, which makes people have to rely on overpriced motel rates day to day. It often comes with unpredictable or inconsistent work schedules, which makes planning things like child care or additional jobs harder. If you need a loan you'll get way worse interest rates and have to pay way more. If you don't have something like a kitchen or a fridge (which does happen), then you rely on poor nutritional convenience store or fast food, which is way more expensive and gives you way more of a chance of developing health problems. If you can't afford as reliable of a car you've got way more of a chance of it breaking down which leads to lost wages and sudden expenses, a higher chance of being fined financially with a ticket. So on and so forth. It's a crazy, sad high wire act. 

 

You don't have to subscribe to a victim mentality or world view to still have empathy and outrage for how difficult of a life poor people face, whether they contributed to it or not. 

 

 

8 hours ago, TheSker said:

Defeatism is indeed not easy to overcome.

 

This seems just a little ironic considering the previous post with the essential message of, "This exists everywhere, so obviously we can't do about it"

[TheSker]

1 hour ago, Landlord said:

 

You don't have to subscribe to a victim mentality or world view to still have empathy and outrage for how difficult of a life poor people face, whether they contributed to it or not. 

I'm keenly aware of the bullet points of your post.

 

I'm fully aware of things like how lower income people are at a significant disadvantage with life's expenses.

 

There are other parts of wrote that you and I would not exactly agree in.  No biggie.

 

As far as my level of empathy, you have zero idea of my direct involvement of aiding those less fortunate.

 

I'm simply not interested in the government trying to solve the issue by getting more money for causes they are already wasteful, ineffective and inefficient at doing.

[TheSker]

5 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Informed speculation is that Trump is well below the Top 250 and that revelation remains his single biggest fear. 

I would personally agree with the probability of the informed speculation.

 

I don't care how it effects him though.

 

My point about his ranking is there is a lot of wealth and influence in the US that ranks above Trump's.

 

Now if any of those people or families are interested in using it politically, I have no idea......other than the obvious of families like Koch.