How The Middle Class Got Robbed

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How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/5/2010 6:54:39 PM

pahunkboy

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How The Middle Class Got Robbed

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RE: How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/5/2010 7:39:15 PM

willbeurdaddy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

How The Middle Class Got Robbed

So giving the consumer the ability to borrow is stealing from them? did someone hold a gun to their head and say "buy this house you cant afford"? "Buy three cars instead of two"?

His graph of productivity, that he mistakenly equates with "profits", is disingenuous or deliberatley misleading for two reasons. First, it isnt inflation adjusted so it isnt comparable to "real wages". Second, since productivity is ouput /LABOR HOUR it fails to take into account the CAPITAL invested to increase productivity, which, of course reduces profits.

You can present everything he said in a far less nefarious way:

If people saved and invested instead of borrowing to consume, there wouldnt be a widening disparity of wealth. Brilliant.

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RE: How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/5/2010 7:43:31 PM

jlf1961

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The story is bullshit.

For one thing, all six of the weapons in the incident where they claim one is missing have been accounted for, the men who mistakenly loaded the weapons on the B52 were disciplined, and the incident lead to more stringent regulations concerning nuclear weapons.

Another point, the US nuclear deterrence force, or READY Force of aircraft are still loaded with live nukes and sit on the alert paid at every ACC (Air Combat Command) nuclear strike force bombers are stationed. What good would it be to have a react force that has to wait and be loaded while there are incoming ICBMs on the way.

IN OTHER WORDS, common sense would tell you that the bombers are armed and ready just waiting for the go code.

Sorry to bust your bubble, but an accurate list of lost nuclear weapons AND accidents involving nuclear weapons is located

http://www.cdi.org/issues/nukeaccidents/accidents.htm

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RE: How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/5/2010 8:04:08 PM

Brain

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I wonder what caused this failure. I think it was capitalism. Capitalism is the enemy of the middle class. No middle class means no American dream - it means the American dream is an American nightmare of poverty, crime and environmental disasters and the cleanups are paid for by taxpayers.

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RE: How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/5/2010 8:20:40 PM

willbeurdaddy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Brain

I wonder what caused this failure. I think it was capitalism. Capitalism is the enemy of the middle class. No middle class means no American dream - it means the American dream is an American nightmare of poverty, crime and environmental disasters and the cleanups are paid for by taxpayers.

By definition there is no middle class in socialism...everyone is equally as miserable. Nice try Bwain.

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RE: How The Middle Class Got Robbed - 7/6/2010 5:08:32 AM

Fellow

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The story is nothing new. Most people should know it already. Years ago Lou Dobbs published a book "War on the Middle Class". Things have been quite obvious for long time.
See for example:
http://www.businessinsider.com/15-charts-about-wealth-and-inequality-in-america-2010-4#the-gap-between-the-top-1-and-everyone-else-hasnt-been-this-bad-since-the-roaring-twenties-1
Or, the interesting "plutonomy" conclusion that got some unintended attention in 2006:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090907/citigroup-2006-americamodern-day-plutonomy.htm

The question is if something should be done or could be done to change the situation? How to change the whole system that has been building up during last thirty or so years? There is no secret: simple logic tells us that neoliberal global corporatism leads to the results we are seeing. In general, markets work quite well. We see already an increase in real wages in China, millions of people get out of poverty in India. Americans get laid off massively and many former members of the middle class live in tent cities now. Sorry about personal tragedies, but it is natural, predicted, and it could be a good thing. It brings community together. People get out of their boxes. People laid off often did not do much useful anyway. There are still masses of paper pushers and middle managers who can be eliminated without much effect on production increasing the profits. So, I wouldn't be dramatic here: nobody really gets robbed. All things are quite predictable, natural, and will lead to a new equilibrium. I see life just getting much more interesting every day.

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