Maybe both, but i'd say its 95% living beyond our means.
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People always joke about boomers being able to buy houses when they were young, but boomers were also not being aggressively marketed into buying crap they don't need. I think the real injustice is that people have gotten WAY too good at convincing consumers that they can't live without a $1k cell phone or a $80 t shirt. But it takes 2 to tango so shame on the consumers for allowing them to do it as well.
Well, when established, the minimum wage was not only supposed to support a wife and two kids, but also a "decent living". In fact, part of the point was to stimulate the economy so people could buy all these new inventions; with no customers those businesses die; innovation dies.
http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odnirast.html
So... that's the other side of your tango argument.. and just like the supply side/demand side economic argument, it only works, in practicality, in one direction.
This isn't a dem/rep issue for anyone trying to turn this into one. This is a labor argument. Always has been, always will be. Both the dems and reps have done the bare minimum (if that) for the labor class over the past 40 years.
Corporations have gotten so greedy they wouldn't be able to function if they raised the minimum wage to match inflation, because they would want to jack all prices up, but that isn't how the entire system is supposed to work. Had they been more responsible and been increasing the minimum wage regularly in response to inflation and cost of living, starting DECADES ago, it wouldn't be the massive problem it is now, because the gap wouldn't be as astronomical.
So good paying jobs are in short demand? So what your saying is we should have focus less on having more people come into the country and instead focus on the people who are already here?
The people coming here working jobs that require an IQ are supposed to be the good immigrants, right? It's those dirty farm workers we are trying to get rid of, right? I'd like to know, who exactly is it, in your community, that is going to go pick grapes or chop up chickens for factory processing with dull 12 inch knives for minimum wage.
If you "solve" this problem, your grocery bill will jump over 300% (before the havoc of cutting off ranchers from the Rio will cause the beef industry). Keep that in mind.
Here's my European take on things:
In Norway, where I live, there are laws in place to prevent extreme wage gaps. For example, the CEO of a company will earn more than the lowest employee and can live a very wealthy life, however, he will have to make do with only 1 private jet. This ensures that the lowest employee of this same company makes enough money to sustain a humane standard of living.
What we call a humane standard of living consists of being able to have a home, food, transportation, the time to take vacation and means to do so, and allow their kids to go to college.
This "humane standard of living" is something that every single person who contributes to the functioning of society is entitled to. Because while some jobs require more schooling or expertise, all jobs, including the mailman, the desk clerk, etc. are necessary to keep society functioning the way it does, and no ones contribution can be missed.
It seems that the US has no such humane standard of living.
Wow, as I read this I was thinking "you guys have high humane standards for living" - then I realised that those are supposed to be what everyone has. Basic living standards should not be seen as privilege, but rather allowing everyone a comfortable life, and not having to barely scrape through the breadline - yet that is what it has become.
Go ask returning vets from extremely rural/poor places in the US. Flat-out, they'll tell you the facilities, before they got blown to shit, were better in most places overseas.
If that's not a sobering thought, I don't know what is.
The southern border is not a national emergency and Trump pulling the "national emergency powers" shit as a way to get his wall is a severe abuse of power
The wall wont stop the immigration
It's ironic how poorly thought out this wall thing is. Walls can be climbed over or dug under (actually there's some recent video footage of immigrants going under a wall – in places where there is a wall, not just a fence), and anyway most illegal immigration is from people overstaying their visas. Shutting down the government because they won't let you get your crappy wall is like that one guy in a middle school group project who refuses to do his part because the rest of the group didn't let him put in his stupid ideas.
People who say they actually want unrestricted immigration: 0
People who assume that criticizing the wall equals wanting unrestricted immigration: 31415926535
I mean it as in the wall would be a restriction to migration to help prevent illegal immigration, not an immigration policy that literally doesn't restrict it at all.
Now take that number back to 31415926534.
There's a documentary about what wonders one can do when they feel like they need to escape over a fence or wall. It's called Chicken Run.
No but seriously, there already is a wall at certain parts of the border and people are just digging under, climbing over, or trying the sea route around it. But those are the most desperate cases, most illegal immigration comes from people overstaying their visas anyway, because I guess it's the most convenient way to do it.
can't survive? bull shit. i bet no one has had to go to charities for food even so let's stop acting like people are dying in the street because of the government shut down. now if you have a government job and don't have enough in the bank to go a couple weeks with out pay then its time to look in to how your doing things because your doing it wrong. learn how to budget. figure out what you need versus what you want these are two different things. get your shit together the world doesn't owe you and it's no one's responsibility to ensure your happiness.
Not everyone is equally privileged and yes even if some people could learn to manage their money better, different people have different expenses. So for that single bachelor living in a tiny apartment - one missed paycheck might not be trouble, but maybe it is for a struggling single parent with no child support living from paycheque to paycheque. We cannot judge people from the “comfort of our own lives”, have some empathy. Nobody *wants* to be in a place where they have to setup go fund me pages for groceries
Edit: autocorrect
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People always joke about boomers being able to buy houses when they were young, but boomers were also not being aggressively marketed into buying crap they don't need. I think the real injustice is that people have gotten WAY too good at convincing consumers that they can't live without a $1k cell phone or a $80 t shirt. But it takes 2 to tango so shame on the consumers for allowing them to do it as well.
http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odnirast.html
So... that's the other side of your tango argument.. and just like the supply side/demand side economic argument, it only works, in practicality, in one direction.
This isn't a dem/rep issue for anyone trying to turn this into one. This is a labor argument. Always has been, always will be. Both the dems and reps have done the bare minimum (if that) for the labor class over the past 40 years.
If you "solve" this problem, your grocery bill will jump over 300% (before the havoc of cutting off ranchers from the Rio will cause the beef industry). Keep that in mind.
In Norway, where I live, there are laws in place to prevent extreme wage gaps. For example, the CEO of a company will earn more than the lowest employee and can live a very wealthy life, however, he will have to make do with only 1 private jet. This ensures that the lowest employee of this same company makes enough money to sustain a humane standard of living.
What we call a humane standard of living consists of being able to have a home, food, transportation, the time to take vacation and means to do so, and allow their kids to go to college.
This "humane standard of living" is something that every single person who contributes to the functioning of society is entitled to. Because while some jobs require more schooling or expertise, all jobs, including the mailman, the desk clerk, etc. are necessary to keep society functioning the way it does, and no ones contribution can be missed.
It seems that the US has no such humane standard of living.
If that's not a sobering thought, I don't know what is.
The wall wont stop the immigration
People who assume that criticizing the wall equals wanting unrestricted immigration: 31415926535
Now take that number back to 31415926534.
No but seriously, there already is a wall at certain parts of the border and people are just digging under, climbing over, or trying the sea route around it. But those are the most desperate cases, most illegal immigration comes from people overstaying their visas anyway, because I guess it's the most convenient way to do it.
It took me five seconds to Google that. You could've done that yourself and it probably would've saved you the time you spent writing that comment. So the question is, are you that unaware of the world around you or willfully ignorant?
Edit: autocorrect