I found this link really interesting: inequality.is and associated with the excellent Robert Reich documentary: Inequality for All.
How *exactly* you and your income are being affected by inequality.
by cognisonance 25 Replies latest social current
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cognisonance
Two months and no public replies? After bringing this topic up today on a thread regarding the cost and return on investment of college, I wanted to see if anyone replied to my old dedicated thread on inequality. Really? No one is interested in having a discussion on how to solve this problem?
I would have thought that talking to a group of people that have been oppressed by a cult would be interested in how we are also being oppressed by many of the current economic polices in play in the US (and other countries that have a similar system).
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jgnat
It's called internet attention span. Once it is past page two, it's old news and nobody will find it. There was a college thread today.
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cognisonance
It's called internet attention span. Once it is past page two, it's old news and nobody will find it. There was a college thread today.
That I can understand, my comment was more about this thread, where it didn't even get to make it to page 2 .
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FadeToBlack
Cog,
Unfortunately it is not a problem to be solved. It just has to play out. The only people that could bring about change are those that are benefitting the most from the current system. Are they going to change it? Why? Are the folks at the other end of the spectrum? Not likely. More likely, if they try they will be classified as 'terrorists'.
Sounds a lot like a cult I was associated with for a long time. Only the 'terrorists' were called 'apostates'. Same result. Better just to bail out while you can...
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cognisonance
How does one "bail out?"
With a cult you can just walk away (though at the cost of your family and friends).
With an economic system you are forced to participate in... what option do you have to "bail out?" Unless you mean move. I suppose I could move to Denmark, Sweden, or Norway. But that is rather difficult to do. The mere fact that those countries have significantly less income inequality shows that change isn't impossibe:
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FadeToBlack
Cog,
All the countries you mentioned are much more 'socialist' than the US but would be very high on my list of places to move to if I was younger. Sure taxes are higher, but when you are not paying for the self-appointed world's police force (as in the US), you have a lot more money to use for social welfare. They didn't change, they just never went down that path (in modern history, post WWII). I voted with my feet and we are in one of the currently lighter colored countries on you map (Poland). Wife wants to go back to Canada (for health benefits). Not going back to the states....
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problemaddict
I am a big fan of scandinavian countries. A lot of why the socialist tax and benefit system works there is also cultural. Because everyone benefits, everyone doesn't cheat! Here if you cheat on your taxes, its just sticking it to the man. There if you cheat on your taxes, you simply are not a good person. You would never find anyone bragging about it. There are disadvantages to that system as well......but it doesn't matter. The USA will never go there.
My main concern with how we arrive at our conclusions, not the conclusions themselves. There is clearly too much of a gap.
Specifically the worker productivity vs wages component. Technology and new ways of living are just as responsible for the productivity as the people producing.....if not significantly more. But the tech costs money, and investment. So I am sympathetic to that.
On the other hand, the money that is out there at the higher levels, is so gargantuan, that it is commonly used to bully the chain of operations, boutique businesses,a nd subcontractors, instead of rewarding them for well done work.
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problemaddict
One thing I certainly do not agree with, is that taxes need to go back to 1950 levels where the top earners can pay as much as 80% of their income. That is just insane.
I would however do away with the idea that capital gains should be taxed at a lower rate than regular income.
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FadeToBlack
Cog,
Yes, I am suggesting that you move. Not easy to get into Norway, which would be the best (wealth fund from oil). Sweden is possible if you have some needed skill, but perhaps not so easy if you are US citizen. For me, living in Poland as a US citzen with permanent residence card, Sweden would be the best bet. Denmark is very expensive.
