The ensuing social disunity and disruption will be of the sort many alive today have never seen.
| by: Charles Hugh Smith. |
Social movements arise to solve problems of inequality, injustice, exploitation and oppression. In other words, they are solutions to society-wide problems plaguing the many but not the few (i.e. the elites at the top of the wealth-power pyramid).
The basic assumption of social movements is that Utopia is within reach, if only the sources of the problems can be identified and remedied. Since inequality, injustice, exploitation and oppression arise from the asymmetry of power between the few (the financial and political elites) and the many, the solution is a reduction of the asymmetry; that is a tectonic realignment of the social structure that shifts some power—economic and/or political—from the few to the many.
In some instances, the power asymmetry is between ethnic or gender classes, or economic classes (for example, labor and the owners of capital).
Social movements are characterized by profound conflict because the beneficiaries of the power asymmetry resist the demands for a fairer share of the power and privileges, while those who’ve held the short end of the stick have tired of the asymmetry and refuse to back down.
Two dynamics assist a social, political and economic resolution that transfers power from those with too much power to those with too little power: 1) the engines of the economy have shifted productive capacity definitively in favor of those demanding their fair share of power, and 2) the elites recognize that their resistance to power-sharing invites a less predictable and thus far more dangerous open conflict with forces that have much less to lose and much more to gain.
In other words, ceding 40% of their wealth-power still conserves 60%, while stubborn resistance might trigger a revolution that takes 100% of their wealth-power.
History provides numerous examples of these dynamics. Once the primary sources of wealth-generation shifted from elite feudal landowners to merchants and industrialists, the wealth (and thus the political power) of the landed elites declined. As the industrialists hired vast numbers of laborers drawn from small farms and workshops, this mass industrialized labor became the source of the wealth generation; after decades of conflict, this labor class gained a significant share of the wealth and political power.
The civil rights and women’s liberation movements realigned the political and economic power of minorities and females more in line with their productive output, reducing the asymmetries of ethnic and gender privileges.
In broad-brush, progressive social movements seek to broaden opportunities and level the playing field by reducing the asymmetric privileges of dominant classes defined by power and privilege. The core mechanism of this transition is the recognition and granting of universal human rights: the right to vote, the right to equal opportunity, and rights to economic security, i.e. entitlements that are extended universally to all citizens for education, healthcare, old-age pensions and income security.
Again in broad-brush, these movements have largely been categorized as politically Left, though many institutions deemed conservative (for example, various churches) have often provided bedrock support for progressive movements.
Social movements which seek to limit the excesses of state power tend to be categorized as conservative or politically Right, as they seek to realign the asymmetry of power held by the state in favor of the individual, family and the traditional social order.
The Expanding Pie Fueled Expanding Entitlements
Writer Ugo Bardi recently drew another distinction between Left and Right social movements: “Traditionally, the Left has emphasized rights while the Right has emphasized duties.”
As rights manifested as economic entitlements rather than political (civil liberty) entitlements, rights accrue economic costs. As Bardi observes: “Having rights is nicer than having duties, but the problem is that human rights have a cost and that this cost was paid, so far, by fossil fuels. Now that fossil fuels are on their way out, who’s going to pay?”
I would argue that the cost was also paid by higher productivity enabled by the technological, financial and social innovations of the Third Industrial Revolution,roughly speaking the interconnected advances of the second half of the 20th century.
These advances can be characterized as expanding the economic pie; that is, generating more energy, credit, technological tools, opportunities, security and capital (which includes financial, infrastructural, intellectual and social capital) for all to share in a socio-political-financial allocation broad enough to make everyone feel like they were making some forward progress.
This long-term, secular expansion of the pie naturally generated more demands for additional entitlements and rights, as the economy could clearly support the extra costs of allocating additional wealth and resources to the many. From the point of view of the few (the elites), their own wealth continued expanding, so there was little resistance to expanding retirement, education and healthcare entitlements.
But in the 21st century, the expansion of the pie stagnated, and for many, it reversed. Adjusted for real-world inflation many households have seen their net incomes and wealth decline in the past decade.
Despite the endless media rah-rah about “growth” and “recovery,” it is self-evident to anyone who bothers to look beneath the surface of this facile PR that the pie is now shrinking. This dynamic is increasing inequality rather than reducing it.
The Shrinking Pie And Stagnant Productivity
It is a truism of economics that widespread increases in productivity are required to generate equally widespread increases in income and capital, i.e. productive wealth. To the consternation of many, productivity has stagnated since 2010; no wonder household income for all but the upper crust has gone nowhere.
If we glance at a chart of productivity, we see a strong correlation with speculative investment bubbles (the dot-com and housing bubbles 1995-2005) and speculative spikes fueled by central bank monetary stimulus (2009-10). Absent bubbles and monumental excesses of central bank stimulus, productivity quickly sinks to its secular trend line: downwards.
This next chart depicts the long-term trend line of productivity through all four industrial revolutions. Note the decline concurrent with the 4th Industrial Revolution (mobile telephony, the Internet, AI, robotics, peer-to-peer networks, etc.) and the depletion of cheap-to-access-and-refine oil:
The unwelcome reality is that the economy is changing in fundamental ways that cannot be reversed with policy tweaks, protests or wishful thinking.
Consider the percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) that goes to employee compensation (wages and salaried). Labor’s share of the GDP has been in a downtrend since 1970, which not coincidentally was the peak of secular productivity:
In this below chart of the distribution of wealth in the U.S., we find the same correlation to the downtrends in productivity and labor’s share of the economy. The bottom 90% of households’ (the many) share of the wealth pie topped out in the early 1980s and has declined precipitously since, while the wealth of the top 0.1% (the few) has more than tripled since the late 1970s:
This next chart depicts the remarkable (and recent) spike income growth the few have recently enjoyed, at the expense of everyone else:
The increase in wealth and income inequality and the decline of productivity and labor’s share of GDP are the result of structural changes in the economy, changes with far-reaching consequences.
While it’s appealing to identify policies endorsed by self-serving insiders and elites as the source of these changes, that is far from the whole story. Much of this growing asymmetry stems from profound changes in the global economy that depreciate labor (as conventional labor is no longer scarce) and increase the gains of the top few in a “winner take most” allocation that benefits speculation, leverage and new ways of organizing labor and capital that reward the organizers far more than the users/participants.
In this new era of a steadily shrinking pie, the sources of inequality and related social problems have also shifted. As a result, the social movements that were effective in the past are no longer effective today. Attempts to address rising inequality with the old tools are fueling frustration rather than actual solutions.
In Part 2 — Social Unrest: The Boiling-Over Point, we examine why our existing models for social change have slipped into ineffectual symbolic gestures that fuel fragmentation and frustration — and why that will lead to a dangerous boiling over of the 99% against the elites controlling the system.
When that happens (inevitable on our current trajectory), the ensuing social disunity and disruption will be of the sort many alive today have never seen.
Click here to read Part 2 of this report (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)
The pie is still expanding. Just not in the US.
China, Thailand, SKorea, Japan, etc. have dramatically expanded their pie since the 1970s. The US has expanded, somewhat, but the pie is still bigger overall since 1970, even in the US.
What leverage does the US worker have in a global market, where the cost of their labor is increasingly uncompetitive? What are they going to do, go on strike? Demand higher minimum wages? All that will do is see a shift to automation and movement of labor abroad.
The fact is high cost, low skill modest intelligence workers have little leverage. They must compete at global market wages. And the market rate for their skills and talents is falling in real terms, and will continue to do so. The high wages they received during the manufacturing boomtime was unsustainable.
What can be done? Well, if those seeing falling wages do not improve their skills and productivity, the collapse in real wages will continue unabated.
Wanting and getting are two different things. Americans, and the west as a whole, need to understand that a good standard of living needs to be earned on the playing field, not granted by some stroke of legislative pen. So far, that realization has not yet sunk in. The sense of entitlement runs deep.
There is astonishing opportunity out there for young people who have their heads on straight. Fortunes are there to be made, and can be done quickly. I am watching it happen, and am very proud of the young people I know who are doing it.
The common threads those youngsters possess: good work ethic, good family guidance and stable families, excellent education in valuable areas like tech, commerce, medicine, willingness to relocate, thrift, and avoiding early marriage and children.
There will be massive winners. But the stupid, lazy, poorly educated, low-work ethic types will struggle. As it should be.
I get it. I even agree with you. How do we avoid what the article portends? Massive social strife.
Wip – We do not. It is coming, and unavoidable. In my opinion.
What you can do is help prepare your family for what is coming. The opportunities for those that are not snowflakes will be massive, and I kid you not. Those that are willing to figuratively feast on the snowflakes, who will be defenceless against a well prepared, well-educated, hard-working wolf, will do extremely well.
The fact is what was was simply unsustainable. And compounding that reality is that Americans and the west let family values go to hell, let education standards plummet, implemented an unsustainable welfare state dependent on debt, taught their children that they were special and should follow their “dreams” of being artists and snowflakes of every precious color, and mortgaged their future for big screen TVs, new cars, worthless degrees, and other stuff.
What should have happened is the US should have leveraged its position ruthlessly, and should have kept its boot on the throats of those that wanted to erode its economic position. That is what competition is about. Never give a sucker an even break. Never be the guy with a knife at a gun fight.
But no, we generally became pussies. And will suffer the consequences. But those that remained wolves will devour the sheep, en masse.
The libtards will be turning purple at such a thought. Competition and winning are bad, they believe. Screw them, and feast on their carcasses. Teach your kids to be wolves, and be wolves yourself.
Winning is good. I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, the vast majority are going to lose because they do not even know they need to compete, much less have the skills and attitude to do so. They want safe spaces, but have zero idea that the world does not recognize such.
So teach your children well, and maintain the family structure. You will come out on top. The others get what they get. Such has always been life.
To the victors go the spoils.
Ok, I hear all that. I understand you beating the drum as you do.
1) even the industrious are going to fall further behind unless there is something I don’t understand.
2) I do not see a wide spread list of opportunities. Maybe I’m closed minded although I don’t believe I am.
3) please name the opportunities as you see them.
4) I see the economy/industries, as a whole, becoming ever more centralized.
Well, the young folks I see doing well are as mentioned above. One young man is a commercial construction manager at 26. Got his degree in civil engineering, went into commercial construction, is working on getting his own licenses, is making not a huge fortune, but at 26 is on around $150k plus bennies. Will start his own building company when his funds grow some more.
Another at 26 has got his financial advisor credentials, and intends starting his own firm by age 30. Another is becoming a surgeon. That is a long row to hoe.
Another has become a foremost city planner/designer, and is making a small fortune.
Another is a software engineer for a big, well-known world-wide tech firm. At 26 is making a monstrous fortune ($300k+) at 26. ?
Another is a CPA or about to be, in a mid-sized firm. Been promised a partnership when the CPA happens. Another is a partner in a Big4 by age of 30. Another is a JAG lawyer at 27.
Another young woman is events manager at a major events company, at age 26. A huge job, that she started part-time at 19, helping the CEO. Torched the competition and when she finished her degree went straight into senior management.
Another is running a huge chicken farm, with a degree in agriculture.
Another runs a public large grocery store at 26.
I could go on and on. I know heaps of very successful young people. They are killing it, by eating the competition. They do not even know they are doing it. They are getting snatched up into senior roles one after another because the competition is so damn weak. They are promoted over both young and old.
Again the common theme – strong families, good education in valuable areas, good work ethic, well-presented, not snowflake attitudes, always worked hard, often in family businesses or businesses that they had interest in. Plus they go to work every day. You know how rare that is?
These days, if you shine, your penny will be plucked out of the bucket holding all the corroded coins with no hesitation. Bosses love these type kids, because they are so rare, but are easily identifiable.
Plus, many of these kids are planning on starting/running their own businesses.
They are wolves, eating their competition. The cream will rise to the top these days, especially when there is so much sour milk around.
BTW, #4 is why I see #1 and #2.
What massive bet have you (are you) been making?
Wip – do not know what else to tell you. I have mentioned a range of areas where well prepared young are succeeding:
Accounting, finance, tech, medicine, agriculture, service, construction, sales, law. Every commercial endeavor will offer the prepared great opportunity. Maybe not manufacturing, as it is a dying industry. I see it happening. Good youngsters are making a killing.
LLPOH – I’ve said I agree with you. What I’m asking is, what bet have you been making? Maybe I missed something. The bet being the talented, hard working, family oriented, thrift conscious, educated and smart will find opportunities or you’ve made some type of financial bet?
Wip – personally, I am betting little, as my race is run. My plan is to try to hold on to what I have. If I can leave some to my kids, all the better.
But my kids are running now, and they are miles in front of the pack, at least so far. So I suppose I have bet their futures on what I have said.
And so far, as I have said, that bet is paying off for them big-time. They got a lot of benefit from my wife and I, but were never coddled. They are killing and eating the sheeple competition around them. So far so good. What they do with what they have is up to them, but I am optimistic. They have been wise beyond their years to date.
WIP, #4 is a big problem. The answer is simple though. As big business mows through any particular industry, as some point it figures out segments it cannot scale up in a way that works, so it discards them. Hopefully, Trump gets serious about antitrust at a certain point, that would certainly be helpful. But in the meantime, find those things that big business has already decided it doesn’t want. And there are lots of them. A niche big enough to make you rich, and small enough that the bigs have already tested it and found it lacking for their needs. And don’t forget this. Nobody ever made it by working 40 hours a week
FYI, LLPOH and Wip, this is the sort of secondary discussion between the regulars here that makes an extended reading of comments even on an article whose title doesn’t invite worth one’s time some days.
I learned a lot from eavesdropping here this morning. Thanks.
For every 99 ducks quacking, perhaps 1 eagle will soar above the rest.
Too many have the attitude of not willing to work harder until they see the money first. They have it backwards. Put in the effort, go the extra mile, toss pride aside, and gain experience through the toil. Use thrift as your guide, and keep building.
In the end, we all work for ourselves. The paychecks might be slim at first, and originate from another source, but make no mistake. All our efforts, or lack thereof by the ducks, are investments in ourselves, our careers, our families. Resist the urge to uproot your growing tree of wealth, however small. As it gets larger, we are tempted constantly with things to enjoy, as misguided materialistic wants, but are not truly needs. Read all you can about proper use of English, the most widely recognized language on the planet. Compliment it with a 2nd if bilingual abilities will further your career. That’s a noble, diverse talent. Follow that up with constant learning, first in your field of interest, and with reading books about people who’ve blazed paths of success. Learn from them by modeling. Tony Robbins is a good one. There are 100’s of people to model.
Enjoy life with the fruits of your labor, but modestly. Keep a good balance between work and leisure, but the effort is your primary objective. One day you’ll wake up to realize you’re in that top 5% of people who have carved out a very comfortable living, able to afford almost anything you want. Think outside the box, and refuse to behave like the ducks, with lower standards of living.
One last thought. You’re never too old to start anew. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Your choice. Start living, or start the slow spiral into poverty.
“Too many have the attitude of not willing to work harder until they see the money first. They have it backwards.” Very nice, Suds.
You know I don’t always agree with you on these things, Llpoh. But I have to admit, this one should be etched in stone. “Americans, and the west as a whole, need to understand that a good standard of living needs to be earned on the playing field, not granted by some stroke of legislative pen. So far, that realization has not yet sunk in. The sense of entitlement runs deep.
There is astonishing opportunity out there for young people who have their heads on straight. Fortunes are there to be made, and can be done quickly. I am watching it happen, and am very proud of the young people I know who are doing it.
The common threads those youngsters possess: good work ethic, good family guidance and stable families, excellent education in valuable areas like tech, commerce, medicine, willingness to relocate, thrift, and avoiding early marriage and children.
There will be massive winners. But the stupid, lazy, poorly educated, low-work ethic types will struggle. As it should be.” I’m expecting a 20-year run of massive prosperity for those willing to engage. We are certainly seeing it here. I’ve been making a massive bet for the last 2 years, you know that, preparing for exactly this reality. There are others whose bubble is going to be burst. Reward is going to come from effort, not entitlement. That’s what making America great again is all about. Buckle up, it could get bumpy as the entitled adapt to that new reality
Star – it is happening already. There are so few talented out there, they shine like million watt beacons. The sheeple are to blind to see the beacons though, and do not even know they exist, and will not until it is too late. Too bad for them. All the better for the prepared and willing.
It is happening already, for sure. And talent is the rarest ingredient. I like the shiny coin analogy, in the bucket of corrosion. Again, mirrors exactly my experience here in South Florida at the moment.
I have to say, the reason for my consternation over this topic is because of the changes taking place. It bothers me to see what I believe is going to happen. USA as a turd world nation.
The “pie” is not in fact expanding but is in reality contracting rapidly. The basis for the observation is John William’s “Shadowstats” for accurate measures of inflation since the 1980s. The contraction of the last 30 years has been masked by the deranged policies of central bankers, during that period, through unprecedented expansion of fiat debt at all levels of the world economy.
No doubt Llpoh surely knows his shit when it comes to giving advice on successful business strategy, but I will say again that there is no honor in earning a fortune if it is accomplished by exploiting the low-end wage earners. And that is exactly what is now happening all over the world. Just ask any surviving family member of a Bangladesh garment factory worker who was burned to death in a “tragic fire”.
I say fuck Bezos and his taxpayer subsidized parcels. Fuck Gates and his mafia tactics against competitors. And fuck every shameless, soulless, asshole who ever made a single nickel via third-world sweatshop labor.
Remember when your made-in-Iowa washer and dryer would have a 30 year life (while paying the factory workers who built it a living wage)?? Llpoh would label such an arrangement “inefficient”.
The “wolves” will always rationalize that their natural advantage of having sharp teeth is justification for dining on the “sheep”.
In order to maintain that world, the US would have to have tariffs to protect local industries. That is how the US became an industrial power in the 19th century. It is also the way that Germany and Japan became first rate industrial powers. Given that the US and Britain declined under free trade policies while their competitors rose under the opposite regime, I think free traders need to prove the efficacy of their arguments on merit rather than rely on philosophy and bromides.
Z – stick to Iran. You do not know a damn thing about how the US got to be an industrial power, nor Germany nor Japan for that matter. Tariffs my ass. All that will lead to is shit quality, high prices, and low productivity. As it always does. The US might as well bend over and spread ’em, admitting it is too weak to kick ass. Tariffs are a fool’s game.
What’s China doing to us?
Vodka – sheep are for fucking shearing. That is why they are sheep. No one made these idiots sheep. They became sheep all of their very lonesome. If they get eaten, it is on them.
It is high time for men, and women, tostand up, beat their chests, and proclaim they are wolves. Try it, you will like it. This bullshit about entitlement, the country owes me, the rich need to pay their fair share is pussified shit. Stand up on your own two feet. Work hard, make a living, do well.
19 years ago, Bezos had nothing but a computer. If the fucking Post Office is charging him too little, that is their fault, not his. By the sweat of his brow, by beating on his chest and showing his teeth, he grew a business out of nothing. People do not want to work for him, then don’t. But many folks are getting filthy rich working for him.
19 years from nothing to the richest man. Damn, now THAT is something to admire in my book. What a man among sheep.
Quit being a pussy and stand up. Quit epecting business to provide other than market wages. Living wage has not a damn thing to do with anything. It is not the businesses’ responsibility. That belongs to the worker – provide enough value, and you will be paid a living wage. You gotta earn your living. Expecting a business to give it to you is snowflake bullshit,
Stand the fuck up, and quit being a damn victim. Quit begrudging the success of those that made something out of nothing. We need many millions more just like him.
As I said, I know DOZENS of kids out there kicking ass and taking names. They are not crying about not being paid a living wage. Instead they are more concerned how they will stuff all the money they earn into their wallets.
The idea that people are not paid their worth is bullshit. The problem is so many are not worth a bucket of cold spit.
If Americans cannot out-compete a bunch of illiterate Bangladeshis, then the US is gonna starve, and rightfully so. Fuck that shit. Kick their damn asses. Like we used to.
That sound of thunder you hear is me beating my goddamn chest, and pussies tremble the fuck before me. That is the American way.
Time to make America Great Again. Time to be a goddamn silverback, and not the damn purple dyed lapdog that most are.
Beat your damn chest and revel in your power. Sheep are for the eating. I do not know about you, but I am never going to be a damn sheep.
Vodka,
Argue for your limitations and they are yours.
Seriously, the snivelling pussies around here are pissing me off. You know who you are. Stop snivelling and grow a pair. You will eventually run into someone like me, and will crap your pants in fear.
Time to be a man, or a woman, and quit being losers. Time to go out and take what you want from those that are too weak, too stupid, too lazy to make their own way. Time to look out across the playing field and say ” I am going to kick your ass.”
This is real. This is about competing. This is about winning. This I have always known. This is why I crushed my competition whenever I had a chance, why when I was mid-twenties men with decades more experience were working for me. This is why my business still thrives in the face of Chinese wages.
Stand the fuck up and quit snivelling. It is unbecoming of a goddamn American. That is not our way. Quit being pussies. Time to start winning again.
Me and mine are winning. I have told everyone here how to do it. Listen up, or be roadkill. The more that do not listen, the better for me and mine. Time for whining is over. It is time to eat or be eaten.
Choose.m
You sound like you’re already six-deep into the expensive Single Malt. I forget that it’s still relatively early in Oz. I’ve done the same on occasion.
I’m one of the few here who will still do direct battle with you. If that’s not thumping the chest like Tarzan, then what would be?
There is no honor in wolves eating prey locked in a pen, however delicious the meal. Emphasis on the word “honor”.
Vodka – Wolves eat sheep. Too bad for them. Of course there is honor. The fittest survive. Dumbass pussies get eaten. Why should it be any other way? It is good for the wolves. It is good for the country. It is good for the species. The fact that dumbass sheep have made themselves into sheep does not mean we who are wolves should take pity on them. Quite the contrary. Sheep are for shearing. Time to quit being squeamish about it. Sheep are good eating. If they do not want to be eaten, they need to man up.
Time to once again be men, and not sheep.
By the way, single malt is for wolves only. And yes, it is five o’clock somewhere!
You always have a vexing reply! I need to hit the rack for tonight, so I will fuck you up another day, Llpoh. It looks like I’m the last warrior against you here. Sad.
Look forward to it!
Some people look like human beings in appearance but are not in their heart. In their mind, there isn’t such thing like humanity. As a winner, they want everything. They may produce a lot. Who would be able to buy their products?
I miss Henry Ford, an honorable industrialist. I read that the avergare wage was $1.5, but he paid his workers $5 (forgot weekly or monthly). Now his workers could afford their own products, and Ford made more profits as well by selling more cars.
Llpoh – Wolves eat sheep on occasion but if they’re wise avoid making a habit of it and it’s definitely wise to avoid attacking the flock when the shepherd is around. Shearing is another matter – leaves the sheep alive and ready to produce another coat. We may become the “dog eat dog” type of society you so enthusiastically espouse but I for one will not look forward to the necessity of being constantly armed and looking over my shoulder for the next pack of “wolves”. What you advocate is truly a Hobbesian world where life is “nasty, brutal and short”.
AR – you miss the point. The wolves will not harm you physically. They will instead prey on your stupidity, and take advantage of your lack of work ethic, your failure t make familial bonds, your poor education.
Wolves will win. They will make the money, they will live a good life, and succeed.
Sheep will work for the wolves, serving them coffee, cleaning their houses and cars, or they will simply live in ever increasing poverty. Wolves have every right to take advantage of the stupid sheep, and they will do so.
This is a euphemism. It is not meant literally.
I prefer to live around and amongst the “wolves”. If the sheep starve, struggle, live in poverty – it is NOT my problem. My obligation is to take care of me and mine. I will align myself with like minded souls. You will not be one such, grasshopper. I will align with ants.
I will align with the HSFs of the world, for instance. We will survive and thrive.
The sheep? Not so much.
You’re not the only one, however, his replies are repetative and boring. He’s a fucking two note Charley. He calls anyone that disagrees with him and his Jewish dick sucking a basement dweller, which is pretty weak. The Grim Reaper laughs at Lloph’s chest beating.
Dionogenius – let me know when you are actually going to add something of value around here. The suspense is killing me.
Say hi to your mom for me! Just holler up the ladder.
didn’t see that coming….. yawn.
The sheep are for fucking sheering ? When the sheep out number those that benefit from their being sheered and fucked be cautious . I hear many of those sheep have guns and are fed up with the corporate plunder and military industrial state . Not to mention the economic and political circle jerk that is Wall Street to K-Street to Capitol Street while Main Street was sheered and fucked !
I did well in the flucitions economically thru my life with hard work and investments over time . Sadly far to many have been left out of the American dream . I totally agree a large percentage have no one to blame for their situation in life but that elusive man or woman in the mirror !
However that does not change or address the problem of the wealth gap between the haves and have nots . I placed a high value on education and preparedness with the young people in my charge and have invested heavily in their pursuit for higher education and it appears to be paying off for them . Sadly I had to warn them they are outnumbered and the problems from such a social economic imbalance has a high potential for disaster .
The have nots can and eventually will rise up and attempt to eat their collective asses .
This revolution can and will repeat itself , history proves that with little doubt . That is why I continue to speak to union high wage and benefits providing a modest but comfortable life working in industrial pursuits . I honestly think the investor class and the political class will find the results of supporting the lower educated individuals with a bigger share of the success has a huge benefit over a welfare police state collapsing in on itself and dragging all involved into a black hole !
I am a bourbon fan , woodford Reserve tonite !
Or we descend into turd worlderness. Even if I was the richest man in the world, I don’t want to live in a turd world.
Wip – the turds in the US are making their own turd world. Poor education, no skills, broken family, debt and no savings, sense of entitlement, poor work ethic. Turd world is all they deserve with that group of attributes. And they are going to get it.
I think we’ve (you and I) come to an impasse. Our thoughts and beliefs aren’t that far apart but there’s got to be some middle ground. I blame government and corporations. I know you love efficiency which is only possible through economies of scale but there is a price to pay for too much market power. I said Microsoft and Amazon are monopolies and I stand by that. You know, Rockefeller never owned 100% of the market either but was broken up nonetheless.
Q: where would we be if not for Teddy Roosevelt?
Llpoh all true but you me any of us cannot out vote or out gun the ever growing have nots . The blame game is senseless . Remember the poor black woman trotted out by Obama in one of his State of the Union bull shit session she had a home with a ARM and needed her sister to live in to cover the mortgage . This genius refinanced once and rolled in a Lexus then refied again and rolled in a cruise vacation for the whole family . Yes she used all the equity and then some . Then came dat devil mortgage man who said my payment just doubled and my sister lost her job . Poor lady lost her house to those sneaky bankers . Then there is the GM retired person who took the $500 K buy out and spent every dime and is now on welfare with a section 8 voucher .
This is what you me our kids are saddled with and they are not going away . You may agree that paying $15 to $30 bucks an hour or more is cheaper than a civil riot or war . The old pay me now or pay me later !
Boat – industry – manufacturing – is gone. It is never coming back. Fewer and fewer are required each day to produce the same amount. That is how it is. Nothing can or will change that. Each year, manufacturing needs around 2.5% less people to do the same amount of work. Do the math.
Want to make a good wage? Be a good tradesman, or a good professional, or run your own business, etc.
Otherwise, you are a sheep for the shearing. And that is all there is. Most people are going to be sheep. Some will be wolves. Be a wolf, or get eaten. It is that simple.
A wolf needs skills, a good work ethic, a strong family, education, to be thrifty, etc.
Do not have those things? You are a sheep. And you will get eaten. If the sheep uprise, the will get slaughtered en masse by the wolves. Wolves will not stand for it.
[img
[/img]
Llpoh – If you’re the future then higher powers help us all. I personally find your beliefs vile but understand that they’re also fashionable among the wealthy.
AR – yes, my old fashioned attitudes re the value of personal responsibility, hard work, stable family, thrift, education are just horrible.
What a dolt you are. Your socailist road leads to hell.
AR , I try to explain how the industry failing and wealth transfer is dangerous , especially for the haves because of the enourmous crowd of have nots . Llpoh is correct in his belief that many have no one to blame but themselves . Regardless of truth facts what ever , we could be on that edge and yes you your dogs etc May succed in holding some at bay but that would only encourage a more calculated attack after which your dogs and maybe you or me would be considered lunch
If I were as dumb as some think I am, I might say something about the need for a good shepherd and a couple Great Pyrenees dogs to both hold wolves at bay and to keep the sheep from crossing lines. But, that would almost seem like I’m suggesting the sheep be corralled, fenced and guarded from the wolves. And I’m not that dumb.
And I also know your boerbels would tromp white pups like mine and those wolves with the best guard dogs will probably be most successful guarding their stuff from feral sheep.
Maggie – everyone should have good dogs! Your white babies seem excellent choices. My big babies are spoiled rotten, but I would not like to be the sheep that pushes their buttons.
So let me see if I understand the parameters of this problem:
Money is infinite since it is created out of thin air by the machinations of the Federal Reserve.
Shouldn’t the pie be infinite as well? This is a pie=money metaphor, isn’t it?
If the pie/money supply is shrinking, then wouldn’t the share the 1% hold be shrinking at the same rate as the shrinking pie/money supply the 99% control?
And here’s another one- I serve as a custodian of a trust so I get to see what’s what. The beneficiary of the trust is a hard lefty, Trump hating, progressive of the first order. They have made as much in the past year than in the previous eight and you know what? They haven’t given any back in protest, they haven’t closed the Trust or frozen it based on Paul Krugman’s insightful analysis of January last and they haven’t voiced concern that they now have too much and that it would be better to redistribute it to the DACA Dreamers/SJW’s/BLM/PussyHatters/fill in the blanks.
Isn’t that odd? I mean it’s one thing to extol the virtues of #nevertrump#metoo#causeoftheday but it’s another when you suddenly find yourself moving up into the land of the 1%, youknowwhumsayin?
Here’s the thing. No one stopped anyone in the 99% from investing in the same stocks and bonds that have returned fortunes to the 1% did they? I mean anyone can open an E*trade account with $100 and an Igadget so what’s the reason for sitting in the ashes and scraping your sores with pottery shards after a year of 35% returns? And let’s get over this puerile fantasy that the 1% are sleeping on mattresses stuffed with thousand dollar bills like Scrooge McDuck- their money is invested in companies that manufacture, invent, innovate, lend, explore, research, build, develop and pay employees the whole time. What they do with their money helps drive the economy, not kill it. You can be jealous if you want, you can be envious and greedy and seethe with desire for what other people have, but you can’t be dishonest about the positive impact those fortunes have on society at large unless you are a complete and flaming hypocrite.
I don’t care about money the way a lot of people do even though I use it just like everyone else. I just have fewer needs that I can’t meet on my own and I place far more trust in the stability of family and long term friendships and the rewards associated with those things than in financial instruments, tranches, derivatives, bonds and notes, but that’s just me. It’s probably why I’m always someone’s executor or trustee because to me it’s just a curiosity, like some guys beer can collection on the wall of their den. Cool, but I’m not that into it. I don’t understand why so many people focus much time and energy on some theoretical balance sheet that is marked in dollars and cents in order to find their place in the world and determine their worth, but then I don’t understand Bronies, Trekkies, African violet aficionados, Dispensationalists, Tide Pod Challenges and a host of other odd, if somewhat harmless obsessive behaviors that dot the landscape of the post-modern world. My opinions count about as far as I can see out of my window in the morning sunlight, so there’s that too.
Wealth is what you think it is- where your treasure is there too will be your heart. The future is uncertain and the end is ALWAYS near- as the bard of Venice once croaked- and it’s just as true today as it was then.
I hope I’m not coming across as envious. You know, entire religions teach about this.
Well done, HSF.
Less economically illiterate than most TBP posts, but still short of reality.
Decreases productivity can occur for many reasons: failure to invest is a top one. This also results from non competitive activity such as monopoly, collision, government subsidy or prohibition, and so forth.
We don’t have to look very far to see some of the effects fro.such activities. Health care in the US costs nearly twice as much per capita as any other 1st world country. We’re talking 8%+ of the entire GDP – or well over $1 trillion a year. Military Adventures would be another major, largely unproductive spend.
As foe working hard and opportunities: yes, they exist. But most of those comprise the same crap as what’s going in in the US: screwing a bunch of other people over to become rich yourself. The new made wealthy in China and other places are doing it by employing their brethren in low paying jobs – much as the oligarchs in the US employ those same demographics only they happen to be foreigners.
The difference is that the Communist Chinese government actually does care that too many Chinese yields revolution while Americans somehow think it isn’t a problem.
Maybe it is decadence.
I also totally disagree with those who say Americans are lazy. Yes, there are some but they exist everywhere.
The real problem is that even those who bust their asses are worse off now than they were 10, 20 and even 30 years ago. See health care above. See university costs. See housing costs. The list goes on and on and on.