I wanted to share this really interesting little video with everyone. Actually, it is more of a chart than a video; but he explains it as you watch and read the chart. We think we have a grasp on how the wealth is distributed here in the United States; but this chart shows that most of us are not even close to right, and there are a lot of us who are so far below the poverty level that we don't even show on the chart at all. It was a real eye-opener for me. Even though it focuses on America; I would guess that it is also pretty true for many other countries as well.
Very interesting the poor and middle class have been hit hard in the last few years, so hard the poor are poorer and the middle class is now the poor. I think some of this would change if we re trained a lot of the poor and middle class people to have jobs that are current with the needs of today. The skills they have are no longer viable which makes them able to only get low paying jobs.
Yes, well being able to provide individuals with free training was something the President placed a jobs bill awhile back, but Congress shot it down. So, it was never done, which is sad because I agree that this would be a way to help solve the unemployment issue in the United States, which I am sorry to say I am a part of. Maybe if we were given a chance to obtain new skills for jobs that are actually out there in demand then those of us out of work could get back to work and maybe the economy would start to improve, just a thought, too bad Congress didn't think this way.
I have to disagree Hannah. There is no such thing as free training. Everything has a cost and somebody has to pay for it. People who earn their way through life appreciate what they have and have pride in their accomplishments. Our government is in the sad shape it's in now because of "free" programs. I like this quote: " If someone gets a dollar they didn't earn, someone else earned a dollar they didn't get."
An unspoken component of job training in America is that, once the government becomes fully involved in the business of training people for jobs, the government will decide which jobs you are qualified for, and that will be based, not on what you might want to do with your life, but on standardized testing and the needs of the government. Not so long ago, we were critical of China and the Soviet Union for doing that.
This is been planned for a long time to make a labor force who they pay very little. It is time to go to a barter system of trading a chicken for some work or some vegetables to buy wood. While we are using their money they get to set the rules. The rules are everything for the rich and what is left over we can have.
Well, if the secret TPP is fast-tracked through Congress, we will probably see A LOT more economic problems here in the U.S. I am all for capitalism, but not to the point where the American people get exploited (or any people for that matter, regardless of where they live). The TPP gives A LOT of power to corporations on a world wide level and leaves the average American behind in the dust. I think it would make an even greater disparity in this country between the haves and the have nots. The bottom line is that Barack wants it, so you know that it can't be good for America because he only likes things that weakens America on the worldwide stage. I am really mad that there are some republicans who are supporting it. I wish corporations would remember they are only going to do as well as their customer base. In other words, a company that has a broad customer base that is doing well financially will find they have greater sales. When the customer base of a company shrinks as in the case of a smaller middle class, then companies don't have anyone to buy their products. A LOT of companies learned that back in 2008 when they went under because nobody had any money to spend. Apparently they have forgotten those lessons.
I think that the entry into world trade is what is leveling our classes. In the end it is always about supply and demand, and this will indeed cause havoc in the marketplace. Add to that natural disasters and things like this avian flu effecting the poultry food supply and things could go very bad. This will force many people back into a simpler way of life that they may not be prepared to handle. I thank the stars everyday I came from country folk and have a good idea what it is like to be really poor. I really have to wonder and I am in no way a tin hat type, what will happen to these people that just don't get what's going on. No one can survive by eating things that are not really food, and then everyone is forced to foot the bill for the ones that will die from poor lifestyle choices caused by poverty. I do not feel like jobs and retraining are the answer, if there is really no jobs what is it that people are suppose to do? In my case I had to re-examine the way I looked at money and what it meant to be making it. There is no multi million dollar dream home in my future. As an individual I feel like the best thing that I can do is support small local business, re-use and re-cycle the best I can, and trade when it is possible. I try to network with as many like minded people as I can. When my car got hit there was no question that I would go to a local small collision shop, my feeling was I would rather that man have it for his family then some nameless corporation that can not even be bothered to pay a living wage. I do that whenever I can, I rather buy used or from an estate then new from Walmart. When you network like this in a smaller community it is easier to level the overall wealth, everyone benefits from working together and the result is a kinder more stable community.
First, I would want to know who produced this video. Next, if you substitute wealth (and the video seems to blur wealth and income wrongly) with time spent fishing, watching Oprah, knitting, or other enjoyable activity- you would probably get a similar distribution within the limits created by longevity. I know of people who have accumulated sizable amounts of money while working for wages less than the minimum wage of today. I have known people with sizable income who have accumulate neither the proverbial pot nor window..... So, when those that are envious of the wealthy find a way to trade their leisure time for some of the wealth that others have accumulated, there will be an amicable settlement reached. In lieu of that, maybe they could trade some of that time now for production of their own wealth.
Our college professor in Economics subject said that wealth is like sand and pebbles in a screen sieve (this is the screen mesh used by masons in filtering sand to get the fine ones). When you put sand and pebbles in that screen and you move the screen, you will notice the pebbles separating from the sand. The pebbles will naturally stay because they cannot fit in the small holes of the screen mesh while the fine sand would drop thru those holes. Wealth is like the pebbles who would stay with the rich unless they break it up in small bits for faster consumption. What our professor clearly means is that wealth will be in the hands of only a few since most of us have our minds focused on consumption.