"No poor person ever.................."
 

"...........gave me a job."

One of my wingnut co-workers told me this last night, and from the context of the conversation, I gather that he got this from Limbaugh. I didn't respond to his comment at all, but it struck me as to the shallowness of the reasoning behind it. Take the business he and I work for as an example. True, the man who owns the factory is a billionaire. The folks who run the business and do the hiring are all educated and well paid.

But, who is it that goes into the grocery store and buys the coffee? Is it only the Billionaires, Millionaires? If that were the case, we wouldn't sell much coffee, would we? No, I should think not.

By and large the consumer base in any "developed nation" is the working class. The folks who get paid by the hour. I'll bet if you check, even the poor buy more coffee than the wealthy. Cheap, generic coffee, I'm sure but it is a demand.

Now, I understand that it takes wealth to build a factory and a distrubtion/retail chain. Okay? But, why can't people seem to understand that when you cripple the purchasing power of the largest segment of society, the working class, whether it's through high taxation, or depressed wages and/or high unemployment, you cripple the entire economy.

Is it just me or do we seem to have two schools of mainstream thought on this issue? One that seems to think high taxes will solve the problem, and the other that thinks cheap and docile labor is the answer?

If so, they are both wrong, IMHO.

Dave

We've had considerably more robust economies with a tax rate that was considerably more graduated than the one we now have. I appreciated the tax credits we received this year, but would rather see a more graduated tax find its way into the rates.

Another thing that would increase the economic status of the working class is probably a pipe dream these days, but it is the Employee Free Choice Act. Take away the captive audience speeches and the professional union-busters from the organizing campaigns and we would have a greater percentage of the workers benefiting from union representation. I've spoken with several union representatives who had more than a majority of signatures on the union cards, but by the time the employer was able to delay an election for more than a couple of months and spread their implied threats and rumors, they could not retain a majority for the election.

The economy would also benefit greatly from production and spending moving away from things that we blow up and crash. The brain power and investment that go into the industrial military complex could certainly advance the cause of finding alternative energy sources and producing quality products that would compete withe the crap that the Chinese dump on our market.

As you suggest Dave, one single area of focus will not improve the economy.

Regards,

D-Ray

Which problem are you referring to when you question whether high taxes will solve it?

Unless there are drastic changes, the US economy is effectively done. Huge spending cuts and tax increases might start righting things, but the political climate won't allow for it.

As an aside, my income is in the upper middle class for up here, but hardly independently wealthy. My company has created 10 jobs from scratch in the past year and I am hoping to double that by the end of the year. When I started, I was barely in the middle class, so while not poor, I sure was not rich.

Bingo! We have a winner!:p

Dave

Do I win a prize? Preferably not in US Dollars. Chinese Yuan seem a safe bet...

But, D-Ray....We have to make sure we have enough miltiary to protect our shore, all of our friends around the world and anything that could be even remotely considered an "interest". What, you think enough nukes to eradicate all human life from the face of the earth is a bit excessive? Where is your head, Donald?

Seriously, we had better start worrying about keeping America a country worth fighting for. If our way of life and our living standards continue to decline, eventually no one will give a shit anymore.

Dave

Ummm, NO. We can't afford prizes anymore. Sorry.

Dave

With the advance of robotics, we no longer need as many workers. The focus is now on sustainable living as opposed to growing the economy.

The money games our masters play are the means to their end. And enriching themselves, of course.

Welcome to the New World Order.

Chas

We no longer need as many, but we have even more. This is the Achilles Heel of our current tack. Not everyone is going to have the ability to be a manager, engineer, professional or business owner. We create millions more "workers" every year, then find ingenius ways to create less work for them to do and actively seek to make what work is left less and less rewarding.

This growing disparity can only lead to disaster. And it will. If you think we have a mess now, wait another ten or twenty years. If we fail to create enough decent jobs for the boneheads of this world in the coming decades, we will fall into utter chaos.

I leave you with that happy thought.

Dave