economist.com — The wealthy are also feeling the pinch of the global recession. The extremes of wealth in the US & Britain had reached level not seen since the 1920's.The gains from recent economic growth flowed disproportionately to the wealthy.The top 10% earners received the vast majority of the growth of 1996-2005.It is not sustainable in the long run....
May 23, 2009 View in Crawl 4
forumdrivMay 23, 2009
But I thought poor Mexicans were responsible for all of the problems afflicting the United States? That's what my TV and radio said. That's why we don't let them come with visas so that they don't have legal status or labor rights and the jobs they fill here remain low-wage and that those jobs provide more downward pressure on low- and medium-wage jobs in the US. Maybe if we enforced labor laws and conformed our immigration laws to reality so that they were enforceable, workers would be in a better position in the US and Mexico? You think?
clvngodessMay 24, 2009
Hmm. I think you might want to read Zizek and his observations about this communism thing of which you speak. The new communists, the liberal communists are actually people like Bill Gates... Source: Violence, Slavoj Zizek.
graphictruthMay 24, 2009
He says, pissing upon the jealous from the fantail of his imaginary yacht. Do you note the date cited? Circa 1920? Can you think of any widespread social movements that arose around that time? I can think of several.Actually, MY personal motivation is not wanting to be a bystander in CWII, thank you very much. I'm too damn old to think it a Magnificent Adventure.Nor do I think it unreasonable for people to believe that it is wrong that poverty and misery goes unaddressed and dismissed as the fate of the "undeserving," used as the fate of those who would like to work no more than 40 hours most weeks, at least, and all to maintain a lifestyle that still doesn't realistically include decent housing, health care and higher education.There is only a very small fraction of the population that benefits from vast pools of cheap and desperate labor. Nor can one shrug and say, "well, that's the free market at work." It is by no means a free market for labor. Or anything, really. The more those in the expensive suits howl about it, the less true that is. Capitalism is about two things - a free, properly regulated market that ensures fair transactions. The more free and fair transactions, the more people who use that market. It DOES advantage the better players, but part of that advantage is the willingness of many to pay a premium for that ability in order to advantage their own skills.
charlie6969May 25, 2009
We are a very young country. Our country is younger than some Churches in Europe.Who knows what kind of Government we will end up with?If we take the best ones from all different kinds of ideas; this country will be even more awesome!
Closed AccountMay 25, 2009
Don't know much about European history or countries, I can see that! Maybe you should educate yourself before opening your mouth?