Really? Then how come the rich get to drive better cars?
You can drive a better car too, if that is what you decide is the best use of your money. Point CaliforniaGirl is making, to me, is you are not excluded because of your class from purchasing such a good.
"Class" is a term politicians use to divide citizens, because fractured groups are easier to manipulate and control than a free people. So, we have (mainly lefties) whipping up resentment against anyone who is perceived as a different 'class'. Instead of respecting the ability of all Americans to achieve by hard work and determination, those who have less are taught it is not 'fair' for others to have more. We used to respect people who worked hard. Now, apparently, we resent them. Pathetic.
Thank you for clarifying. I agree with your view. My point in bring this up was I am working harder than I was several years ago, yet seem to be slipping according to these standards. If I am the same, what changed? I would say it is inflation.
Here's how this works (I'll use home sales as an example).
Someone purchases a house on the market (long, long ago), for $20,000. Fast forward a couple of decades, that same person has made some improvements on the house. He/she decides the house is now worth, not $20,000 plus whatever figure he/she put into its improvement, say...$5,000. but, wants to make more than the basic price he/she paid plus the improvements, he/she decides to sell it for $50,000....reason, he/she wants a profit. The realtor, says it won't sell for that, but the seller insists, so it goes on the market for whatever price the asker wants and lo and behold, someone desperate to live in that area, pays the overpriced figure. It sells, so those around figure, well, let's sell ours for much more than they are worth and get back vastly more than they paid for it in the first place. Hence the price of homes keeps skyrocketing, as people are gullible enough to pay what the price tag says, or close to it. Your retailer sells their product for a profit and each year, hike up the price and lo and behold, the public says, okay.
In England, the banks wanted to charge for withdrawals from their ATM's like the US does, the public said....no, in mass. Hence, the banks backed off and don't charge for using their ATM's.
Bottom line. We here in the US, are sheep. Whatever the companies claim they want you to pay for their product, we simply say, okay. If enough people rose up and said, "we're not paying that much for your product," the prices would stay down. But they don't, so the prices of all goods rise and companies are under no incentive to pay you more for your work, just because you can't afford certain products and thus your purchasing power deteriorates over time.
The solution isn't for government to take over companies. Governments are inefficient entities that only decrease productivity and as things dwindle, think less food products to choose from and less variety of other commodities, all the worker does is stay at the bottom of the feeding trough. The way for the public to maintain strong purchasing power is to not buy those products (food items aside as you have to eat), that you feel are overpriced. Do you really need that personal computer? Do you really need the latest cellphone? Do you really need the latest Nike's, Ultra-HD TV, a new car, designer clothing, or bigger home? If enough people inform companies that their product is overpriced and they're not going to pay the asking price, companies would have little choice to lower prices, or lose large amounts of sales.
A good example are pharmaceuticals. In the US we pay exorbitant amounts for the same drug that 3rd world nations pay pennies on the dollars for. The reason: "The US populace can afford to pay more and do."
