The Middle Class Myth,Here's why wages are REALLY so low today

[National Socialist]

The ?middle class? myth: Here?s why wages are really so low today - Salon.com

Very good article.

 

[Iceman]

"The greatest victory of the anti-labor movement has not been in busting industries traditionally organized by unions. That’s unnecessary. Those jobs have disappeared as a result of automation and outsourcing to foreign countries. In the U.S., steel industry employment has declined from 521,000 in 1974 to 150,000 today."

"In Nick Reding’s book “Methland,” he interviews Roland Jarvis, who earned $18 an hour throwing hocks at Iowa Ham…until 1992, when the slaughterhouse was bought out by a company that broke the union, cut wages to $6.20 an hour, and eliminated all benefits. Jarvis began taking meth so he could work extra shifts, then dealing the drug to make up for his lost income.

Would Americans kill pigs for $18 an hour? Hell, yes, they would. There would be a line from Sioux City to Dubuque for those jobs. But Big Meat’s defeat of Big Labor means it can now negotiate the lowest possible wages with the most desperate workers: usually Mexican immigrants who are willing to endure dangerous conditions for what would be considered a huge pile of money in their home country. Slaughterhouses hire immigrants not because they’re the only workers willing to kill and cut apart pigs, but because they’re the only workers willing to kill and cut apart pigs for low wages, in unsafe conditions."

Thank you free trade and mass immigration. Gotta love the "free market" right?

 

[Billy000]

The ?middle class? myth: Here?s why wages are really so low today - Salon.com

Very good article.

This article is not taking into account the economy we have today. Ambition goes a long way, but it only goes so far in today's economy. The average fast food worker is 29 years old. To suggest it is just whiney teenagers who want higher wages is completely outdated. It isn't just skill that warrants higher pay. It is productivity. Productivity has skyrocketed since the 30s yet all income gains have gone to the very wealthy. That is the issue at hand. I agree $15 an hour is asking a lot, but more than likely these protesters are starting high so they can settle on a wage a few bucks more than what they make now once the negotiations are over. Fast food profits are at an all time high. They can afford to pay a living wage.

 

[initforme]

All the hard work in the world is no guarantee for anything that resembles success anymore.

 

[francoHFW]

ty, Pubbies- who needs a good SS/work card lol

 

[francoHFW]

Considering all taxes — federal, state, and local — the bottom 20 percent of households pays an average of 16 to 17 percent of their incomes in taxes. The next 20 percent of households pays about 21 percent of income in taxes, on average. [21] In fact, when all taxes are considered, the share of taxes that each fifth of households pays is similar to its share of the nation’s total income.[22] ITEP data show that in 2011, the bottom fifth of households received 3.4 percent of the total income in the nation and paid 2.1 percent of the total taxes. The middle fifth of households received 11.4 percent of income and paid 10.3 percent of taxes. The top 1 percent of households received 21.0 percent of income and paid 21.6 percent of taxes. The tax system as a whole is only mildly progressive.[23] Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes ? Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

 

[Brain357]

Our economy is in bad shape. I remember back in the 80's where someone with a high school degree could get a decent job that would support a family. Now those same people have to get fast food or walmart type jobs, the ones high school kids had in the 80's. Now you need a degree just to do as well as the high schoolers did back then. And degrees aren't cheap. This is not a better economy.

 

[occupied]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

 

[Mac1958]

.

Yeah, I can always count on Salon to provide a comprehensive analysis of business economics.

I make it a point to stop by there every morning as I'm analyzing markets.



.

 

[Iceman]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The 1%? Get real, you can make less than $500,000 and still be in the 1%. Most of the gains are going to the .01%, the .001%.

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The American consumer has become irrelevant to the major manufacturers and retailers.

Walmart has 404 stores in China and they are planning on opening another 110.
Walmart Corporate - Walmart Locations Around the World - China
Walmart to open 110 new stores in China - FT.com

That's just ONE example. Don't get me started on smartphones. Major companies used to rely solely on the American consumer, very much in the mode of how Henry Ford operated: He wanted to build a product that his own employees could afford. That is how it used to be. Now workers here get shit hours and pay because neither the employee or the consumer within our domestic borders matters anymore.

 

[Stephanie]

.

Yeah, I can always count on Salon to provide a comprehensive analysis of business economics.

I make it a point to stop by there every morning as I'm analyzing markets.



.

no kidding

 

[Iceman]

.

Yeah, I can always count on Salon to provide a comprehensive analysis of business economics.

I make it a point to stop by there every morning as I'm analyzing markets.



.

no kidding

This is your response? How constructive. I wouldn't expect anything less from a neo-con hack like yourself.

And the GOP wonders why they won't win another Presidential election, ever. Taking a strong anti-populist line always fails in elections.

 

[occupied]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The 1%? Get real, you can make less than $500,000 and still be in the 1%. Most of the gains are going to the .01%, the .001%.

Well excuse my decimal place, you knew who I was talking about.

 

[Stephanie]

.

Yeah, I can always count on Salon to provide a comprehensive analysis of business economics.

I make it a point to stop by there every morning as I'm analyzing markets.



.

no kidding

This is your response? How constructive. I wouldn't expect anything less from a neo-con hack like yourself.

And the GOP wonders why they won't win another Presidential election, ever. Taking a strong anti-populist line always fails in elections.

lol, what the hell is it your business what the I post on this board?
take a look at that ugly spew you just posted, typical bully

 

[Kosh]

.

Yeah, I can always count on Salon to provide a comprehensive analysis of business economics.

I make it a point to stop by there every morning as I'm analyzing markets.



.

A far left Blog site just like the Daily Kos, Huffington post, Common dreams, Think Progress, etc.

 

[Vox]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The American consumer has become irrelevant to the major manufacturers and retailers.

Walmart has 404 stores in China and they are planning on opening another 110.
Walmart Corporate - Walmart Locations Around the World - China
Walmart to open 110 new stores in China - FT.com

That's just ONE example. Don't get me started on smartphones. Major companies used to rely solely on the American consumer, very much in the mode of how Henry Ford operated: He wanted to build a product that his own employees could afford. That is how it used to be. Now workers here get shit hours and pay because neither the employee or the consumer within our domestic borders matters anymore. [/B]

hail obama and other marxist collectivists for that.

 

[Iceman]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The American consumer has become irrelevant to the major manufacturers and retailers.

Walmart has 404 stores in China and they are planning on opening another 110.
Walmart Corporate - Walmart Locations Around the World - China
Walmart to open 110 new stores in China - FT.com

That's just ONE example. Don't get me started on smartphones. Major companies used to rely solely on the American consumer, very much in the mode of how Henry Ford operated: He wanted to build a product that his own employees could afford. That is how it used to be. Now workers here get shit hours and pay because neither the employee or the consumer within our domestic borders matters anymore. [/B]

hail obama and other marxist collectivists for that.

The bulk of our manufacturing jobs were lost long before Obama took office. Did you bother reading the article? America has been in decline for years, due to the policies of both parties.

 

[Stephanie]

So much wealth and control is locked up in the hands of the 1% that full recovery is just not possible without their full cooperation, we do not have it. They no longer need us as a workforce and barely need us as consumers. The old partnership between the ownership class and the working class is long dead. Makes me wonder why many still think we need to offer them more tax breaks and incentives to create good jobs when they like us underpaid and desperate for anything that keeps to roof over our heads.

The American consumer has become irrelevant to the major manufacturers and retailers.

Walmart has 404 stores in China and they are planning on opening another 110.
Walmart Corporate - Walmart Locations Around the World - China
Walmart to open 110 new stores in China - FT.com

That's just ONE example. Don't get me started on smartphones. Major companies used to rely solely on the American consumer, very much in the mode of how Henry Ford operated: He wanted to build a product that his own employees could afford. That is how it used to be. Now workers here get shit hours and pay because neither the employee or the consumer within our domestic borders matters anymore. [/B]

hail obama and other marxist collectivists for that.

Exactly, new taxes, thousands of new regulations have been put on business with Obama yet they'll put the blame on everyone else
Now they want to drive away more business by demanding they pay $10 an hour
Salon is so leftwing they are more like Socialist/commie, I won't go there and support their site

 

[Kosh]

The American consumer has become irrelevant to the major manufacturers and retailers.

Walmart has 404 stores in China and they are planning on opening another 110.
Walmart Corporate - Walmart Locations Around the World - China
Walmart to open 110 new stores in China - FT.com

That's just ONE example. Don't get me started on smartphones. Major companies used to rely solely on the American consumer, very much in the mode of how Henry Ford operated: He wanted to build a product that his own employees could afford. That is how it used to be. Now workers here get shit hours and pay because neither the employee or the consumer within our domestic borders matters anymore. [/B]

hail obama and other marxist collectivists for that.

The bulk of our manufacturing jobs were lost long before Obama took office. Did you bother reading the article? America has been in decline for years, due to the policies of both parties.

Yes through far left policies that drove them out of business or out of the country.

The industry that helped build the nation was slowly dismantled by the far left, even though it was put in place by a highly revered Democrat, FDR.