No, it is not true. No one with common sense is blaming capitalism for stagnant middle class and for income inequality. It is, rather, a certain reckless type of Capitalism that does not allow for the developing of certain institutions (like welfare systems, etc.) that is the cause. This is why the video is dumb. It is creating a simplified straw man argument and attacking that, instead of actual arguments. 

Secondly, the "stagnant middle class" is in fact true, and yes, it is why Trump was elected. Whether the people who elected him actually knew what they were voting for is a different question. 

Thirdly, the post by Mnementh above is really good. Those sources include the US Census Bureau and McKinsey. These are reputable, and show exactly what you are claiming is a myth. 

It's fun, isn't it? 

I see what you are saying, truly. My posts here had an agenda to try to discuss why you think the things mentioned in this video and the thread were a myth. 

The problem when it comes to social realities is that there are so many sources of information that it is difficult to actually prove one's point. The next best way is to tap into the actual logic and see where the roots of the argument comes from, and see if that actually makes sense. It's not actually as easy to separate "myth" from everything you are trying to discuss. 

Income inequality is a problem when it does not match skill or work performed. The wages for worker's have not budged since the 80s, meaning that their wage did not increase significantly with inflation. Let's say that a teacher made $30,000 a year in 1987, and the chairman of education (or whoever the hell) $70,000. This is fine, right? The Chairman has more responsibility and should have the higher wage. 

Today, chances are that the teacher still makes $30,000 while the chairman makes 100k. Why did the wages not increase for the teacher? It is much harder to survive with the same amount of money that it was then. While 30k could have bought you a house in 1987, it gets you a small apartment now. Not to mention that the larger gap is much harder than it is to explain, since the skill of the labour has not changed. (It is, after all, the same job). 

It's a fictitious example, of course, but it explains the point. 

The bolded is funny because we just had a recession that was factually worse hitting on the economy than what happened in the 70s. They don't call it the "Great Recession" because it was a joke. 

The more people you have to compete with, the tougher it is to get noticed and climb the ladder. When you're competing with say, 100 million people, that's already a staggering amount of competition, but when you're competing with billions, that's like trying to climb Everest.

The less people you have to choose from, the more the market demands you pay to them. When you have say, 100 million people to choose from, that's a lot, but when you have billions to choose from, the labor demand is greatly lessened and therefore a persons value stagnates or drops.

But here's the kicker to that: Capitalism wasn't the reason for this, but social reforms. If it all went like the capitalists would have wanted to, we'd still be like during the industrial revolution, without any worker protection laws, safety regulations, and the like. Only leftists of all kind taking actions against the companies gave them any power and voice, and ensured that the workers got their share of the profits, too.

And don't think I'm advocating for communism or the like, I just point out that either end of the spectrum is totally flawed and the general public will get screwed either way if society goes too far into one political direction.

Only a healthy mix of both capitalistic and socialistic laws ensure that both employers and employees thrive, and the government too by the way. And that healthy mix is missing in the US, being way too far on the capitalistic side and screwing over both the general public and the government.

Or, in just one picture:

For those who don't understand the implication, it's because the Republican party supports a trickle-down scheme. It's supposed to give more to the working class by taking less taxes from the rich, so the rich could give more to their workers. But what rich person would willingly do so if that person's totally honest? They also believe that this would make them invest more money back into the economy by creating new companies and thus jobs, but the large majority of millionaires rather sit on their money or just invest in the financial markets. Either way, just a tiny amount of that tax cut trickles down to the workers, and the end results are rising inequalities and governmental debts.

I went to a children's hospital the other day. There was a little girl crying over her pain after surgery. I went to her and told her to shut the fuck up because there is a little boy next door dying from aids. I told her to embrace the pain because there are people who have it worse. When she said that there are also people who have it much better than her, I just slapped her.

Other countries health care isn't all sunshine and rainbows. If you look at their taxes and the price for basic commodities, you will see they are hurting elsewhere that can also hinder their well being in the first place. Education again went way up in price since anyone can now take a loan and universities have no incentive to lower the price if a student decides to go to college for a useless degree. Also, federal student loans increased significantly which is a form of education spending no matter how you spin it.

Health care isn't a right and neither is the military. Both require money and people who are willing to serve us. Since slavery has been abolished, we shouldn't force others to serve us. The difference is military is something we NEED to protect our "God-given" rights which are pretty much outlined in the bill of rights. Health care at the end of the day is a WANT to improve our lives, not a need. We can have a better health care system if we got the government out of it and it will become much more affordable. The fact our precious government is willing to do deals with big pharmaceutical companies and stop outside competition is an easy example of why we are in this situation in the first place. 

I think the combination of the private sector and states/local is the way to go ultimately for health care and not the federal government which has proven to be a failure.

The tax rate isn't dramatically higher in Australia...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/australians-may-pay-more-taxes-than-americans-but-they-get-more-too.html

USA: $14,115 USD per capita.
AUS: $17,146 USD per capita.
OECD Average: $12,911 USD per capita.


There has also been a slew of tax cuts being passed right now as well, which should bring our tax rate down... I know I will see an extra $1,000.

In saying that... We also tax the poor less... Because there is a moral reason for it.
http://sendmoneyaustralia.com/tax-rates-in-australia-comparison-to-usa-uk/

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Expenditure on Healthcare per GDP:
USA: 17%
AUS: 9.6%

Clearly higher taxes isn't a requirement for a universal healthcare system when it's cheaper.

And for that our hybrid Universal Healthcare system is ranked 2nd in the world according the world health organization... The USA is ranked 11th. - For a nation that could land a man on the moon, why is your healthcare system so crippled?

But we also have higher minimum wages, better welfare, vastly better roads, paid parental leave, less student/education debt.

And on top of that we have less poor because we distribute wealth far more effectively.

There is a reason why there is a "Stagnant working class" in the USA... And it starts from the very top.

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The frustrating part Snoopy is that you aren't willing to look at and recognize what other nations have done right in regards to healthcare... And why they are better the the USA's model... But instead wish to resort to a health system model that the developed world have since abandoned due to it's costs and inefficiencies.

I guess you missed the part where I do want to change America's health care system but to one of free enterprise instead of giving so much power to the federal government. Which is why it is so messed up in the first place. Competition is what drives us. Also equal doesn't mean justice. If I steal someone's hard-earned money and give it to someone else to equal things out, that isn't justice. 

However, Australia is going through a lot of problems right now such as a much higher cost of living, your military is now a joke,  your colleges are nowhere near as good as ours and your unemployment rate rising. Also, bragging about welfare is just sad. Welfare is a temporary solution and should never be looked at as a good thing.