mrstickball said:
Ah, but I don't think that minimum wages are the root of the problem. For America, I think one of our major problems is personal debt. Americans have a horrible lust for debt, in the pursuit of more material goods. That is in inflation-adjusted dollars. In just 15 years, credit card debt has risen almost 100% in inflation-adjusted dollars. At a 19.9% APR, that is absolutely huge in becoming a drain on wealth-creation for the poor and middle class. Think about what wealth is: assets without liabilities (use any term you like, but that is the basis of having it). If that statement is true, then poverty is liabilities without assets. Given what our credit-driven consumerist culture buys with its credit card debt: toys, games, food, movies...Things that depreciate or have very little long-term worth, then you understand that it becomes a major impetus to wealth. The truth is, ANYONE in America can become incredibly wealthy if they wanted to. Unfortunately, our culture is obssessed with activities that create more debt than wealth: Massive college loans, big fancy cars and houses, and massive entertainment spending. When my fiancee (now wife) and I were both working for minimum wage, we accumulated huge amounts of capital and wealth simply because we saved what we could. Although things aren't perfect (I have stupidly accumulated some debts), we are much better off than those around us, who racked up significant debts for things that never lasted. |
Credit cards are definitely a problem, along with the rest of the accumulated debt. But that's not the entire story. Businesses have replaced higher paying manufacturing jobs with part-time service work at a much lower rate with much lower benefits. Required education levels are raising, which both postpones entering the workforce and accumulates debt for young workers. On top of that when they get a job, many of the jobs are making less than the equivalent jobs of 50 years ago. There's no easy fix to this problem but one step in the right direction would be to rid the world of the ridiculous notion of trickle-down economics, followed by massive cuts in government spending, and finally tax relief for everyone, especially the middle class.
And, most importantly, would SOMEBODY do something about the capital gains tax? It's repulsive how people who make money from money have it taxed at such a low rate. It perpetuates wealth in an unhealthy manner and fucks everyone except the top few percent.
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