40% of Americans have negative net income

[Final-Fan]

pokoko said:

Jaicee said:

Why not offer an opinion of your own on this subject then instead of just criticizing the opinions of others?

I wasn't criticizing opinions, I was criticizing the overabundance of rhetoric.  The difference seems pretty damn obvious.

Regardless, I did have the intention of discussing this but then I realized it would probably be futile mixed in with the "it's your side's fault" comments.  The person who says "it's both side's fault" might as well be shouting into a hurricane.  Even more futile is the idea that the situation is going to be addressed seriously.  Big money interests run the government and until it benefits them to change the way the economy operates--or it crashes and burns with them inside--researchers can talk about this until they are blue in the face.   The banks are the overlords Genghis Khan dreamed of being.

The drive for short-term profit over long-term stability in the financial sector is overwhelming the average citizen.  The highest sources of debt are growing much faster than median income.  Student loans and medical bills are out of control.  Rising interest rates on top of heavy debt have turned it into a crushing burden that people can't claw their way out of.  

Of course, it's also true that the average person is absolutely terrible at managing their finances.  They're being offered loans and credit cards that they shouldn't be offered and taking them without realizing the consequences.  At my last job, I had a few entry-position people ($8.75 an hour) teasing me for driving an old car (2005) because they had new Camaros and full-size pickup trucks.  Unnecessary purchases are the biggest source of credit card debt and the average household pays an obscene amount each year just in interest.  

So, a lot needs to change, from the lending infrastructure to the way people use their income.  The systems that are causing the most ridiculous debt, like college loans and medical billing, obviously need to be overhauled.  Everyone in the world can see that what we have now is killing us in more ways than one.  There shouldn't be a politician in Washington who isn't working on finding a real and meaningful solution.  The affordability of housing is also becoming a serious problem.  At the very least, the cost of living should not consistently gain on pay rate increases. 

This is a multifaceted problem.  The last thing we need are people pointing fingers and making excuses.

I mean, both sides are bad at this, but I think one side has spent a lot more time punching the other side in the face whenever it does actually sit down and try to solve serious problems.  I totally agree on a lot of your analysis, though, especially the bolded. 

One other thing:  It's not even just Right vs Left.  Half of the initial responses to the OP were from anti-money guys using it as an excuse to climb on their hobby horse.