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The Real Class War

americanaffairsjournal.org

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161–170 of 634 posts

Re: The Real Class War

#161

Post by rtx »

intended wrote: post #129
simonh wrote: post #105

This is all driven by globalisation, and don't get me wrong I'm a globalist, but this is just a fact. First manual labour in manufacturing was outsourced abroad, then higher tier tech jobs in software and product engineering. Now big firms from former third world countries are muscling in on markets at every level of the economy, creating competition at every level of business. You can't add hundreds of millions of C…

That’s incorrect - the global pie has grown bigger. Inches and markers exist which never existed before. All those new workers are consumers for goods and services from America. America soy beans are famously bought in China, as are American bonds. Economically- if you get cheaper goods, you do more with the same income, meaning your quality of life goes up. The issue is not the growth of China- the issue is the dist…

Has it grown proportionally to the labor force addition? Global GDP per capita should be be around $11000. And thats where its trending to for rich countries.

Re: The Real Class War

#162

Post by macintux »

chii wrote: post #85
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advancing humanity should be a requirement for access to that kind of money. It's a hugely privileged position to be in, and the idea that it comes with exactly zero responsibility to Rest of World is nonsensical.

> It's a hugely privileged position to be in, and the idea that it comes with exactly zero responsibility to Rest of World is nonsensical. and tell me if you also spend a portion of your income on donations to under-developed countries. Because that's what you're asking the billionaires to do - altruistic giving. I m of the position that if they legitimately made their money (i.e., nothing illegal), they are entitled…

There was once a tradition of public service among the elites; they recognized that their position was good fortune at having been born into a family of means, and that selfishly speaking without a strong civic society their position would be fragile (even setting aside the altruism many of them felt).

This notion was reinforced by the Ivy League system.

Bushes, Kennedys, you can see the tradition of service (even if we may tire of political dynasties).

Selfishly, if you're wealthy and wish your progeny to be the same, it's not a bad idea to make sure the cathedral doesn't collapse around you.

Re: The Real Class War

#163

Post by [deleted] »

barry-cotter wrote: post #66
neonate wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> those who almost don't have the opportunity to decide who to become That's an interesting phrase. Can you say what you mean by it?

It’s a reference to the sociological concept of marked versus unmarked identities. If you think of an American you probably think first of a white man of Christian heritage. If you think of a Chinese person you picture someone of Han ethnicity, not Miao or Manchu. If you think of a nurse you picture a woman. All of the people who fit that identity but are different from the unmarked version are marked by their differ…

[deleted]

Re: The Real Class War

#164

Post by raxxorrax »

dcolkitt wrote: post #150
Despegar wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pie may have grown, but aside from labor in the Global South, the people who have captured the gains from that growth have been the capital class in the developed nations (i.e not blue collar workers or the professional class). And no, getting some of your compensation in stock options doesn't make you apart of the capital class, unless you can stop working.

> the people who have captured the gains from that growth have been the capital class in the developed nations (i.e not blue collar workers or the professional class) Wrong. Middle-class Americans have captured gains through cheaper, higher-quality products than would have otherwise existed without trade and development. Are you using a phone made in China, or wearing clothes made in Bangladesh, or eat fresh fruit in…

This isn't adequate compensation at all considering productivity growth.

Re: The Real Class War

#165

Post by Wh1skey »

The story of Rome’s fall is both complicated and relatively straightforward yet it eerily resembles America: The state became too big and chaotic; the influence of money and private interests corrupted public institutions; and social and economic inequalities became so large that citizens lost faith in the system altogether and gradually fell into the arms of tyrants and demagogues. If all of that sounds familiar, well, that’s because the parallels to our current political moment are striking. Edward Watts, a historian at the University of California San Diego, has just published a new book titled Mortal Republic that carefully lays out what went wrong in ancient Rome — and how the lessons of its decline might help save fledgling republics like the United States today.

Re: The Real Class War

#166

Post by excursionist »

> But the Valley has never been particularly fertile for the salaried professionals and “engineers” hired by these companies, who even now generally make less than their counterparts on Wall Street or in Big Law. Kindergarten playroom office spaces and other exag­gerated perks often serve to distract employees from this harsh reali­ty.

lol

Re: The Real Class War

#167

Post by squiggleblaz »

frockington1 wrote: post #113
rustyboy wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a false dichotomy. There is no reason that you can't have the opportunity to be a billionaire, while making sure that no one goes homeless or dies from a preventable disease. People love to point to FANNG but the reality is America did this for the boomers, union membership was over 30% and we still had super wealthy people. CEO to average employee income was around 80:1, now it's closer to 250:1. When 3 peopl…

I agree that there can be more equitable distribution. I struggle with why seizing wealth through taxes is the current war drum being beat. I think the most productive means to making wealth would be stressing the importance of investing and compound growth as part of the high school curriculum. Note: That's where my idea ends right now, I don't have a viable implementation path

How can you invest when you have to decide whether to fix the car or eat?

The rules aren't fair, they're made by the rich. Learning how to follow them won't make you richer because they're designed to increase the wealth at the top.

Almost no-one advocates seizing wealth hrough tax. Merely work (income). Since the rich have wealth and the poor work (earn income)

Re: The Real Class War

#168

Post by helen___keller »

maxerickson wrote: post #72
singularity2001 wrote: post #69

What is often forgotten is the hyperdeflation of technology. All your gadges would be worth many millions in pre 2000 dollars. Your car is probably better in many ways than a million dollar car from 1980.

The value attained by owning a car hasn't changed all that much. They are clearly safer and more convenient, but cars in 1980 made it from A to B most of the time too.

If anything, the value of a car is lower than ever in history because decades of sprawl (and recently ride-sharing apps) have contributed to unprecedented traffic nearly everywhere

Re: The Real Class War

#169

Post by _carl_jung »

theohofpleasure wrote: post #133
_carl_jung wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I invent (at the cost of $500) a programming tool that improves your output by 50%. This enables you to earn $5000 more per year than previously. You purchase that software for $1000, providing me a profit of $500. Who's wages are unpaid?

It's a company which makes the profit. If you started a company and sold the tool for $500 and the company paid you $500 then there is no more profit for the company. If the company paid you $250, only then can they claim to have made $250 profit. Hence, profits are nothing more than unpaid wages.

You make a philosophical leap about rightful ownership when you say "unpaid wages". I don't agree with that leap.

Further, your definition doesn't include situations in which there is no employee (such as the one I gave).

It is more correct to say that the profit is the gains made to some agent in a market transaction.

Re: The Real Class War

#170

Post by ryan93 »

polytely wrote: post #87
singularity2001 wrote: post #69

What is often forgotten is the hyperdeflation of technology. All your gadges would be worth many millions in pre 2000 dollars. Your car is probably better in many ways than a million dollar car from 1980.

Everything is way more accessible than pre-2000's, but I would argue that the overall quality of the user-experience is probably worse. If you buy a TV today, you get amazing image quality, but you also have to live with the fact that the TV spies on you and that the software it runs on will discontinue in 5 years. (this of course doesn't matter because it's been designed to break before that point). I would gladly t…

No you wouldn’t take CRT.
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