patrick.net

Maybe Bill Cinton's NAFTA and Obama's attempted TPP have something to do with it? Just maybe Trump's America first policies might be good?

lostand confused says

Maybe Bill Cinton's NAFTA and Obama's attempted TPP have something to do with it? Just maybe Trump's America first policies might be good?

Yes, free trade definitely is a part of it, but trying to attribute it to Dems is silly. Republican's voted overwhelmingly in favor of free trade while the majority of Dem Congressmen voted against it.

If you want to ding Clinton and Obama, it's because they were too conservative, not too liberal.

Nice article, thanks for posting.

anonymous says

1. As technology is never constant blue collar labor will always be at a disadvantage. You can invent a machine that works 10 times faster, but you cannot do that with labor.
2. The author seems to ignore the difference between skilled and unskilled labor. Inventing and maintaining a machine that can work 10 times faster will require skilled labor. The benefits of technology not only goes to capital, but to skilled labor as well. It's the unskilled labor that loses out with advancing technology, and ends up relying on government assistance such as welfare and minimum wage laws.
The long term solution for the general population is to acquire marketable skills for the modern world, either through education or vocational training.

Clearly the answer is to import millions of Chindians to drive down skilled labor costs and compete with American college grads for jobs, housing, and services! Then we will erase inequality as everyone will be equally poor! Winning!!!

Alternatively, we could import millions of Somali pirates and thus CREATE thousands of jobs in National Security to watch them for terrorist activity! We can increase our diversity, become more multicultural, (and perhaps drive some Jews away to Israel in fear of their lives from these horrid Muzzies).

Quigley says

Clearly the answer is to import millions of Chindians to drive down skilled labor costs and compete with American college grads for jobs, housing, and services! Then we will erase inequality as everyone will be equally poor! Winning!!!

The faster technology changes, the greater will be the demand for skilled labor. Either we produce skilled labor ourselves, or we import them.

anonymous says

Inequality isn’t driven by taxes—it’s driven by the power of capital in relation to workers.

This is true. It's why the Democrats need to get back to being on the side of all working people in their struggle against capital and drop all the bitter divisiveness by gender, race, etc.

Every divisive NPR story is simply playing into the hands of capital by making it impossible for the working class to unify and get real representation in Congress.

Strategist says

The long term solution for the general population is to acquire marketable skills for the modern world, either through education or vocational training.

Yes, the cost of higher education and vocational training needs to come down, and it should be the job of the Democrats to do this. Again, they have lost their way and fallen into deliberate sexist and racist discrimination in education, especially against poor white men. What programs and scholarships and loosening of academic standards are there for them? None. This is another factor that drives poor white men out of the Democratic party and causes Democrats to lose elections.

I'm starting to suspect that the relentless harping on "diversity" is actually a brilliant evil plan by the 0.001% to prevent any true unification of the working classes. Divide by diversity, conquer, profit!

rando says

I'm starting to suspect that the relentless harping on "diversity" is actually a brilliant evil plan by the 0.001% to prevent any true unification of the working classes. Divide by diversity, conquer, profit!

You are starting to suspect this? Jesus. WTF do you think has been going on for the last 40 years?

Everyone Who Makes More Money Than I Do Isn't Paying Their Fair Share - by Gerald Bandu, Blooger and Future Coder

Equality in America is a huge problem. I'm not talking about equality of opportunity: I'm talking about the kind of equality that comes when everyone who makes more money than I do pays their fair share, being brought down to my level by the blind justice of the government.

Politicians want to distract you from who the real enemy is: everyone who makes more than I do. If we can just force them to give the government hundreds of millions of dollars, all our problems will be solved.

What will they do with it? Who cares! As long as everyone who dares earn more money than me is cut down to size, I'll be much happier.

Now, I know that I make a lot more money than 99% of the world and the majority of the nation. But I'm not the problem. I already pay too much.

People who make more than I do---they're the problem.

Take all your hate toward the government and taxes and redirect it toward people who make more money than you.

Not me, of course---everyone who pulls in even a dollar more than I do annually is the real villain here.

https://babylonbee.com/news/opinion-everyone-who-makes-more-money-than-i-do-needs-to-pay-their-fair-share

Has a familiar ring to it for some reason....