People in Poverty Up 6,667,000; Record 46,496,000 Now Poor

reply to post by xuenchen


We don't have a poverty problem.

We have a greed problem.

Greedy people believe they might not be able to have happy, or good, unless they're greedy. We need to change that thought pattern.

Realistically, wealth can only get you to a certain amount of happy before it plateaus - and that is when greed comes in. It is when we falsely believe that more wealth will always equal more happiness; and that idea needs to be washed out of peoples minds - it's chasing a delusional dream.

Truly, the only people who will admire you for your wealth, thus giving you happy, are other greedy people; and if you ever lost your wealth, you would not be admired for the wealth you had previously obtained.

The way to really feel happy, is to play catch and release with wealth. That is, catch wealth, obtain it, then give it to someone who is needy; then, and only then, will you secure happiness for forever.

reply to post by onequestion


Not if their Businesses are Headquarted Overseas , thus eliminating the Demands of Unionized Labor and the U.S. Corporate Tax System . Let's face it , the Global Economy is bypassing the American Worker because of the Ever Sacred " Bottom Line " . The Only Solution I see to counteract that big problem is the Federal Goverment enacting Protectionist Laws and the Deregulation of certain Business Unfriendly Legislation all for the Greater Good of OUR American Economy's eventual recovery . It could actually happen if the Right People are Elected and put in the Positions of Legislative Power that would enable America to become Prosperous again ............

reply to post by Zanti Misfit


OK, now that i can understand and vibe with.

Thanks.

reply to post by Bleeeeep

We don't have a poverty problem.

We have a greed problem.

Perhaps. It does seem that way sometimes.

Do you think 'greed' is a result of psychological problems ?

Maybe psychopathic, sociopathic, or narcissism is prevailing in some instances.

If that's a factor, how did it get the way it is ?

It's Kinda Hard to get Democratic Progressive Socialists to Stimulate the Economy with the Creation of Wealth through a Capaitalistic System

Captalists crashed the economy and destroyed trillions in wealth, so you're wrong as can be.

Besides, the capitalists are doing great now, for the most part, so your argument fails again.

reply to post by onequestion

Perhaps your questions have already been answered. I hope so, because I don't have any answers, but in my role of Mr. Confusion, I have questions.

What we need is the mega corps to share their wealth.

Well, of course that means "take their wealth." If that becomes official American policy (and it is. The US currently has the highest tax rate in the world at 39.1%), why would any company want to be located here? We are forcing them to leave the country if they can, and making it hard for other countries' companies to come here.

We need to bring jobs back to the US.

Agreed. After scaring away the multinationals, how would you suggest we do it? If it takes an American $100 to make a product, and an Asian $10, how to we persuade our low income Americans to spend the extra $90 to get it?

And, excuse the sarcasm, I thought the progressives were all about equality. By shipping jobs overseas, we equalize the income of the entire world. Do we want America to be the 1% when the rest of the world is the 99%?

reply to post by xuenchen


How deep do you want the answer to go? I could track the answer back to when God said Be but that's probably not the answer you're looking for.

So, without going too too deep, I guess the answer is that people who are greedy aren't necessarily trying to be bad, it is just that their concept of what is good is corrupted, or erroneous. It is as Jesus said: "they do not understand."

It is just one of the inherent qualities of mankind. That is, we have always been superficial because we have never understood properly (with superficiality being a result of a lack of understanding.)

Really all we're doing is trying to reproduce what we think is good, and greedy people have a destructive sense of good - there is really not much more to it than that.

The solution would be to instill, into the mind of society, the fact that generosity, or creating good for others, is the greatest good.

So, to answer your question, I don't know if we have ever had it right, or that is, I don't think society became broken, it has always been broken because people are broken.

-To best understand almost anything, just relate everyone and everything to concept reproduction and you'll find your answers, or if you like, when God said "be" thus (re)producing concept. Concept reproduction is who we are - it is this reality's primary function.

Hope that wasn't too deep to grasp.

Edit to simplify: It is lack of faith and understanding. What the psychological term for such is, I do not know. Maybe megalomania or narcissism? But those labels are meant to be identifying terms, and not causes. What makes someone narcissistic is their doubt or lack of faith in others. It is because they want to produce good concepts, yet they have no faith in others, so they become their own god of understanding [of what is good].

reply to post by charles1952


I'm not talking about taxes because taxes are the biggest problem we have on the planet. All tax money does is cause wars.

Im talking about demanding that they pay people better, i don't really know what that involves.

I can tell you as a young American that im frustrated. There really isn't much opportunity. I have to work a laborer for 10$ an hour for years to get a shot as an apprenticeship that i have to work for years to become a journeyman at anything. If i don't do that i have to go to college and aquire more debt to learn something that may or may not yield me a decent paying job.

A good friend of mine has a masters in computer science and engineering both. He's making 45k a year which really isn't much to live off of for the quality education he has. 45k isn't bad i guess.... but for what he does and what is education is suppose to yield i think he deserves more. I wonder what his CEO is profiting off of his hard work.

This capitalist ideology is bull#. I don't know if socialism is the answer but 1% of america holding all of the worlds wealth for sure isn't the answer.

CB328

It's Kinda Hard to get Democratic Progressive Socialists to Stimulate the Economy with the Creation of Wealth through a Capaitalistic System

Captalists crashed the economy and destroyed trillions in wealth, so you're wrong as can be.

Besides, the capitalists are doing great now, for the most part, so your argument fails again.

I Create Personal WEALTH through the Sweat of my Brow in a Capitalistic System , others do it with their Brains . Those who do Neither are Nothing More than Parasites feeding off the Charity of others, and having no Self Pride in Knowing they are able to take care of Themselves . Which are You >?

onequestion
reply to post by Zanti Misfit

 

That doesn't make any sense.

What we need is the mega corps to share their wealth. We need to bring jobs back to the US. You know how hard it is to get a decent job in the US right now? YEARS of waiting just to get an apprenticeship.

Make slave labor and laborer exploitation illegal and enforce it. Then when all the large corps collapse and the walmarts close down, we can start again with local economy growth.

I've got an idea. How about we cut off the corporate welfare and see how these corporations do. I mean if these people are richer than ever and their companies are posting record profits, why does the government need to keep giving them money? Can't they just survive on their own? Not to mention whenever normal people are on welfare, they get kicked off after they start earning above a certain amount of money a year (though sadly it's not enough to live on). I thought corporations were people? Are corporations people that are just more equal than everyone else?

How about instead of just handing out money like it is going out of style to any corporation that wants it, the government rewards the money to businesses that promote positive economic things, like raising employee pay, offering benefits, and creating jobs that aren't just more service sector jobs.

That's another issue with the way things are. The government hails job growth, but then you peel back the truth and find out that most of these jobs are crappy service sector jobs making crap pay and working crap hours. Then the government turns around and wonders why mental illness and then therefore shooting sprees are on the rise. There's one giant elephant in the room and everyone wants to kick every other animal out of the room, meanwhile the elephant takes up 80% of the space in said room.

I remember when Obama deregulated the banking industry and started two decade long wars that created a perfect storm of economic destruction. I think he may also have been the guy who rewarded our companies who sent jobs to India and China with tax breaks. Him and that time machine he has been a busy little bee.

reply to post by MrSpad


The problems with the U.S. economy today goes back to the early 1980's when globalism became the New "Cash Cow" for U.S. Corporations. When the Kemp-Roth tax cut was enacted in 1981, it created a huge boon in spending, which threatened to re-accelerate the fires of inflation. The Fed stepped in, slowed monetary growth and raised interest rates to check the rapid growth in aggregate demand. It was successful. Then in the 1980s ,the economy was relatively closed.

Today, it's wildly open and any type of stimulus will be quickly thwarted by a rapid rise in imports and increasing direct and portfolio investment overseas. Hence the failure of Obama's stimulus program .Today, consumers spend much of their incomes on many things that once were or plausibly could have been produced in the United States. The Current Account deficit is currently off the charts. So is the Capital Account deficit. American corporations have offshored much of American industry by both moving manufacturing facilities to China, India and Brazil AND by investing in new job creation overseas. With the loss of jobs comes a deteriorating tax base. Many government programs already can't be fully funded, and as the situation worsens expect to see serious poverty issues accompanied by massive homelessness, illness and death in the general population.

What the American economy needs is direct investment. That can be easily achieved by punishing the capital offshorers with higher taxes until they finally relent and end their globalist greed machines by re-investing in America. Prominent economists are already recommending the tax option as a way to re-acquire the American Dream and make jobs and federal solvency as the reasonable and attainable goals of public policy. Re-introducing tariffs and quotas on a selective basis would also help insure that more income earned in the United States is spent in the United States. Yes, I'm advocating the death of the WTO, so-called free-trade pacts, and other ill-advised strategies that have the death of America as the ultimate object of globalist planning. This is our country. Only if we work to protect it can we realistically expect it to have future.