Have you been to central Arkansas recently. Not only can you not buy a bottle of Scotch, you can't even buy club soda!
There are a lot of bigoted people in the world. Whether it be politics, religion, abortion. race etc. and they all cause trouble. So like it or lump it.
That's true but is looking at the past a good predictor of what will happen in the future when it comes to automation and the economy?
The idea of maintaining a "middle class" comes from maintain an economy based on consumerism. The "lower class" has little purchasing power and the "upper class" will only buy a limited amount. The U.S. is a service economy and if there's no demand for those services then well...
The idea that they aren't saving because they frivolously spending that money is ridiculous. Half of the country is living paycheck to paycheck because of stagnant wage grow. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ha...rately-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-2017-04-04 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...rs-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/ In economics, if the answer is as simple as guacamole toast, it's probably wrong.
In the US, we need a middle class, at least for now. We are not really an export economy. Although we sell some things overseas, we mostly sell them domestically. If you are rich and have a business, you need the middle class to buy your products (goods or services), so you can only permit them to get 'hollowed out' so much. The poor cannot buy your products (unless you are Walmart) because they spend their entire paycheck at Walmart just trying to make ends meet. I know a few unemployed marketing consultants, event planners, teachers, and so forth. I'm still waiting to meet a hungry person who has an education and experience in a highly-demanded technical/scientific field. The problems here in the US are legion, but may break down to a few lessons about entitlement: 1. You need to get an education. If that means going to community college first, or going part time so you can work while you're studying, or getting a loan that's going to be painful for 10 or 15 years, that's what you need to do. You don't have to go to Ivy League, move out of state, or live on campus. Find a way to get a less expensive education. 2. You need an education in a field that has jobs--good jobs that are plentiful and pay decent wages. 3. You need to get work experience, which means giving up going out drinking with your friends and spending some of your time getting that experience and also making contacts in your chosen field, even if you are not paid for it at first. 4. You need to keep your skills updated for the rest of your life, if you want to continue working. It's hard, it's time-consuming, it takes grit. We no long live in a world where you can do the same thing for 40 years and plop in front of the TV every night after you get home. Industries are no longer set-it-and-forget-it. They want dynamic people who solve problems. You need to be one. 5. Until you can truly (easily) afford it, you don't need the aforementioned 2500 sf house, 3 TVs, etc. Trust me, you won't die. 6. You need to lose the idea that your government owes you something. The government should be there as a safety net for the disabled or those with temporary problems. But I don't want to pay your way any more than you want to pay mine. In summary, grow up. If you have kids, make sure you make it easy for them to do the above by setting expectations about excelling in their primary and secondary education, and working with them on a daily basis so they may do so. Most people want their kids to be happy, have fun, have lots of friends, and play soccer. Those things are great, but you've got to facilitate the other stuff, too. When you get married, choose someone who is going to work with you on all this--someone who can be part of the solution--not someone who wants to plow through all your money and be part of the problem.
As far as I'm concerned ....the middle class has Always been falling, even since the beginning of time. You're either rich, or well-to-do, ....or you're everyone else People who control the gold, control the rules. and people look out for their own interests and set the rules. in spite of making everyone believe it's a fair democratic world or society. The solution is simple: Get the fuck out of the middle class bracket. That's your wake-up call.
This is interesting, in light of the discussion: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/trucking-jobs.html Correct me if I am wrong, but there was a time in the past when truckers in the US could be classified as "middle class"...