roachboy

dk---you factor out the breaking of the power of unions, the downward pressure on wages brought about by both the transnationalization of production (and by extension the labor market) and the wholesale introduction of computers into standardized production. so collective bargaining has largely disappeared as the framework within which wage levels are set. compare this with the situation in manufacturing of the 1950s-early 60s and the differences are really apparent.

the irony is that the nationalists/protectionists were sold out by the right that is now trying to exploit their anger in the context of the tea parties.

the redistribution of wealth is about leveling income disparities overall. that's why taxes are often called the redistribution of wealth. they don't create class distinctions. capitalism creates class divisions and is based---still----on class conflict. but in the like totally free us of a it's fashionable to pretend that such things have magically gone away.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

dippin

So by you accounts this the most regulated period in history, right? I mean, the whole thing with Reagan deregulating stuff that FDR regulated is clearly backwards, right?

This isn't to say that states can't increase inequality. They certainly can, as I am not going to go down the road of extreme reductionism of state: good or bad.

But it seems to me that your assertion is quite empirically verifiable. We know that inequality has increased dramatically over the past 30 years.

dksuddeth

the important thing to remember is that all of the 'deregulation' did nothing more than free up the corporations from their promises to benefit the working population while maintaining all the breaks they got in kind. The working population got nothing but more restrictions. This happens no matter what party is in power. The working population gets shafted because all of the supposed benefits from legislation do nothing more than consign them to worker status. No incentive is given anymore to a person to create and run their own business. They simply can't compete anymore because the corporate protectionism was never removed.

__________________
"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."

pan6467

I am not oblivious to history. In fact, I am a great student of it. I just don't believe our country has to end. We just have not had anyone stand up to business and work to change the system starting from the top and working down. The past few administrations (including this one) have been nothing more than barrack room emperors and catering to the rich with their policies, while destroying all others through over taxation, inflation and devaluation of currency.

In case you don't know what a barrack room emperor is or want to argue I don't let me quash that. They were emperors of Rome that rose to power through their armies and thus created allegiances to the extreme wealthy. They also increased inflation and devalued the Roman monies. One could argue, and I am one of these people, that the way partisanship is heightened those could in essence be considered "armies".

Our decline actually has a lot of internal similarities as the Roman Empires did.

But just because a civilization dies or changes doesn't mean it has to kill off it's poor and middle classes, have losses of freedoms and have violence ensue. All of which, seems to be what this and past administrations for the last 40 years have been leading us to. (There were one or 2 decent administrations that tried to accomplish positive changes but they were hampered by a Congress of another party or internal corruption that they could not control.

The USA is a great country as opposed to the USSR and others who have recently fallen. There is just no reason to continue this decline UNLESS there are those pulling strings from within who have power wanting it to fall.

Hopefully, those people are found out and we can find good people who can put us back together again.

---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:41 AM ----------

Extremely true. And it comes from both parties while we the people have a media that tries to keep us focused elsewhere.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"