RebelCapitalist: Financial Information for the Rest of Us | Either Fight or Lower Our Living Standard

Either Fight or Lower Our Living Standard

Jul 26, 2010 | By: Mr_Blue | Tags: middle class, living standard, wiped out, destruction

The choice is simple either we fight to change the economic policies that favor top incomes and corporations or we lower our living standard - by a lot.

Check out this very disturbing article entitled “The U.S. Middle Class is Being Wiped Out”. The article lists several facts that indicate the destruction of the middle class. Here are just a few facts listed in the article:

• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people. 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.

• 61 percent of Americans “always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.

• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.

• As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.

• Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.

• The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.

The article attributes the destruction of middle class to globalization and government regulation. Multi-national corporations can easily move operations to a lower wage, lower standard of living countries and there’s nothing that American workers can do. A very depressing picture.

But what about changing economic policies: 1) Re-exam how we negotiate free trade agreements (focus on raising standards of trading partner instead of just opening markets); 2) Provide a stronger social safety net including a Job Guarantee; 3) Changing our tax structure so that it can work more effectively with our Modern Monetary Economy (more on this at a later date); and 4) Control the size and influence of the financial sector. Despair is not an option but the choice is simple: fight for change or lower our living standard and in the process usher in a possibility of debt servitude for our children and grandchildren.

Good luck.