Posted on 09/22/2016 10:57:49 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
Economic recovery, but not for the “Invisible Americans”
Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO at Gallup, who presides over endless surveys of American consumers and businesses and knows a thing or two about them, has a message for the media and the political establishment that seem to be clueless: this meme about the recovering economy – “It was even trumpeted on Page 1 of The New York Times and Financial Times last week,” he says – “I don’t think it’s true.”
In an article posted on Gallup’s website, he made his case:
The percentage of Americans who say they are in the middle or upper-middle class has fallen 10 percentage points, from a 61% average between 2000 and 2008 to 51% today.
Ten percent of 250 million adults in the U.S. is 25 million people whose economic lives have crashed.
What the media is missing is that these 25 million people are invisible in the widely reported 4.9% official U.S. unemployment rate.
(Excerpt) Read more at wolfstreet.com ...
Until the liberal/socialist movement began to define Americans by class, most American citizens didn't think of themselves in those terms--thus, the great dignity and optimism of those who simply made less money than others--always aspiring to something better, and not resenting those who might have more money.
We were all in it together, and, largely, adhered to the Lincoln admonition:
"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association" (March 21, 1864), pp. 259-260.
"And, inasmuch [as] most good things are produced by labour, it follows that [all] such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have laboured, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To [secure] to each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Fragments of a Tariff Discussion" (December 1, 1847), p. 412.
"...the working men are the basis of all governments, for the plain reason that they are the most numerous..." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, "Speech to Germans at Cincinnati, Ohio" (February 12, 1861), p. 202. Source
I don't think there's anything "lower class" about carrying a pile of student debt for a college education of questionable worth, or carrying ridiculous mortgage on an overpriced home, or paying off a seven-year loan on a car you never should have purchased.
Working to 70 has been both productive and freeing for many, because by then we learn the truth of "there is no such thing as a free lunch (or anything else, really).
Young, struggling individuals who also have been named by the elites as "millennials" will have deficits and debt laid on them for the "free stuff" promised by the "progressive" regressives.
Well, true ... but keep in mind that this mentality is also what motivates people to buy lottery tickets even if they can barely afford to pay their bills.
Not sure I understand that connection. . . .
Poor people don’t necessarily work hard to get rich. Sometimes they gamble incessantly.
Even The New York Times admitted Trump was right: If we count the unemployed, underemployed and those who have simply given up looking for work — which the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not — 40.4 percent of Americans were unemployed as of January 2016.
And when the number of wage earners goes down, so do household incomes.
I’m going to be blunt and say that if someone isn’t willing to take initiative and pick up a book to read and learn, that is not the fault of the global elites. In the past, things were laid out in profusion and we had a lot of freely shown opportunities. now, things are no longer so easy and we have to take more initiative and I wonder if that is the root cause of a lot of discontent. Things are no longer handed to our youth, like direction and so many other things. Now they’re freaking out because it’s no longer so simple and straightforward and they can’t take too much time out of life to find themselves.
“I think much of the debt we have in this country is most assuredly an indication of a pampered middle class. “
Fully agree. I think the rhetoric about ‘saving’ the middle class is frankly insanity since I honestly believe that the issue of the middle class spending too much is what is driving the economic crisis.
No one has any business buying a car that costs as much as a house used to or a house that costs as much as a mansion used to. No one should be going to a school they can’t afford just because of the ‘name’. A Harvard degree isn’t going to do much if you don’t have the right contacts and university contacts expire pretty quickly after a few years of being a graduate in the wider world. As for school, if you can’t go to an Ivy League college, too da** bad.
Since only about 60% of the “Work Force” is employed, it certainly makes sense that about 40% isn’t. And the Work Force does not include children and retirees, who have to be taken care of by something.
I’ve advocated for a long time that we should ditch the bogus “unemployment” statistic and focus on the “Carry Ratio” (Employed persons divided by total population). Showing numbers for households by decile of income would also be very instructive. The gross numbers of wage earners matter, but I suspect that income levels are highly polarized, with an ever shrinking middle as the article suggests. I hope a Trump government will start using stats to actually understand problems and address them realistically rather than hide them.
That’s the result of a political and business class utterly lacking in any allegiance to this country. They have jobs and a good life. If you don’t, that’s your tough luck.
I'm puzzled by that assertion, because to me it is the definition of "lower class". Why would one obtain a pile of student debt for a dubious education? Why carry a ridiculous mortgage on a pricey home? Why go nuts paying a loan on a car you shouldn't own? My wife and I realized in our youth that you live within your means. That was how we climbed out of poverty, as both of our parents were poor and had nothing to offer us. We didn't overreach when buying, and bought what we needed, not what we wanted, and we paid off debts as soon as possible. We climbed into the middle class.
Our adult kids were pampered to some extent, but taught economic sense. No student loans for them, they worked while attending college. No ridiculous mortgage, they bought homes on the cheap and did their own labor improving them. They bought used cars paying cash. They are working poor but certainly middle class.
We have relatives and friends who were careless. A couple of nieces have a pile of student debt with stupid degrees, can't get jobs in their field, have trouble making rent, and bought cars with loans; their parents co-signed, had financial difficulty and lost their home and are now renters themselves. That family fell into the lower class category. My brother-in-law has a good job but has a pile of debt and no assets to show for his years of work, in his sixties. Being careless can make one "lower class".
If people can't afford these things but insist on taking on these obligations anyway, then that's a different story. In that case, they've made THEMSELVES "lower class" and have no reason to complain about it.
I shudder when I see poor people buying lotto tickets. Dumb and stupid. I never play the lotto, terrible odds. I tell young people that the easiest way to get rich is to get a good job, and progress up the ladder with more experience, all while working. Over a long period of time, it all adds up to a better life. Lotto tickets are a sham and will take you to the poor house because they promise instant riches but deliver empty pockets.
Okay, I think we’re on the same page. Some people make themselves lower class while continuing to pretend to be middle class; digging themselves into a hole by not living within their means.
If you take a person at the age of 18 who comes from a "lower class" background, do you see them following this trajectory over the next 5-10 years of their life?
1. Borrow $100,000+ for a college education
2. Graduate at the age of 22, get a job paying $40,000/year, and immediately buy a new car
3. Buy a new $350,000+ home with no money down and a variable-rate mortgage
This might actually happen, but probably in very rare cases. Usually, this type of road through life is taken by someone who has grown up in fairly affluent (middle class at a bare minimum) circumstances.
This is why you never saw any "lower class" people at any of those Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.
I’m actually thinking of writing a short book to help other people my age mentally cope with the fact that they have no prayer of getting into the middle class, how to avoid scam jobs (which are popping up everywhere) and make the most of childhood memories of more prosperous times.
If they’re going to live independently of their parents, they’re going to have to gang up two to a bedroom in a rental apartment or house in order to have any discretionary spending money left after expenses.
I actually have that addressed specifically in one chapter - “If you can’t get out of the basement.” When I was in that situation I found that the best way to keep the peace was to be out of the house early in the morning (preferably before breakfast) and not back until the evening. Trying to get in touch with a few good family/psych experts for professional advice as well.
What I’m not sure if I should address in the book is what to do if you genuinely fall in love. The ideal model of making your own home together is gonna be a nightmare or impossible for some young people. Either it won’t be affordable or there won’t be housing in a decent neighborhood available. It’s not like you can chop down a few dozen trees from the city park and build a log cabin in a vacant lot.
Here, people of lesser means can avoid renting by buying an older single wide on a half acre lot with well and septic out in the far suburbs or country and commenting in. Won’t be a showplace, won’t impress anybody at all and might even put some people off, but they can be bought in the $20K - $40K range. Cheaper than rent, by far. But, insulation is usually very poor so heating and cooling expense could be a surprise unless it’s had additional spray foam insulation put in. Walls typically aren’t thick enough for much else.
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