4 ms·

> I'd be a lot more sympathetic to the plight of the elderly in such a position if they weren't, you know, basically kicking away the ladder they used to climb

by bwanab 10y ago

> I'd be a lot more sympathetic to the plight of the elderly in such a position if they weren't, you know, basically kicking away the ladder they used to climb to the top, spend the country broke, and then continue to vote entitlements while passing a faux-future of success demanding everybody get a Bachelor's to even be a Secretary answering phones. This whole system is so broken pointing it out sounds extreme or mean, but it's just obvious to me over these past 15+ years of working. It's funny to think that this was exactly what I was thinking when I'd been working for 10+ years in my early thirties looking for a house after they'd skyrocketed in value the previous few years. Inflation had eaten away at any savings I'd made, gas lines were a recent memory as well as several recessions one after the other. Oh, this was in the early 1980s. I get it. I've got kids coming into this economy and I'm worried for them. I also get that there are a lot of people my age who really are self-centered a-holes and consistently vote to keep the pie moving up toward them. What I think we need is massive infrastructure investment funded by both current taxes (to get the people with money to pay) and low cost debt (so the beneficiaries of the investsments can pay) to kick the hiring structure down to the people that can do those jobs.

6stringmerc 10y ago
For sure - I think there's a middle ground, a real sweet spot where infrastructure investment puts able bodies to work, pays them a fair wage (or maybe generous so they spend/kick-start consumerism/pay down debt), and actually improves the long-term outlook of the nation. Those FDR "make work" programs did a lot of good things that I think we'd be wise to study for potential emulation. The CCC initiative. Politically, to a large voting bloc - disenfranchised Millenials - I think it could pull some water (not to mention stir up encouragement from the older population that "those dang kids" are doing something good with their time). People would have to go where the work is, more than likely, but that's a trade-off. Unfortunately a great deal of the "low interest debt" seems to be funneling into equities and buy-backs, only worsening the transfer of wealth to investor classes rather than working classes, at a time when, really, it doesn't make sense to do that.

by bwanab 10y ago

6stringmerc 10y ago

For sure - I think there's a middle ground, a real sweet spot where infrastructure investment puts able bodies to work, pays them a fair wage (or maybe generous so they spend/kick-start consumerism/pay down debt), and actually improves the long-term outlook of the nation. Those FDR "make work" programs did a lot of good things that I think we'd be wise to study for potential emulation. The CCC initiative. Politically, to a large voting bloc - disenfranchised Millenials - I think it could pull some water (not to mention stir up encouragement from the older population that "those dang kids" are doing something good with their time). People would have to go where the work is, more than likely, but that's a trade-off. Unfortunately a great deal of the "low interest debt" seems to be funneling into equities and buy-backs, only worsening the transfer of wealth to investor classes rather than working classes, at a time when, really, it doesn't make sense to do that.