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I remember our family of five children, two cars, pool (but above ground), most vacations were camping but we did make it to Disney World. We had lots of nice s

I remember our family of five children, two cars, pool (but above ground), most vacations were camping but we did make it to Disney World. We had lots of nice stuff as kids, but it was solidly middle class. My mother stayed home while my father worked an eight hour day as an engineer at the local factory. He never worked overtime or weekends. All this with a bachelor's degree. My mother eventually went back to work so my parents retired quite early. American workers have been conned into creating the very wealthiest people in the world by continuing to give up more and more earning power, every year, and for being more productive. Europe is slightly better thanks to good public benefits, but it has also gone in the same direction: making the wealthy far wealthier than they were in the past. I can understand why this latest generation has little enthusiasm for doing anything extra at work. Good for them. Maybe things will eventually head back in the right direction for the middle class in developed countries.

colinmhayes 6y ago
I wouldn't say it's a con. In the end capital has bargaining power over labor because labor works for capital. Labor needs to organize very hard to take back control and that's difficult when everyone is scared they'll lose their job. Capital is able to make unilateral decisions because it's usually controlled by single/very focused and competent entity.
- danlugo92 6y ago
  > is scared they'll lose their job I wonder how much is this due to person-level decisions such as poor life/financial planning and inherited low socio-economic class.
- ausbah 6y ago
  it isn't just bargaining power or losing your job, it goes to the extent of lobbying gov'ts to be prolificly pro-business and anti-union, indoctrinating workers to view organizing as against their interests, and in some cases literally waging war against their employees
- tchaffee 6y ago
  > Labor needs to organize very hard to take back control and that's difficult when everyone is scared they'll lose their job It's fair to note that one party in the USA has worked very hard to break up unions. And it has worked. So it's not just labor vs. capital. It's labor vs. capital allied with the government.
  - colinmhayes 6y ago
    Politicians don't want to lose their job, so they bow to capital's demands in exchange for campaign funding.
    - tchaffee 6y ago
      Well politicians from one party bow to capital's demands. Democrats get campaign funding from unions. I'm not claiming Dems are free from corruption or deals with big business - they are not. But they for sure have not worked hard like the GOP to destroy unions and worker rights in favor of big business and the rich.
petr_tik 6y ago
I wholeheartedly sympathise. My interpretation is slightly different. The working class aren’t giving up earning power as much as the western central banks are inflating it away with endless money printing and support of Wall Street that is supposed to trickle down to Main Street. It seldom does. Instead it’s used for stock buybacks and further entrenchment of inefficient firms that would have long collapsed in genuinely free market conditions. I interpret the “capitalists are screwing the working class” as a) erroneous b) long-term dangerous c) convenient way for those bureaucrats to divide and conquer. Meanwhile they take risks with our economy without accountability.
- tchaffee 6y ago
  > support of Wall Street that is supposed to trickle down to Main Street > I interpret the “capitalists are screwing the working class” as a) erroneous Isn't support of Wall Street fairly interpreted as support of the uber wealthy capitalists who benefit the most from this monetary policy and artificially boosted stock prices? And what's stopping the capitalists from using some of that vast wealth to actually pay workers more? > Instead it’s used for stock buybacks Who benefits from this? Shareholders, right? Aren't the uber wealthy in the US and Europe getting the vast majority of their wealth thanks to capital gains via shares? > genuinely free market conditions. There good reason genuinely free markets exist nowhere in the world and nowhere in history. Negative externalities don't magically disappear all on their own. Privatizing profits and socializing costs is the natural strategy every company must adopt to remain competitive lacking regulations to prevent socializing those costs. It's simply far cheaper to pollute when you are allowed to.
zamfi 6y ago
> American workers have been conned into creating the very wealthiest people in the world by continuing to give up more and more earning power This pendulum seems to swing back and forth. The phrase "conned into" implies that American workers had some kind of choice and were lied to or otherwise induced to making the wrong choice. That may be true, or there may have been systemic changes, not under the control of American workers, or there may have been choices made by other groups in American society (older workers, politicians, etc.), that led to the current state.

colinmhayes 6y ago

I wouldn't say it's a con. In the end capital has bargaining power over labor because labor works for capital. Labor needs to organize very hard to take back control and that's difficult when everyone is scared they'll lose their job. Capital is able to make unilateral decisions because it's usually controlled by single/very focused and competent entity.

danlugo92 6y ago
> is scared they'll lose their job I wonder how much is this due to person-level decisions such as poor life/financial planning and inherited low socio-economic class.
ausbah 6y ago
it isn't just bargaining power or losing your job, it goes to the extent of lobbying gov'ts to be prolificly pro-business and anti-union, indoctrinating workers to view organizing as against their interests, and in some cases literally waging war against their employees
tchaffee 6y ago
> Labor needs to organize very hard to take back control and that's difficult when everyone is scared they'll lose their job It's fair to note that one party in the USA has worked very hard to break up unions. And it has worked. So it's not just labor vs. capital. It's labor vs. capital allied with the government.
- colinmhayes 6y ago
  Politicians don't want to lose their job, so they bow to capital's demands in exchange for campaign funding.
  - tchaffee 6y ago
    Well politicians from one party bow to capital's demands. Democrats get campaign funding from unions. I'm not claiming Dems are free from corruption or deals with big business - they are not. But they for sure have not worked hard like the GOP to destroy unions and worker rights in favor of big business and the rich.

petr_tik 6y ago

I wholeheartedly sympathise. My interpretation is slightly different. The working class aren’t giving up earning power as much as the western central banks are inflating it away with endless money printing and support of Wall Street that is supposed to trickle down to Main Street. It seldom does. Instead it’s used for stock buybacks and further entrenchment of inefficient firms that would have long collapsed in genuinely free market conditions. I interpret the “capitalists are screwing the working class” as a) erroneous b) long-term dangerous c) convenient way for those bureaucrats to divide and conquer. Meanwhile they take risks with our economy without accountability.

tchaffee 6y ago
> support of Wall Street that is supposed to trickle down to Main Street > I interpret the “capitalists are screwing the working class” as a) erroneous Isn't support of Wall Street fairly interpreted as support of the uber wealthy capitalists who benefit the most from this monetary policy and artificially boosted stock prices? And what's stopping the capitalists from using some of that vast wealth to actually pay workers more? > Instead it’s used for stock buybacks Who benefits from this? Shareholders, right? Aren't the uber wealthy in the US and Europe getting the vast majority of their wealth thanks to capital gains via shares? > genuinely free market conditions. There good reason genuinely free markets exist nowhere in the world and nowhere in history. Negative externalities don't magically disappear all on their own. Privatizing profits and socializing costs is the natural strategy every company must adopt to remain competitive lacking regulations to prevent socializing those costs. It's simply far cheaper to pollute when you are allowed to.

zamfi 6y ago

> American workers have been conned into creating the very wealthiest people in the world by continuing to give up more and more earning power This pendulum seems to swing back and forth. The phrase "conned into" implies that American workers had some kind of choice and were lied to or otherwise induced to making the wrong choice. That may be true, or there may have been systemic changes, not under the control of American workers, or there may have been choices made by other groups in American society (older workers, politicians, etc.), that led to the current state.