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> Despite wealth inequality you can have societies which aren’t at each other’s throats. Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which

> Despite wealth inequality you can have societies which aren’t at each other’s throats. Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which has not been subject to social conflict? > The root of our issues in the US is the selling out the lower classes’s potential by the government and industry to offshoring, thus reducing their economic power. I don't think this argument holds. The US was the theatre or major class struggle long before the neoliberal offshoring waves. Popular riots and massacres by the local authorities is nothing new, see for example the battle of Blair Mountain in 1921: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain More to the point, the GDP/capita in the USA has kept growing over the years despite offshoring. The fact that some parts of the population struggle to feed themselves is due to conscious wealth-capturing schemes from the rich and government-friendly corporations. Or as Warren Buffet once put it, "Actually, there’s been class warfare going on for the last 20 years, and my class has won". When the people realize how duped they've been with empty promises and scapegoats, they are bound to loose their shit and be at someone's throat.

mc32 4y ago
50 years ago a high school graduate could get a decent job, buy a house and raise a family without too much sweat. Even HS dropouts had a fighting chance. That ain’t happenin no more. As Buffett alludes to, this is recent. In the last 30 years -as a consequence of offshoring. Cobbling shoes and pickin up garbage ain’t glamorous but they're a living. All the mills closing shop in the south affected working class black employment, in the northeast it affected working class white employment. But add up all the industries affected. Now we’re beginning to offshore food. The laborers who used to cross the border for jobs now have jobs in their own countries which may be better may be worse… It’s all done by a greedy gov and greedy industrialists who turned to globalism and away from supporting local economies to the detriment of the lower and middle classes.
barry-cotter 4y ago
> Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which has not been subject to social conflict? There are no societies, especially unequal or not, without social conflict. If there are no external enemies internal ones will swiftly be found. “Only the dead are safe; only the dead have seen the end of war.” George Santayana
ginko 4y ago
>Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which has not been subject to social conflict? Sweden has rather high level of wealth inequality (about the same level as the US) while being quite stable politically and socially. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_in...
- southerntofu 4y ago
  > Sweden (...) quite stable politically and socially. There are riots in Sweden too [0], and what some consider to be terrorist activities from the far left to the far right [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Riots_and_civil_disorder_in_Sweden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Riots_and_civil_disor... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Sweden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Sweden
  - mc32 4y ago
    Barbados, Singapore, New Zealand... Also, with regard to Sweden, they have been a destination for poor refugees who on average integrate less than ideally into their society, given social, economic, political and spiritual differences between host country and new arrivals.
  - panick21_ 4y ago
    I challenge you to go to Sweden, travel threw it for 4 weeks and then honestly say its a society that is at each other throat.
    - southerntofu 4y ago
      I challenge you to go to anywhere that's not obviously a civil war and say that they're at each other's throats. That argument makes no sense: a lot of people have very exotic tourism in Paris, New York, or in Guadeloupe. Yet for those who look beyond the surface the situation is shocking and on the right day of BLM / gilets jaunes protests you may believe the entire society has lost their shit (when in fact it's just the logical conclusion of a tiny minority of officials/businesses exploiting the entire population). See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

mc32 4y ago

50 years ago a high school graduate could get a decent job, buy a house and raise a family without too much sweat. Even HS dropouts had a fighting chance. That ain’t happenin no more. As Buffett alludes to, this is recent. In the last 30 years -as a consequence of offshoring. Cobbling shoes and pickin up garbage ain’t glamorous but they're a living. All the mills closing shop in the south affected working class black employment, in the northeast it affected working class white employment. But add up all the industries affected. Now we’re beginning to offshore food. The laborers who used to cross the border for jobs now have jobs in their own countries which may be better may be worse… It’s all done by a greedy gov and greedy industrialists who turned to globalism and away from supporting local economies to the detriment of the lower and middle classes.

barry-cotter 4y ago

> Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which has not been subject to social conflict? There are no societies, especially unequal or not, without social conflict. If there are no external enemies internal ones will swiftly be found. “Only the dead are safe; only the dead have seen the end of war.” George Santayana

ginko 4y ago

>Can you name just one civilization with staggering inequalities which has not been subject to social conflict? Sweden has rather high level of wealth inequality (about the same level as the US) while being quite stable politically and socially. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_in...

southerntofu 4y ago
> Sweden (...) quite stable politically and socially. There are riots in Sweden too [0], and what some consider to be terrorist activities from the far left to the far right [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Riots_and_civil_disorder_in_Sweden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Riots_and_civil_disor... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Sweden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Sweden
- mc32 4y ago
  Barbados, Singapore, New Zealand... Also, with regard to Sweden, they have been a destination for poor refugees who on average integrate less than ideally into their society, given social, economic, political and spiritual differences between host country and new arrivals.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  I challenge you to go to Sweden, travel threw it for 4 weeks and then honestly say its a society that is at each other throat.
  - southerntofu 4y ago
    I challenge you to go to anywhere that's not obviously a civil war and say that they're at each other's throats. That argument makes no sense: a lot of people have very exotic tourism in Paris, New York, or in Guadeloupe. Yet for those who look beyond the surface the situation is shocking and on the right day of BLM / gilets jaunes protests you may believe the entire society has lost their shit (when in fact it's just the logical conclusion of a tiny minority of officials/businesses exploiting the entire population). See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome