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Honestly your respectful tone is refreshing. Based on my past experience with HN, I was bracing for a complete evisceration lol. The issue I have is you're pai

Honestly your respectful tone is refreshing. Based on my past experience with HN, I was bracing for a complete evisceration lol. The issue I have is you're painting a distorted picture of reality that reads like a badly written fairytail with evil fatcats and poor Victim™ workers. In reality, middle class America's purchasing power wasn't destroyed by the lack of a decent minimum wage or the greed of your local barbers, it was destroyed by inflation sponsored and accelerated by the one and only: Uncle Sam Starting with the FDR era socialists policies that set the stage, we built an economy with embedded growth obligations (social security etc) addicted to credit and growth, like a junkie desperate for the next fix. This credit-based system, with roots in Marxism, Keynesianism, and MMT, has become too big to fail. So we keep it afloat by handouts (methadone) and bailouts (sugar daddy), in a vicious cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The issue is we are not all Peter or Paul. There is this phenomenon called the Cantillon effect where those closest to the money printer get richer, while the rest of us foot the bill This perpetuates a cycle where the middle class gets stripped of its purchasing power while simultaneously tangible goods like houses and commodities become even further out reach as those closest to the money printer and smart third parties race into real things. This is where things go from ugly to end of Pax Americana. Instead of addressing the root issues, you and your kin want double down. More intervention (Federal Soylent™), more byzantine regulations and straight out persecution of the merchant class. It sounds like hyperbole, I wish it was hyperbole but its not. "Eat the rich" isn't a parody, its the rallying cry of the ruling party. They are just about to ritualistically sacrifice the auto industry to moloch. We live in the most prosperous nation in history. Poor people today live in luxury compared to most people just a century ago. However, things are taking a bad turn thanks to collectivism. That said, we are talking about a very small subset of the population. Even among that cohort, its mostly crippling financial education/management problems. You have illegal aliens coming here with no wealth and no access to welfare who manage to not only survive but also send money back to their families. we should strive to continually improve our bargain with nature but the ideas you and your kin share will bring about the end of modern civilisation as we know it.

grecy 3y ago
> In reality, middle class America's purchasing power wasn't destroyed by the lack of a decent minimum wage or the greed of your local barbers, it was destroyed by inflation sponsored and accelerated by the one and only: Uncle Sam OK, so what are you going to do about it? Increasing the minimum wage to keep up with inflation sounds like the perfect way to make sure people still earn relatively the same amount as they used to. Dozens of other countries do it, with no ill effects. In fact, anyone that doesn't think minimum wage should keep pace with inflation is just saying they want to pay people less tomorrow than they do today, which is horrible. Do you want your kids and family earning less in their life than you have in yours? > Poor people today live in luxury compared to most people just a century ago Poor people in the US today are vastly worse off than poor people in other developed countries. Tens of millions with no healthcare. Millions go bankrupt every year. Millions of kids with no access to food or housing. These problems are vastly bigger (even per capita) in the US than other developed countries. > the ideas you and your kin share will bring about the end of modern civilisation as we know it. I'm curious how you think increasing the minimum wage will "end civilization". 21 developed countries have a minimum wage higher than the US, and they seem to be doing great. High Minimum wage won't destroy civilization, it will just equal out society so that the mega rich will be less rich, and the mega poor will be less poor. It's been happening in other countries for many decades, learn from them. Use real-world examples rather than hyperbole predicting some kind of doom that is hypothetical.
- pc_edwin 3y ago
  Minimum wage is a small part of a larger set of collectivist policies that the west has been sleep walking into since WWII. TLDR: All of those 21 countries are US protectorates or vassal states. Most of them are European countries that are slowly dying. Some are resource rich, some are tax havens, some are leeching of the goodwill/work of their ancestors.. None are making anything. Long Version: - Germany: US protectorate w/ 35K troops. Its truly a testament to the industriousness and ingenuity of these people that they still manage to make all those cars & heavy machinery despite the collectivism. - Nordic Countries: Total population just over half the population of California with massive oil reserves and a lot of fish. a.k.a EAE with snow - France/Spain/Portugal: Former empires, like an old person in pain waiting to die. They leech on the good will and work of their ancestors as their nations slowly die off. - Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland etc: Tax/Banking Havens with niche talent. - Rest Of EU: Dying countries propped up Germany & France or the equivalent of Europes China (Bulgaria/Ukraine/Poland). - Canada/UK - US vassal states. Also happened to be the former world empire, same story as France/Spain/Portugal but to an even greater degree. - Australia - Half of Californias population but has an entire continents worth of RAW minerals and commodities to export. Btw thats its, they don't make anything either. Basically all innovation and production happens in the US or Asia. EU and the rest of the west are slowly dying protectorates/vassal states of the US (hence Pax Americana) Conclusion: Anyways most of thats irrelevant, the important part is the fact that they are all dying. They are all propped up by the euro-dollar system. ECB has no ammunition left. Spain, Italy, France are all looking down an imminent pension crises. The UK is in slightly better shape but thats not saying much, they are looking down an impending sovereign debt crises but as a vassal state, they might get bailed out by the US. In real terms, they use American medicine, American macbooks, American iphones, American search engines, American Social media, American steaming providers, American content, Asian washing machine, Asian microwave oven, American fast food, American candy, American Ice cream, American soda, American/Asian lightbulbs, Asian trains, Asian TVs, Asian cups etc etc They don't make anything, they just exist on "good will" gained because of their ancestors and i mean in the literal sense. They exist on the bretton-woods system, all these currencies are artificially propped up. This system is just about to collapse btw lol.

grecy 3y ago

> In reality, middle class America's purchasing power wasn't destroyed by the lack of a decent minimum wage or the greed of your local barbers, it was destroyed by inflation sponsored and accelerated by the one and only: Uncle Sam OK, so what are you going to do about it? Increasing the minimum wage to keep up with inflation sounds like the perfect way to make sure people still earn relatively the same amount as they used to. Dozens of other countries do it, with no ill effects. In fact, anyone that doesn't think minimum wage should keep pace with inflation is just saying they want to pay people less tomorrow than they do today, which is horrible. Do you want your kids and family earning less in their life than you have in yours? > Poor people today live in luxury compared to most people just a century ago Poor people in the US today are vastly worse off than poor people in other developed countries. Tens of millions with no healthcare. Millions go bankrupt every year. Millions of kids with no access to food or housing. These problems are vastly bigger (even per capita) in the US than other developed countries. > the ideas you and your kin share will bring about the end of modern civilisation as we know it. I'm curious how you think increasing the minimum wage will "end civilization". 21 developed countries have a minimum wage higher than the US, and they seem to be doing great. High Minimum wage won't destroy civilization, it will just equal out society so that the mega rich will be less rich, and the mega poor will be less poor. It's been happening in other countries for many decades, learn from them. Use real-world examples rather than hyperbole predicting some kind of doom that is hypothetical.

pc_edwin 3y ago
Minimum wage is a small part of a larger set of collectivist policies that the west has been sleep walking into since WWII. TLDR: All of those 21 countries are US protectorates or vassal states. Most of them are European countries that are slowly dying. Some are resource rich, some are tax havens, some are leeching of the goodwill/work of their ancestors.. None are making anything. Long Version: - Germany: US protectorate w/ 35K troops. Its truly a testament to the industriousness and ingenuity of these people that they still manage to make all those cars & heavy machinery despite the collectivism. - Nordic Countries: Total population just over half the population of California with massive oil reserves and a lot of fish. a.k.a EAE with snow - France/Spain/Portugal: Former empires, like an old person in pain waiting to die. They leech on the good will and work of their ancestors as their nations slowly die off. - Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland etc: Tax/Banking Havens with niche talent. - Rest Of EU: Dying countries propped up Germany & France or the equivalent of Europes China (Bulgaria/Ukraine/Poland). - Canada/UK - US vassal states. Also happened to be the former world empire, same story as France/Spain/Portugal but to an even greater degree. - Australia - Half of Californias population but has an entire continents worth of RAW minerals and commodities to export. Btw thats its, they don't make anything either. Basically all innovation and production happens in the US or Asia. EU and the rest of the west are slowly dying protectorates/vassal states of the US (hence Pax Americana) Conclusion: Anyways most of thats irrelevant, the important part is the fact that they are all dying. They are all propped up by the euro-dollar system. ECB has no ammunition left. Spain, Italy, France are all looking down an imminent pension crises. The UK is in slightly better shape but thats not saying much, they are looking down an impending sovereign debt crises but as a vassal state, they might get bailed out by the US. In real terms, they use American medicine, American macbooks, American iphones, American search engines, American Social media, American steaming providers, American content, Asian washing machine, Asian microwave oven, American fast food, American candy, American Ice cream, American soda, American/Asian lightbulbs, Asian trains, Asian TVs, Asian cups etc etc They don't make anything, they just exist on "good will" gained because of their ancestors and i mean in the literal sense. They exist on the bretton-woods system, all these currencies are artificially propped up. This system is just about to collapse btw lol.