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America is the richest country in the world. That is the payback. Yet somehow the working class is screwed. People don't want to admit wealth distribution is t

• sebmellen 2y ago
  Right, and I think that’s largely true. Whether or not the “right wing working class” are right in their root cause analysis, the domestic situation in the US is catastrophic enough to demand explanation: “If we are the richest country on earth, why can’t I afford a house and healthcare?” Answer 1: You are being taken advantage of by wealthy elites within your country! Answer 2: The whole world has made Americans front the bill for a regime of global peace, security, and a trusted reserve currency, at the cost of you, the American worker! Depending on which answer you choose, and which camp you ally with, your worldview will differ.
  • tock 2y ago
    I know. There is no reason to believe in #2. Its an emotional response. And so you cant change it. Just like you cant use logic with a flat earther. And that's scary for the rest of the world. I just hope no wars happen.
    • sebmellen 2y ago
      There is if you believe the “globalists” are the same people from #1. It doesn’t help that there is some appreciable degree of overlap. Dona nobis pacem!
  • fspeech 2y ago
    Housing and healthcare are the two things that have little to do with trade. Housing affordability is almost entirely policy driven. In a "free" market (quoted because the definition typically doesn't take into account the necessity of a functional society to maintain property rights and values, just ask Detroit), housing affordability is entirely dependent on one's relative income and propensity to spend, i.e. you can have high absolute income (say in NYC) and still find you desired housing unaffordable. I think people intuitively understand this. Healthcare costs are more complicated but is also almost entirely a domestic issue.
• billy99k 2y ago
  "People don't want to admit wealth distribution is the problem because that would make them "communists"." If you are referring to taking wealth by force from people that earned it and giving to people that didn't earn it, yes it's 'communist'. There's nothing emotional about a methodology that has failed over and over again.
  • tock 2y ago
    Politicians should just come out and say this to the people. Oh you can't afford a house? Oh you cant afford healthcare? But we are the richest country in the world. And the system is fair. It means you didn't earn it. Duh.
  • oblio 2y ago
    Or, alternatively, it's called "taxes" and "wealth redistribution". High inequalities is proven to be bad for development, so clearly there is a point where people have too much and it's harmful to society. Ergo it would be immoral to allow some to hoard wealth infinitely, just because they can.
    • Whoppertime 1y ago
      That is begging the question. The question is not "Why are some people poor" that is the default state of humanity, and has been for the past 100,000 years Homo Sapiens have existed. The question is what are the succesful doing right. It is not because of "hoarding wealth infinitely" that a doctor has more money saved up than someone addicted to drugs and living on the street. It is their decisions that lead to their current circumstances. The doctor spending a decade in medical school and residency has delayed a lot of gratification getting their, while the drug addict likely had some issues with impulse control or delayed gratification.
  • budududuroiu 2y ago
    Well, we’ve been going through wealth redistribution towards the “elites”, and no one batted an eye. China popped the real estate bubble, collapsing entire industry giants and making the “elites” swallow the financial downturn. Literally allowing the “poor” to refinance their homes on the back of the “rich”, because they believe housing isn’t for speculation, but for living in. Tariffs without windfall profits tax will be further wealth redistribution, from the poor to the wealthy