Re: Absolute DREAMING
"In 1970 62% of Americans qualified as "middle class", that figure is now 43%."
I blame the government. Companies such as Walmart and Amazon pay such a low wage that some employees qualify for public assistance. That's subsidizing those companies' payrolls or they'd have to pay higher wages. The also get fantastic incentives to locate stores and warehouses in certain areas. Once the incentives expire, they move a few miles away to the next town/county over for a fresh set of incentives leaving behind buildings partially designed to be unusable by any operation that can't make use of the whole space and so large that only another company of the same size could make use of it.
Taxes continue to rise as politicians spend more and more money on programs that will buy them votes in the next election rather than on the core responsibilities of government. Namely, infrastructure. Every little bit nibbles away on every pay packet.
People are also taxing themselves to pieces. Lots of $5/$15/$50 per month services that auto-pay from their credit/debit cards. Gone are the video stores where you handed over your money when there was something worth renting. Now it's a monthly fee that you pay regardless of whether there are any good offerings. Unlimited cell phone service for the whole family. Cable/Sat TV plus more and more things that used to be included now on a separate charge. $7 coffees. Ad nauseam. Big ticket items such as cars and homes have gone straight up to the point where car loans can be for 6-7 years instead of just 5. People are signing up to be owned by a home where in the past a bank wouldn't have approved those loans. There is also the disposable lifestyle of here tomorrow gone today, use it up and throw it away, buy another one just the same (more or less). <Nik Kershaw> Rich people often buy really top quality things such as furniture that will last a century or two and gain in value rather than press board Ikea stuff that lasts a few years and appears as a pile of sawdust one morning.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
