Tag Archives: middle-class

Wealth Inequality Graph — As the Middle Class Disappears

I wanted to post this on my own blog. If you haven’t watched it, do; it’s astounding the discrepancy between rich and poor in this country, and just how many of us have literally practically nothing.
Also known cheapest viagra price as selegiline, deprenyl is basically a selective MAO-B inhibitor which was first formulated as a ‘psychic energizer’ to integrate some amphetamine-like brain effects with anti-depressant effects. Primarily it opens access area for traffic amerikabulteni.com order viagra to visit the website. Make sure you use this medicine after speaking to your doctor. viagra online generic http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/12/20/fotomuhabirleri-nereye-kayboldu-bir-meslegin-daha-sonu-mu/ People who super active viagra fail to take guidance from the doctor before you take medicines for allergic reactions.
If that doesn’t make you feel bad enough, here’s a link to Mike Hiltzik’s piece today in the L.A. Times, “Why the Middle Class is Doing Even Worse Than You Think.”  Basic takeaway is that middle class wages have remained about the same, adjusted for inflation, since about 1980. The gains have all gone to the – you guessed it — 1% you just saw in that YouTube video.

Share

“Living standards improve, despite tough economy” – Oh, Really?

Living standards improve, despite tough economy – USATODAY.com.

USA Today has finally abandoned even the pretension of journalistic credibility with this “article” in today’s paper.
I glanced at the headline while in Starbux earlier, and, eager to find out about my increasing fortunes, looked it up online.

What planet are these people on? Where to begin?

“The average annual income was $24,079 per person in 1980 in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Last year, it was $40,454 per person.”

Ummm yeah, but I assume these averages take in everybody’s income, then divide it out by population. So it’s a big fat lie to say the average person makes $40,454! Income in the U.S. has been flowing to the top brackets since 1980, so the rich are much richer but the middle and working classes have been stagnant.

“Not only has income grown, what’s less obvious is how much better a lifestyle can be bought for the same amount of money whether it’s $25,000 or $100,000.”

They go on to say how much less computer memory costs in 2011 vs. 1980 (reminder: personal computers weren’t generally available until 1984 or so, before that it was industry mainframes mainly) and to say that we own more cars and take more flights.

Let’s talk to those commuters in places like L.A. and Dallas who spend hours more in traffic jams than would have been thinkable in 1980. Let’s talk to anyone who has to go to an airport and get felt up by a TSA goon, then sit in a cramped, tiny seat and get basically dehydrated and starved before we wax jubilant about the improved standards of air travel. Continue reading

Share