Our Socioeconomic Position is at Risk

In this fascinating video, the economies of the globe are analyzed. I have always griped about the demise of the U.S. Middle class. We may have been victims of our nations own success after World War II and yet we couldn't help being born into some of the sweetest time in global history, materialistically speaking.Now, as this graph shows, the rest of the world is catching up to the United States, but we hardly yet have any reason for whining. The fact is, however, competition is increasing globally, and I don't feel as if I am up to being quite as competitive at age 51 as a 20 year old would be.Does anyone else feel as if the middle class in the united States is essentially between a rock and a hard place? In other words, the wealthy keep us down, while the competitive poor are always nipping at our heels, forcing us to scramble ever more to maintain our position in life. Edited by Phat, : added sub titleEdited by Phat, : No reason given.Edited by Phat, : added dialogue, per the Moose edict. Edited by Phat, : changed title

Frako, all that the graph shows is our(U.S. position as a whole relative to other Countries as a whole.) It does not reflect individual achievement.You may well have a splendid lifestyle in Slovenija, and can nearly retire, but what insures that your money will remain stable? Look at Greece..Portugal...Italy. What power keeps Slovenija safe?y rant concerns the fact that I, as a lower half member of the US middle class, will have to scramble and work harder...much like a 20 year old, to hold my position socioeconomically against a hungry world of young educated foreigners who are even now ranting about unemployment and low wages abroad.Nobody ever told me that capitalism could be so harsh! I suppose that there are no guarantees in life, however.Perhap I was lulled into a false sense of security by the economic aberration after WW II that by fate I just happened to grow up in.

Yes, jar I think that I remember our old discussions well.IIRC, i finally agreed that the only road for the middle and lower classes were take to survive in America were to work harder and get educated. Now look!You say that we got what we wanted.I am not so sure.As a voting block, we only looked at short term problems and short term quick fix solutions, even as is the same today.

you know, its an interesting notion that the conspiracy theorists have...that we Americans need to become isolationists from the rest of the world and take care only of our own. Ones such concept among many is Liberty VillagesYes, I realize that these are simply quacks selling stuff, but assume for grins that one could build a liberty village nation.Yes, we do have the resources to support "our own". Yes, it would work if we all worked harder to make it happen. There would be problems, however. Most of our industrial base has moved overseas.Also...could we so called Americans get along with each other in such a scenario?Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

Jar, you continue to cryptically state that we got what we wanted.We are talking about today, however. Not twenty years ago. Not what we decided to do when we deregulated the utility companies under Reagan, or when we decided to borrow money.Tell me...if you hypothetically had a fireside chat with all English speaking working Americans one evening, what advice would you give them to turn things around now.?What course of action should we adopt now to slowly swing the trend back in our favor in the next twenty five years or longer?

I think that what is to be considered is the idea of ongoing responsibility. I cant blame the prior generation for my irresponsibility in life. Stragglers four year old could probably blame my generation for wanting the good life and for spending so much of the money that we should have set aside for him. Straggler too needs to accept responsibility for raising his son, and, though I don't directly....all of society should indirectly. It is our charge and our duty to provide for the next generation, yet instead we have left them debt.Personally, I will accept responsibility, but I still dont want to sacrifice my retirement which I feel I still deserve for a future four year old.Were I his father, would I feel differently? Can blaming rich old white men help me feel any less responsible?? Is not the key word in this discussion responsibility? Perhaps we are responsible also to be educated enough to know what we vote on and to connect the dots enough as a group of citizens to make tough choices.I will admit, though...its not easy. I don't want to live as a poor old man simply so that my legacy goes to a generation I may never even meet.But selfishness is another sin that needs working on.

There is a new article in Time Magazine titled Are America's Best Days Behind Us?Some quotes from the article:

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"Americans seem unable to grasp the magnitude of the challenges that face us."

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"The decisions that created today's growth decisions about education, infrastructure and the like were made decades ago. What we see today is an American economy that has boomed because of policies and developments of the 1950s and '60s"

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"...Yet the country seems unready for the kind of radical adaptation it needs. The changes we are currently debating amount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

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What scares me about this whole mess is the fact that even if we get educated and work harder, there is no guarantee that we will prosper. The economic Tsunami has hit and is dragging us all out to sea. And the wealthy folks could care less.Reality is depressing. I worry because I know that Germany's people were in a similar5 predicament after World War I and we could see a bit of a rerun.

Did you read the article?

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Then why not differentiate the parts played with regard to the terminology used rather than go for the misleading and inaccurate soundbite?

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What difference does it make? The problem exists regardless.

It is my opinion, Straggler, that you simply like to debate for meaningless reasons of forcing people to agree with you,thus putting them on the defensive and allowing you to "frame the issue".It is quite obvious what jar means. We means society in general. We means the ability of some to influence others, and the duty of such people to do so. We means our kids, whom (we=parents) have the charge and duty to influence, educate, and inspire.It is obvious that your kid is not responsible for the mess that he/she inherits, yet in the big picture, they are responsible as they come of age. In the same context, you and I inherited problems and challenges (or in some cases assets and legacies) from the generation prior to us.Thus (we=you, I, and the current generation) are responsible for how we spent what we inherited and in how we vote. True, an individual vote may not change the status of reality-- nor may an entire movement.The point is that we(we=voters) must try to do our best at critically examining the issues and being as active citizens as we can to change our countries hopefully for the better.To say that jar is coming across as unclear is simply your ego talking. It is not important for you to frame this issue nor for you to win this debate. You are free, however, to add your opinion and to attempt to win the audience that way. Do you acknowledge that some individuals have significantly more influence over the future shape of the world than others?Yes. The loudest activists (or the most effective at selling their message) often win elections. We (who voted for the winner) are responsible in that we voted, as are we who did not vote at all. We (who voted for the loser are also responsible for perhaps acknowledging that we could have done more to push our candidate. Only if we did the best that we possibly could have done would we(who backed the loser) be off the hook.Edited by Phat, : fixedEdited by Phat, : added final sentence

I think that overall, the point of the "We" is to emphasize that every single person is responsible...in one way or another...for the world that we live in and the forms of government that we now have. Some of us may have gotten duped or lied to or pushed aside, but that does not absolve us of sharing societal responsibility.

I think that the point is that we are all intertwined and are responsible for the society that we have. The dishwasher at the corner pub has nowhere near the influence of a Rupert Murdoch yet s a member of society...a citizen...the dishwasher shares the overall responsibility of helping to shape society for future generations.
The point is not that everyone has equal influence. The point is that everyone has equal responsibility. If this is obvious, so be it. Many of us seek to place blame outside of ourselves. I know I do.

I don't have anything to add either. From this day forward, all living Americans of voting age or higher are responsible collectively for trying to do our best to make a better future.I still worry that the change will take too long, however. If a guy needs to see change in ten years or vote for long range planning to correct the problem fifty years from now, what should he choose? Should he sacrifice the quick fix that he and his generation needs in order to help people not yet born? Can God blame us for being selfish out of necessity??

"Land of the Free" from John Jensen on Vimeo.

The video was made as a student film...but has stirred up controversy.Thought provoking, if nothing else. From the author: Edited by Phat, : added comment

In regards to us doing it to ourselves, I think that both Straggler and Jar have good points. It is counterproductive to blame others for the status quo. One of my great frustrations and pet peeves about US politics is the endless bickering and stagnation of the current two party system.It is true that we are all in this together and that blaming others wont solve problems. It is also true, however, that change is not as simple as an individual dedicated to causing it. I belong to a union, and see my activism as the key to my survival, but I have a problem in that guaranteeing my survival will involve bringing a lot of people with me, and too many passengers sink the boat.On the other hand, if I jump ship, I wont have the support behind me that I need in order to guarantee my security at my job, and I could be easily replaced.Thus I am forced to choose between two sets of "we".