Less than 20% of Americans say they're living the American Dream

[Sormine]

@MasterOfNone

http://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

This article disagrees with you heavily. Take a long hard look at the graph and consider the consequences of what it means. Following that, please reconsider your allegiance to this system and accept the possibility that real people are being figuratively strangulated by businesses when it comes to being employed and their opportunities.

[Manabomb]

Majority of americans live in major cities. People refusing to leave their concrete jungle to the greener pasture of affordable housing is the chief cause of this problem. Solution is to move out of the city.

When the green pastures of "affordable" housing can include functioning water systems, up to date electrical work and be near enough to a job hub, then maybe people will start living there.

Problem is, nobody wants to live in a shack in the middle of Kansas 45+ miles outside of Kansas City unless they are getting fucking paid.

[Sormine]

How old are you? Because I actually did learn that. In fucking high school.

Yeah so did I, but that's called an anecdote (I actually knew you were going to fucking respond with this exact rebuttal). that doesn't change that it's not a heavily focused subject and it doesn't change the fact that most of the population doesn't learn it. You're accusing it of being the result of some liberal agenda, when this as an issue has existed long before we divided things so one-dimensionally.

[Masark]

Precisely. We're graduating people with more knowledge about white privilege and 72 genders than we are people who understand basic economics enough to balance a checkbook. Thanks, liberals.

Probably because "balancing a chequebook" ranks up there with "how to operate a loom" in terms of uselessness. Nowhere accepts personal cheques anymore. It's all cash, debit, credit, or a cashier's cheque for particularly large amounts.

[Manabomb]

How old are you? Because I actually did learn that. In fucking high school.

Were you in one of those white upper class high schools that actually had a track and football field?

We didn't even get home ec class in the back woods ass-county school I got, that's run by conservatives. Grats for having a school that gave a shit?

[Z-Man]

Majority of americans live in major cities. People refusing to leave their concrete jungle to the greener pasture of affordable housing is the chief cause of this problem. Solution is to move out of the city.

Too complicated. I need to buy a trailer, four more pickup trucks, a pallet of cinder blocks for the trucks (with no free delivery from Lowes, mind you), and two extra refrigerators for the back porch. I have absolutely no idea where I'm supposed to buy a Confederate battle flag to hang on the barn (Bed, Bath and Beyond linen sale?). Does Car Toys still install those "Dixie" car horns?

[Chinese Bootlickers]

Because that's what it is, a dream, a fantasy.

[MasterOfNone]

@MasterOfNone

http://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

This article disagrees with you heavily. Take a long hard look at the graph and consider the consequences of what it means. Following that, please reconsider your allegiance to this system and accept the possibility that real people are being figuratively strangulated by businesses when it comes to being employed and their opportunities.

so you think in 1973 they were effectively able to track productivity like today? rofl. good one mate.

[Masark]

so you think in 1973 they were effectively able to track productivity like today? rofl. good one mate.

You think in the 1970s they couldn't do the really simple mathematics of dividing money made by hours worked?

[Fugus]

Considering the wealthgap 20% seems allot! Am I wrong here?

Not entirely, as of last year, if you made $50,000 or more you made more than 70% of the jobs. So I think that top 20% would be right around $80,000 a year or so, probably closer to $120,000 a year or so.

And for those people, they can claim to be living the dream. Plus a bunch of lower income people who pretend they are happier than they are or are doing illegal crap so they are making more than they claim so that they are closer to living the dream.

I can see 20% as claiming it.

[IIamaKing]

If everyone moves out of the big cities it will create new big cities and housing costs will increase accordingly.

There is a LOT of fucking space in "fly over" country. If 1/2 of NY moved all into Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee WI, yeh that would affect prices around here, but if they diffuse across the country, it would be imperceptible.

[Fugus]

its really hard to get a job making 50k a year or higher if you arent marketable and consider yourself a professional with a degree in basketweaving....

You really need to learn the state of the economy and how things actually work. Then maybe you could stop being so wrong on the topics at hand.

[IIamaKing]

away from a lot of jobs though

doubt a small town needs a software engineer for anything other than websites

If you move out to the boonies in a town with 12 ppl and a cow maybe. But there are LOTS of mid/small size cities in the middle states all of em will have need of people in the IT fields, the wages will likely be lower, but the cost of living will also be lower. Where I live, a town of ~30k, we have a LOT of manufacturing companies(50-75 and Foxcom is on the way), all of em employ Software Engs along with teams of IT guys.

[Xandrigity]

I’m living the dream!!

[IIamaKing]

Obviously people are going to choose



over this

Nope, I live in the bottom. The fuck would I want to live in a place where people are stacked up on each other.

[Fugus]

If you move out to the boonies in a town with 12 ppl and a cow maybe. But there are LOTS of mid/small size cities in the middle states all of em will have need of people in the IT fields, the wages will likely be lower, but the cost of living will also be lower. Where I live, a town of ~30k, we have a LOT of manufacturing companies(50-75 and Foxcom is on the way), all of em employ Software Engs along with teams of IT guys.

Shit, you have Foxxconn coming to your state. I am so sorry man. I have looked at those terms and at that company and you guys are about to get fist fucked without lube.


Edit:

Off topic, when I see your name, I just keep hearing the Winamp intro.

[Masark]

Foxcom is on the way

I would be very surprised if that factory employed even a tenth as many people as they're claiming (and that Walker and the Republicans are swallowing).

This is the company that is automating away Chinese workers. Workers that make about $2.50/hour.

If you think they aren't going to automate away every American worker possible, who start at three times that, you're out of your mind.

You're paying massive tax incentives towards what's going to be a lights out factory.

[Auxora]

The OP's article is pretty skewed though comparing millennials to baby boomers. Of course millennials at their ages are going to be at a much lower % of home ownership and financial well-being. You can't really compare home ownership of people in their 50's to people in their 20's to early 30's. Income, wealth, job stability, housing are all totally different for those age groups. If you surveyed baby boomers back when they were in their 20's that home ownership would be similarly low.

That's the way life goes, you get out of college if all goes well with a degree but in debt. You likely rent a place while entering the workforce at the bottom of the ladder at a starting salary and work up from there, eventually increasing your income, buying a home, and paying off your student loans. Starting out though post-college life is pretty rough though (and worse without college) so it's not surprising for people at that stage of life to feel like they are struggling and not living the american dream.

Beyond that, increasing wealth inequality and wealthy in power doing everything they can to greedily increase that gap doesn't help. But more than anything feeling like you're living the dream is subjective. Is living the dream being a millionaire? Or is it having a middle-class income with a middle-class house and 3 kids and a dog, scraping money for a vacation once every year or two. For a lot of people that is the dream. Other people might think they aren't living the dream if they didn't end up doing the fantasy career they always wanted (but that may not have been realistic). Lots of people dream of being artists or musicians but don't have the talent or can't make a living from it. Some people dream of being pro athletes or movie stars and don't have it. I'm not sure I'd count those people as not really living the dream. I know people that had those kinds of dreams like playing in the NFL after playing in high school or a small Div I college and it was never going to happen, but yet they go through their lives disappointed rather than happy with what they achieve.

[IIamaKing]

I would be very surprised if that factory employed even a tenth as many people as they're claiming (and that Walker and the Republicans are swallowing).

This is the company that is automating away Chinese workers. Workers that make about $2.50/hour.

If you think they aren't going to automate away every American worker possible, who start at three times that, you're out of your mind.

You're paying massive tax incentives towards what's going to be a lights out factory.

Cool? Pretty big aside to the point I was making.

[Soeroah]

That's why it's called the American dream. It's unobtainable by most Americans.