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[Zaptruder]

And yet I see people in this very thread stating they are doing fine.

Excuses are like assholes, everybody has one and the particular "no opportunities" variety stinks.

I get it now. When you made your GAF account, you accidentally typed in CommonSense instead of CommonAsshole.

Everything you say makes complete sense in such a context.


Alternatively: You accidentally typed in CommonSense instead of "IGotMineSoFuckYouLazyShits"

 

[Particle Physicist]

Obama just needs a couple more terms to "fix Bush's mistakes"... it'll all work out in the end.

These comments are hilarious considering the OP even states that the majority of this shit went down 1997-2008.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

These comments are hilarious considering the OP even states that the majority of this shit went down 1997-2008.

Similar to the Spiderman 3 principle, Obama's economy is so awful it went back in time to ruin W's economy.

 

[teruterubozu]

Did the OP miss out on OWS?

 

[Slayven]

I will say this, I hate the terms like social/class mobility. I feel like it implies more money instantly better person.

 

[twobear]

As long as there are enough people who have, almost completely by chance and luck (although they like to attribute it to their own determination), managed to succeed, nothing will be done about it.

 

[jorma]

I will say this, I hate the terms like social/class mobility. I feel like it implies more money instantly better person.

If you can afford health care, tuition fees for your kids and maybe a decent holiday abroad every year it does not make you a better person, but it gives you a better life.

 

[twobear]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw

"rather have the poor poorer than the rich less rich"

Disgusting person, ol' Maggie.

 

[XMonkey]

I will say this, I hate the terms like social/class mobility. I feel like it implies more money instantly better person.

Mobility, really? It's a useful metric for examining the relative ability for the average person to progress up the economic ladder (usually referring to income, but it can be used for several other things not strictly economic-related). It doesn't say much about whether a person is 'better' than someone else or not. It sounds like you've got more of an issue with the general idea of 'social/economic class', unrelated to mobility.

 

[Chumly]

God damn out country will never get better with people like "common sense"...statistics don't lie. People fail to understand that rich lazy people can stay rich do to the opportunities they have. Blamin the poor for not working hard enough is a joke. Our education system is a failure along with our healthcare system (hopefully it will get better). It's a fact that social mobility is at a low point with a large part due to those two things. People will go on blaming "entitled people" since they are basicly brainwashed by a few talking points

 

[TheRagnCajun]

Everytime we have a recession, we loose some manufacturing work, and it never comes back. We're loosing our manufacturing base to China and Mexico, which explains why corporatations stay profitable while most americans get poorer.

I'd like to think there's a critcial point at which we can't siphon off any more manufacturing work, at the risk of there being no consumers to buy what they're making, but it seems we're still not there yet.

 

[The Technomancer]

Man, within like twenty posts we immediately see the fallacy that is always misapplied to this situation being bandied about: possibility does not equal probability. Is it possible for anyone to succeed? Yes. Are the probability lower then ever before? Also yes.
If you give ten motivated hard-working intelligent people five opportunities, five of those people are going home empty handed no matter how much they also deserve an opportunity.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Dear Generation Y,

Sorry you missed out on the post-WWII economic bubble. It wasn't all that great anyways. There is no set of policies or President that is going to bring that back.

The "American Dream" is a marketing term used to sell you shit. It neither provides you happiness nor contentment. But rather an uneasy feeling of being trapped that slowly eats away at your soul.


Signed,

Every generation before you

I will say this, I hate the terms like social/class mobility. I feel like it implies more money instantly better person.

Pretty much. Most people I run with are going the other way. They are purposely working less hours, buying less big-ticket items. Spending more time with family and friends.

 

[Polari]

Sorry you missed out on the post-WWII economic bubble. It wasn't all that great anyways. There is no set of policies or President that is going to bring that back.

This doesn't really explain increasing economic disparities.

 

[Kosmo]

As long as there are enough people who have, almost completely by chance and luck (although they like to attribute it to their own determination), managed to succeed, nothing will be done about it.

The harder you try, the luckier you get.

Man, within like twenty posts we immediately see the fallacy that is always misapplied to this situation being bandied about: possibility does not equal probability. Is it possible for anyone to succeed? Yes. Are the probability lower then ever before? Also yes.
If you give ten motivated hard-working intelligent people five opportunities, five of those people are going home empty handed no matter how much they also deserve an opportunity.

LOL, that's some self-defeating bullshit right there. "Why try, we're going to fail anyways! Blame the system."

 

[jorma]

The harder you try, the luckier you get.

That's why spending half your salary on the lottery is a viable idea. And all those lotto millionares prove it!

 

[Angry Fork]

Small changes to capitalism is the answer!

Vote Obama!

or so people in poligaf thread will say.

 

[The Technomancer]

The harder you try, the luckier you get.



LOL, that's some self-defeating bullshit right there. "Why try, we're going to fail anyways! Blame the system."

Who said anything about not trying? I'm certainly trying. But how can you reconcile the idea that its just as possible to succeed as before with the statistics in the OP? Why have social mobility rates dropped? What has changed then?

 

[ToxicAdam]

This doesn't really explain increasing economic disparities.

Sure it does. Economic disparity was just as bad before the depression.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/2/21/saupload_9_9_09poverty_f1_1.jpg

 

[Snkfanatic]

Wah.


I live in Ohio. There is plenty.of work out there.

What the hell is wrong with you...wow

 

[Shadders]

Am I right in thinking the US has started to see some economic growth over the last few months?

Economic growth is always followed by an increase in average income and social mobility, it's expected that things are tough during recession, it's also expected that people won't see a way out (as we drift towards a depression). Ecomics is cyclical, it'll sort itself out in a few years.

 

[scorcho]

the lack of upward mobility is ultimately the fault of those who lack ambition and are comfortable, if not altogether happy to live off the largess of the welfare state. this is far from being a structural issue. instead, it's just a massive abdication of personal responsibility. there's no collective blame to be had for people who lack the motivation, desire or guts to do what it takes to succeed.

i plan on voting straight Republican this coming election, and i urge everyone to do so as well. once we are able to dismantle the poisonous social safety nets that burden real Americans (job creators), this country can move forward.

 

[King Mystery]

TBH, I think we're living in the End of Days.

I don't mean I think Jesus or some angry God is going to show up an level this place.

I think aliens might show up and level this place. Either that or we're going to invent some type of new technology that's going to end up killing us off.

 

[Marleyman]

I'm past being mad at this. Now I'm just apathetic and jaded. I don't see the problem getting anything but worse.

Pretty much. I always wonder what guys like Adams, Washington and Jefferson would do if they were around for this nonsense.

 

[twobear]

The harder you try, the luckier you get.

A lie the lucky tell themselves in order to feel better.

 

[Red]

the lack of upward mobility is ultimately the fault of those who lack ambition and are comfortable, if not altogether happy to live off the largess of the welfare state. this is far from being a structural issue. instead, it's just a massive abdication of personal responsibility. there's no collective blame to be had for people who lack the motivation, desire or guts to do what it takes to succeed.

i plan on voting straight Republican this coming election, and i urge everyone to do so as well. once we are able to dismantle the poisonous social safety nets that burden real Americans (job creators), this country can move forward.

Can't be serious.

 

[Marleyman]

the lack of upward mobility is ultimately the fault of those who lack ambition and are comfortable, if not altogether happy to live off the largess of the welfare state. this is far from being a structural issue. instead, it's just a massive abdication of personal responsibility. there's no collective blame to be had for people who lack the motivation, desire or guts to do what it takes to succeed.

So you are blaming all of the issues on people who use welfare?

 

[Dude Abides]

I see the anecdotes trump statistics squad showed up. If only derp was money.

Scorcho's just doing a Kosmo parody, guys.

 

[SouthernDragon]

I just want to point out to the Bootstrap Brigade that I applied to 20 different menial jobs so that I could provide for the family over the summer.

Nothing. I got absolutely no takers. Trust me when I say that this massive unemployment issue is not because people aren't willing to trade down for a while.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Most of us are serfs - always have been, always will be.

But now we're serfs with longer lifespans and ipads - why u mad?

 

[Kosmo]

Who said anything about not trying? I'm certainly trying. But how can you reconcile the idea that its just as possible to succeed as before with the statistics in the OP? Why have social mobility rates dropped? What has changed then?

You spend a fair amount of time on GAF - if you don't feel lucky enough, you obviously have more time available to you to try harder.

 

[Somnid]

I feel part of the problem is intelligence inequality. The dumb are as dumb as they ever were, the smart (and privileged) have things like the internet filled resources and the means to better themselves and even have smartphones and whatnot to get instant knowledge whenever they need it. If I want I can watch university lectures on just about anything. The dumb are living 60 years ago and still think gays are bad, America is the best at everything, evolution is "just a theory," contraception is wrong, and any socialism is bad socialism. They let this drive their political agenda and they're destroying themselves.

The other thing is unskilled labor. Sure we've moved our factory jobs, but really who cares? Factory jobs are the shittiest mindless jobs there are. You stand and repeatedly do the same shit for 8 hours, and get paid like shit. It's machine work and if we ever get it back we should treat it as such, it should never be a "job" again. But for now there's plenty of people outside the US who have such absolutely shitty lives that this works for them. We keep all the human interesting jobs because they involve tasks the human brain is good at but that also means if you don't at least have a college degree or some other skill you're worthless. But if you aren't making money that's a really hard gap to get across. Greatly driving down education costs would be a good start or even just government subsidized internet so you at least have access to the same resources everyone else does. Pretty much all jobs are becoming high-tech and so people also need to be able to keep up with that.

 

[soul creator]

You spend a fair amount of time on GAF - if you don't feel lucky enough, you obviously have more time available to you to try harder.

Yes, if only those masses of people represented in all those statistics, and the 90% who's wages have dropped stopped posting on GAF so much, everything would be so much better.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

One day people will cut off the reality TV, stop degrading their bodies and minds with terrible food, and start to look around and notice what really matters. I believe this awareness is approaching in the not too distant future and look forward to it. Change will never come from voting though; the two party system is a sham; really just a delusion of choice for one corporate shill or the other, and yet not one of us decides who runs the private central bank… One day..,one day..

 

[Dude Abides]

You spend a fair amount of time on GAF - if you don't feel lucky enough, you obviously have more time available to you to try harder.

So do you. Must not be a very hard worker.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

There is no such thing as free healthcare. You just pay for it via taxation.

Then Healthcare Equality is more the point. Taxation slides (in theory) with the amount you earn, but low income earners don't get cheap healthcare. I really don't know how Americans don't riot in the streets about this.

 

[Ramma2]

Good job, healthy family, everyone's happy.

 

[esquire]

Should've voted for McCain-Palin. This would've never happened under their administration.

 

[Red]

Then Healthcare Equality is more the point. Taxation slides (in theory) with the amount you earn, but low income earners don't get cheap healthcare. I really don't know how Americans don't riot in the streets about this.

Heaping doses of self-delusion and sucking the corporate teat, that's why.

 

[.GqueB.]

None of these things are personal enough for people to care. They are just numbers. Yea that CEO is making BILLIONS of dollars but this doesn't immediately affect me. Yea wages have declined but I make enough to live in NY, buy an ipad when I feel, buy a decent dinner, and pay for the occasional stripper so it doesn't really matter. And this is purely anecdotal but even the unemployed people I know aren't particularly mad or unhappy. They're just collecting their unemployment checks and playing Skyrim all day.

This is similar to the whole climate change fiasco. Trying to make me care about the problem because polar bears are dying. I don't care about polar bears. I'm an asshole and I only look out for myself.

 

[jorma]

So do you. Must not be a very hard worker.

when the Dude calls you a slacker you should probably try to make an effort, Kosmo.

 

[FLEABttn]

I really don't know how Americans don't riot in the streets about this.

The rather deeply held notion that it would ruin healthcare and turn your doctor's office into the DMV.

 

[nateeasy]

To have winners you got to have losers.

 

[YoungHav]

Waiting for right wingers to defend corporate malfeasance.

 

[McLovin]

Not mad at all, Obama had nothing to work with after all that damage Bush did.

 

[Klyka]

This whole "moving upwards" thing was never for me.
I drive a car, I use electronics, I eat well and healthy, I have free time, I have a girlfriend I am in love with, a dog, 2 little kittens, I do stuff that's fun and makes me happy.
What more am I supposed to do? Do I really need to make more money? Have a more prestigious job? Buy more and bigger things?

To me, personally, this makes no sense.
No offense to people who want that, feel free guys, but I'm staying out of the race.

 

[TheSeks]

Wah.


I live in Ohio. There is plenty.of work out there.

I know you're banned, but wow: You're a total asshole.

There is no such thing as free healthcare. You just pay for it via taxation.

outunderthestars
He's not our sharpest knife...

The point:

Spoiler

Everyone has equal access to healthcare and don't get fucked sideways by going to the doctor for something that may be life-threatening

.

Your reality: LOL UR TAXED ANYWAY. SO U MIGHT AS WELL GET A PRIVATE INSURANCE. TROLLOLOLOLOL.

Private Healthcare is fucked, if you can't admit that, I dunno what to say.

 

[Calcaneus]

Small changes to capitalism is the answer!

Vote Obama!

or so people in poligaf thread will say.

What's your alternative? Changing the whole system isn't an answer unless you have a plan to actually make that happen.

 

[Trurl]

Sure it does. Economic disparity was just as bad before the depression.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/2/21/saupload_9_9_09poverty_f1_1.jpg

So, you're suggesting that the United States has an inherent tendency toward high inequality unless it's interrupted by a post-WWII "bubble?" This sounds close to a type of cultural determinism. Maybe in a few hundred years Americans will be ready for the equality of the Swede and the Arab will be ready for the democracy of the American.

 

[Oppo]

Your reality: LOL UR TAXED ANYWAY. SO U MIGHT AS WELL GET A PRIVATE INSURANCE. TROLLOLOLOLOL.

Private Healthcare is fucked, if you can't admit that, I dunno what to say.

the funny/sad part about his post is that, at least in Canada, many lower income folks do not pay income taxes, by design. so they do in fact have free health care.