United We Solve Problems, Divided We Fail

Okay so last week we talked about the huge canyon of wage difference between the 1% and the other 99%. And the awesome thing we determined is it isn’t about politics!

To review, the top 1% of America makes on average 718K per year while the bottom 90% averages 36K.

It isn’t about Republican or Democrat. It isn’t about Roe V Wade or School Vouchers.

Nope, the reason so many people make so much less than the top 1 or even the top 10 percent, is economics.

I really, really, really hate it when people make this issue political. And both sides do it. Both sides throw political gasoline on a problem that must be handled by the whole of us.

For example, those on the left will lambast the right as being uncaring and declare wholesale new government programs must be developed to combat poverty.

On the other hand those on the right seem to think the other 90% or at least some portion of them are lazy and unworthy of our support.

Neither one of these approaches will work. But doing nothing will not work either. And here’s the really scary part: It’s going to get worse.

On the right side of the aisle, I will tacitly agree to some tenants of your argument. But where you see people who are lazy, I see people caught in a cycle of poverty.

It is idiotic to think people will take a $9.00/hour job flipping burgers for all day when they can chill out playing Madden, in their government subsidized home, and survive on their food stamps.

However, how many of you Republicans have a college graduate doing exactly that in your basement right now? Except instead of the government subsidizing them, you are.

And how is the whole situation surprising?

So what do we do? Do we pull out all the subsidies? Do you kick your kid out of the house?

Work ethic is learned. It is not born in you. It is not inherited. It is not genetic. It is not racial.

So whether it’s bad parenting or bad government assistance, the result is the same, people with no motivation to work, no desire to succeed and no ability to excel.

Do I think we can reclaim these people?

I do not know.

Do I think we can end the cycle?

Maybe.

But in order to do it, we need intelligent government programs, with minimal waste. We need a partnership between those on the left, looking to establish a real working program, but we need those on the right, working with them to ensure the solution is equitable and responsible to the taxpayer.

Both sides this situation have compromised their initial position. But the result will work better than what we have now. Compromise is NOT BAD!

Oh, and remember back a couple paragraphs, where I said things were going to get worse?

Well they are.

Income disparity is not just today’s problem. It will be expanding exponentially.

You already hear it from the robber barons of today. The Dot Com companies are already extolling a universal basic income idea. In it, everyone, on a sliding scale would receive a check to help them keep up with the Jones.

How do you think that’s going to work out?

Their argument is that this has less to do with welfare and economics than it has to do with science and workplace efficiency.

You see, the big reason we’ve seen such a strong recovery since 2008, is because of the huge unemployment and the replacement of those people with…robots.

Okay in some situations robots, but also and mainly these jobs will be replaced with computers, with more efficient work systems and with a streamlining of how each company does business.

All of these factors combined, and the knowledge and scientific data to back it up, easily predicts more and more people will lose jobs in the future. They will continue to be replaced by machines.

So we’re either going to have to give these people free money or come up with jobs that pay enough for them to feel like they are excelling.

And lately, how has that been working out?