Quote:
Originally Posted by Georgerufus
I'm Australian. Hopefully I'm going to engineering school next year at the moment I work in a hardware store. I get paid $18 per hour.. I used to get paid upto $32 dollars an hour for night time work with the same company. Its basically warehouse work more so than retail.
Most people in this country will earn a wage of atleast $17 per hour. We have startling inequality, don't think we don't, there is definently insentive to create value. Everyone in this country can afford to live with dignity. We have high wages and none of this inflationary sky falling has happened. Infact we a going along nicely and have a very happy, healthy crime free society. People are looked after and theres not much harassment of any sort at work.
The difference is everyone can afford to live, our poor are nowhere near as poor as your poor in the states.
I have to ask, what the hell is wrong with Americans ? Five dollars an hour is a joke.. its slavery you can't even make a decent living on that. In a developed nation.. what the hell... I don't understand americans.
To me it almost looks like a lot of you worship the ideal of the free market. I don't understand how you can detach yourself from the plight of the working person. Even 10 dollars an hour is not really enough to life off.
I've got nothing against progress inequality is indicative of growth.. but declining standards of living and a continually growing working poor are not. Neither are an abundance of sector service jobs.
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Free market is a term many Americans like to use in rationalizing government subsidized agribusiness, energy production, aircraft development and military sales while condemning other nations for not accepting 'free market' trade agreements. The declining standard of living is merely another issue of many to ignore when climbing on the government 'robust economy' bandwagon based on public and personal debt. The switch from industrial status jobs and benefits to low paid service sector jobs provides 'new jobs created' fodder for the robust economy facade. We have an aging population that will create a lot of minimum wage bed pan changers designated as health industry expansion and the trend to acquiring excess body fat requires continual expansion of the fast food industry, offering even more dead-end careers. If one's income exceeds $150k annually without disturbing capital, there are no complaints. The abundant US population living below the poverty line and as homeless persons without education are, in the words of many posters, merely whiners who could improve their circumstances if they actually tried. (sarcasm)