Everything That Is Wrong With America’s Economy in One Minute
I don’t know about you, but as I was growing up, in 1960s and 70s America, a working person could make a decent living. The blue collar men and women of my North Philadelphia neighborhood earned enough from factory, skilled trades and service jobs to buy a small Philly rowhome, raise and feed a family, and take a few weeks vacation every year.
In 2013, it is almost impossible to simply keep one’s head above water with a service or trade job. Factory jobs are no longer considered in the equation anymore. And, even with a good college education, most – I repeat – most young people leaving our Universities with a Bachelor degree are under-employed in some field that has nothing to do with their area of study. However, they are tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
We have somewhow arrived at a point in our society where job growth and wage increases are either declining or stagnant.
Yet, the stock markets hit record levels and corporate profits are at an all-time high. The disparity between the working poor and the elite rich will be the straw that eventually breaks America’s back. Sooner than we can even imagine.
Of course, if you shoot a basketball or have a large corporate CEO position, you’re probably doing just fine.
