text: This site is dedicated to providing moderate-right opinions, and information and articles that counter some of the nonsense being inculcated in our young people by public schools and by many colleges and universities. It rejects multiculturalism, embraces the melting pot and celebrates the idea of America. *Vi er all Dansk nu.*
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  Monday, March 04, 2013
  Fiddler on the Roof
  In this wonderful play and movie, Jews living in a remote area of Czarist Russia start seeing their customs and traditions erode and disappear. It is a story of the ages.
  Retired people my age are almost always bemoaning the changes in society. In the case of my generation, however, there may be something to it; we never worried about finding a good job or getting ahead. College costs were low and so was housing. People were civil, and only nasty people used vulgar language.
  Since 1975, however, unknown to many of us, the buying power of the average wage has steadily declined, and the distribution of both income and wealth has become badly skewed so that the upper 20% earn most of the money and have accumulated most of the wealth. Earnings from investments far outperform earnings from salaries and wages. College costs also skyrocketed.
  Left-click to enlarge
  Middleclass and lower income Americans first responded to these trends by sending their wives to work, and also working longer hours and getting two jobs. When this didn’t work they began borrowing large sums on their credit cards and on their houses in order to try to maintain their standard of living. This all came tumbling down after the housing bubble crashed, and we continue to be in a terrible mess.
  There have been many causes: globalization, the decline in private industry labor unions, the pressure on CEO’s for short-term results, federal government interference in education, the rise of the welfare state, the burst of inflation causing huge increases in the cost of imported oil, technology, unintended consequences of lowering taxes – especially on investment profits, the overturning of the Glass-Steagall Act, etc., etc., etc.
  The housing crash opened a festering sore that the Republican Party has not adequately addressed, and some in the Party have not even seemed to notice. In my mind now, the only thing worse than the Republican Party is the Democratic Party whose entire program is aimed at symptoms, not causes.
  Labels: Wealth Inequality
  posted by RussWilcox @ 6:43 AM 1 comments
  1 Comments:
  At 7:11 AM, Joe said...
  I don't see anything getting better in this country as far as the economy, jobs, or high inflation. It's like this so called president has a "death wish" for this country and this is the way I see it.
  Gone are the days when the average person would hop into his vehicle and take a ride somewhere. People are faced with a decision of being able afford to the high costs of food and gas to get to work. Like many others on a fixed income, I have to leave my vehicle in the yard most of the time and only use it when I need to.
  I don't have the convenience of Air Force #1 to take me to my favorite pizza shop in New York City or spend a vacation in Spain.
  It's pretty easy for a sitting president to do all this on our dime isn't it?
  I've reached the point where I hate the guy!
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  About Me
  Name: RussWilcox
  Location: Florida, United States
  Russell Wilcox is a retired college professor who spends several months in Florida and several months in Rhode Island each year, and whose interests include boating and sailing, sports, political activism, ballroom dancing and bridge. He has an MBA from Harvard, a Computer Systems CAGS from Bryant and a BS from Northeastern. He has worked in industry for EG&G and Texas Instruments, operated his own business with more than 200 employees, and served as Director of the Computer Information Systems Program for Stonehill College. An Army veteran and private pilot, he is a published author, and is the proud father of four children and the proud grandfather of seven grandchildren and one greatgrandchild. A holder of two patents in microchip connections and a true product of the melting pot, his father is the son of a Yankee farmer, and his mother the first generation daughter of Italian immigrants who retained their culture, but strove mightily to become Americans, sending four sons to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.