People want to work, yeah right. I guess that’s why every where I look there are signs saying now hiring. Maybe it’s our younger generation that doesn’t want to work. You use to see teenagers working in the grocery stores and restaurants for part time jobs, now it’s mostly our elder folks. We don’t have as many “poor” people in this country that choose to work. The government through decades has incentivized people to go on welfare and play the system. I know, I know, Socialism is the answer to make everyone equal. That’s just going to get rid of the middle class. Now we will have the rich and the poor. I know you are against capitalism, but I would rather keep it and be poor here than poor in a socialist country. I’m not here to score points like you. I don’t need to try to feel superior to others. You must have been bullied as a child. I feel sorry for you Datt.
"Everywhere I look" is completely anecdotal.
The federal minimum wage was last changed in 2009. Since then, inflation has risen a little more than 50%. The average cost of a home has risen by over 120%. Income inequality continues to grow. You think people just don't want to work. How is it not much more reasonable to conclude that the jobs that are available are exploitative and people won't accept that? Why does it make more sense that millions of people are lazy than that a handful of people are greedy? From what I've read, countries that institute a UBI don't see any statistically significant drop in the workforce. That's because the overwhelming majority of people want to work. Look at you: you're retired, but you still work parttime, and I would imagine you also have other hobbies and interests that keep you busy. Being idle takes a toll on your mental health. We all need purpose, and for the great, great majority of us, that includes work.
There's no denying that interest in socialism has risen, whatever we may think of that. There's also no denying that the ACA has allowed more people to leave the workforce. That's a good thing. I liken it to how women entering the workforce en masse has a correlation with the rising divorce rate. Some people -- almost exclusively conservatives -- like to blame that on the women in the workforce. In truth, financial independence has allowed women to leave bad marriages they were financially trapped in before. That's also a good thing. It's not the change that's to blame; it's the change that exposes a pre-existing problem. The rising interest in socialism and the apparently large number of job openings are not a sign that people don't want to work. They're a sign that people are no longer accepting terrible working conditions and compensation. Once more, that's a good thing. The solution involves changing the quality of opportunities, not blaming people resisting something bad.
The middle class is already disappearing. Yet so many of us are still aligning with the billionaires who are influencing our disappearance instead of aligning with the people worse off than us who we're being pushed toward. It's very similar to how racism thrives: historically, when the powerful have sown racial division among the working class, poor white people have been willing tools for keeping BIPOC down because then they see themselves at least one rung higher than somebody, and that's enough consolation when you're desperate. If working class & poor folks actually got together across whatever divides us, it would present our best chance of fighting back against the powerful keeping us all down and changing the system.
It's funny you mention bullies... 2 days ago I was contacted by a person I bullied throughout elementary school and middle school. They were bullied mercilessly by lots of people, including teachers, and I was not just a participant; I was a ringleader. When I've reconnected with friends from that time in my life, we have often expressed tremendous remorse for how we treated this person. They saw a comment I made on an online news article, recognized my name, and reached out. Among other things, this person was eventually diagnosed as autistic. We'd never heard of autism in the '80s. The first time I ever heard of it was when the movie "Rainman" came out my senior year of high school. I got the opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous harm I had participated in and led, and I got to express how sorry I am for how I behaved toward them. It doesn't absolve my lifetime of regret about it, but it was really cathartic to finally get that off my chest.
Anyhoo, that's pretty off-topic, but you mentioned bullying. I haven't been bullied since 4th grade, at the bus stop, which ended after a couple weeks when I defended myself decisively. I was a jock who was a slightly below average honor student, involved in student government and the arts. I was voted "most well-rounded." But stick with your strawman if it makes you feel better. It doesn't bother me at all. You're so far off the mark it doesn't even ruffle my luxurious, full head of gracefully graying hair.
Other than a single snarky sentence and eyeroll at the very beginning of my last post, I'm not sure what warrants the hostility of responding with your last 4 sentences. I'm trying to have a productive conversation here.
