[quote=asianautica]
Do you have proof of this limited vertical mobility you’re claiming to exist? Some how, I just don’t see it. We still have much lower unemployment rate than France, which are much more socialistic than we are. I see plenty of smart people doing start-ups and making it big or just move up the corporate rank because they’re very smart and know how to play politics. I also know people who work extremely hard and be very frugal and doing very well for themselves even though they work in what you’d call middle class jobs. Once you accumulate enough capital, the stock market is wide open for everyone. You can make it big in options if you’re good, or put your $ in mutual funds and let the index work for you. I just don’t believe the theory that it’s that much harder today vs 20 years ago. You also forgot that the amount of people who make millions now is much larger than 20 years ago. So to me, it seems like the smart and hard working will always find way to get rich.
Knowing the rule of the game and use it to your advantage is how you succeed in this country. Bitching, whining, and asking for handouts will not get your very far. If you change the game, guess what, the smart and nimble will just adapt to the new rules.
Also, last I check, increasing tax on the business owners will not decrease their profit, they’ll just squeeze their employees.[/quote]
Economic mobility between income quintiles has dropped in the US versus other industrialized countries.
And yes, of course their is still some mobility – but how many TODAY do you know who really bootstrapped themselves all the way up? I know VERY few. Yeah, if you were born into a nice upper-middle class family and could afford to go to top (or near top) schools you could do it, but how many people do you REALLY know who grew up in, for example, a southern ghetto who’ve been able to make anything for themselves RECENTLY?
As a side note, one reason why we have “low” unemployment is the WAY we calculate unemployment. Essentially, if you’re unemployed more than 6 months (the limit for federal unemployment), you’re no longer counted. Ditto if you’re just out of school and can’t get a job. In Europe, they count both cases.
Incidentally, I don’t see the poor and middle class usually “bitching, whining, and asking for handouts.” You know who I DO see doing those things? Corporations and the very wealthy.
