JP and CAR it is a tough problem. I dont know the answers however there I feel that you both effectively sidestep some of the points I am trying to bring up.
JP your last statement referring to computers..
“I’d say they are probably “produced” by some underpaid worker in China. Too bad we are not producing them here, but that would be less money for the 1%.”
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So why is the worker in China underpaid?
Once again you and CAR seem to idealize that those who are in other countries and who make VASTLY less then an American would make TO DO THE SAME JOB are underpaid. Yes the corporation makes MORE PROFITS then they would if the American did the job however the product would then COST MORE. Even if you forced the corporation to make it in America and then subsidize the price, it is just as unsustainable of a model as other solutions. As wonderful as Steve Jobs is portrayed, what do you guys think the profit margin is on Apple products.
I would submit to you that they are not underpaid when compared to the billions of others around the world. To me the basic premise that you guys are missing, and I mean by a long shot, is that Americans enjoy a standard of living that is EXPONENTIALLY better then a large percentage of the world.
Look guys, I get the problem, I get your anger about the unequal distribution of wealth in the country, about corporations making mega profits, and I hate it to. I am just as angry…I also get that this is unsustainable correct? I mean when it all comes down to these protests, this is what it is about, that this model is not sustainable, that it is not fair, that it must change. Right?
However if you abstract the problem outward, isnt that just as unsustainable as well? Solutions posed by CAR are entirely 100% bounded by our national boundaries, aren’t they? (CAR correct me if I am wrong on that)
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I don’t have any good answers, I wish I did. The lobbys, the unions, the large corps… man it is just a mess. I dont like seeing the rape of the public but I don’t think the redistribution of wealth is the answer… I don’t know what is though. I hope that there can be some sort of middle ground somewhere
