The World Socialist Web Site reports
A report issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) July 4 finds what hundreds of millions of workers are experiencing in their daily lives: nearly a decade after the worst financial crash since the Great Depression of the 1930s, wages are stagnating and the benefits of economic "recovery" are going to the corporate elite.
The OECD countries--26 in Europe plus the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and Turkey--accounted for more than 60 percent of world GDP in 2017. The grouping includes seven of the ten largest national economies, excluding only China, India, and Brazil.
The report begins with an editorial bearing the striking headline: "Wageless growth: Is this time different?" It points to the fact that the current economic "recovery" differs from previous rebounds from capitalist slumps because, despite lower unemployment rates and a record number of job vacancies in the euro area, the United States, and Australia, "wage growth is still missing in action".
The bulk of the 300-page document is devoted to drilling down into the figures detailing the paradox of "tight" labor markets and stagnant wages in country after country, as well as selected industry groups, but the basic conclusion appears early on: wages are being held down because of the lingering effects of the 2008 crash and the proliferation of low-wage and part-time jobs, particularly for those workers who were laid off in the worst years of the economic crisis.
The initial editorial states, "involuntary part-time employment has risen significantly in a number of countries since the crisis, and this has been accompanied by a deterioration in the relative earnings of part-time workers".
The report underscores the fact that the 2008 global financial crisis was used by the capitalist class and governments of every stripe around the world to accelerate the decades-long assault on the social position of the working class. In country after country, higher paid full-time positions with a modicum of job protection and health and pension benefits have increasingly been replaced with low-wage and precarious employment.
I think it's obvious that when government unemployment rate numbers are low but wages aren't rising, somebody is lying.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @10:29PM (24 children)
Unemployment is higher than reported, and the number of job vacancies is lower than reported.
The underclass of permanently unemployed job seekers who cannot find work are not counted as unemployed despite seeking employment.
Job vacancies are fictional fabrications where no such jobs exist.
The economy as it exists today is based entirely upon fraud.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:19PM (4 children)
All American Entrepreneurs like Michael David Crawford know the very best way to exploit a fraudulent economy is by running a job board. Michael David Crawford gets his William Jefferson Clinton as stiff as a board by thinking of all those losers who believe there are real jobs to be found through Soggy Jobs.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:13AM (3 children)
Gays deserve AIDS.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:12AM (2 children)
No! That's been deprecated! The Jesus guy is using an out of date version! It's "Incels deserve AIDS!"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:22AM (1 child)
Which alternative infection vector do you recommend to reach the incels?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @04:27AM
Hmm... I hadn't thought that through all the way.
We'll have to move forward with sex bots and make sure they come with AIDS from the factory.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:00AM (6 children)
Elect the rich, be surprised when the rich arrange things to suit themselves, from laws to appointed functionaries to the judiciary.
What a surprise. [cough]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snotnose on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:08AM (5 children)
Why would the rich do such a stupid thing as run for office? They pay the 2 top contenders, when one wins the Rich get to tell them how to vote.
Screwed. We're screwed until something I hate to imagine happens.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:39AM (4 children)
I am surprised the Donald actually ran personally instead of getting a flunkie to do the "dirty work".
The rich I know will put someone else in that position for the same reason I use expendable tools to work with corrosives.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:57AM (1 child)
LOL - you browse the internet with an expendable machine. Got it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @04:53PM
It's called a "Virtual Machine." One click and it is reset back to its previous state, regardless of how screwed up it gets.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Monday July 09 2018, @01:28AM (1 child)
Are you serious? Have you seen the size of his ego? No fucking way he's letting someone else get the spotlight.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday July 09 2018, @02:13AM
You call it a spotlight. Sounds real nice, huh. Trust me, it's not so nice. I don't get the attention I deserve. People should be thanking me A LOT. They thank me, they don't thank me enough. Believe me, they're not thanking me like they should. I signed the the MASSIVE TAX CUT & Reform Bill of 2017 -- otherwise known as the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act -- one of the greatest achievements by any President. Putting TRILLIONS of dollars back where they belong, in the hands of our great Corporations. And our other taxpayers. The estate tax was killing the farmers. The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean. This is truly a case where the results will speak for themselves, starting very soon. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! And even some of the folks at my White House, the workers who only have their jobs because of me, didn't thank me. I had to say, THANK ME. When you see me around the White House, come up to me. And thank me personally. For the Tax Cut and for the AMAZING JOB I'm doing. So many didn't thank me until I told them to. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:18AM (4 children)
The problem is that there are six definitions of unemployment, and people get to pick which one they want to use and still call it the "unemployment rate." Officiially they are defined as:
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:02AM
The one I pay attention to is the labor force participation rate, which at the end of 2017 was 62.9%.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:00AM (2 children)
The one I like is, total number of jobs, divided by the total number of able bodied persons. And, those penny ante jobs that only offer 8 to 20 or maybe 32 hours per week are prorated - they don't count as a whole job, since a person has to work from 2 to 6 jobs to even get a minimum wage before taxes.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:51PM (1 child)
Where do you get that statistic? How does it count engineers working as dishwashers? (How does it count lawyers working as dishwashers?)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:13PM
That statistic isn't readily available. You first have to find out how many able bodied working age people there are in the US. Then, you have to find out how many full-time or nearly full-time jobs there are. Then do the math.
No, it wouldn't tell you how many people are "under employed", as you would seem to define the term. And, TBH, I'm not really certain that the "engineer" who works as a dishwasher is "under employed". I've met two people who called themselves engineers, who I wouldn't trust to clean stables, they are that freaking stupid.
Reminds me of a song - 'Don't call him a cowboy, 'til you've seen him ride'. Lots of people have community college degrees that proclaim them to be something that they are not. There's are more reasons than just a crummy economy for a person to be working outside his chosen field.
Oh - link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LEBO9qlT0 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:34AM (1 child)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:24AM
All-American Entrepreneurs like Michael David Crawford know the very best way to exploit a fraudulent economy is by running a job board. Michael David Crawford gets his William Jefferson Clinton as stiff as a board by thinking of all those losers who believe there are real jobs to be found through Soggy Jobs.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by shortscreen on Sunday July 08 2018, @03:18AM (1 child)
It depends on ever-increasing debt and infinite growth.
The new money fuels the growth, which covers the interest payments. (Notice the money-printers are guaranteed to either keep collecting interest or end up owning everything under this system)
If the new money gets redirected to the pockets of the elite and growth suffers, the bills still have to be paid, so we squeeze the workers.
If energy costs go up and growth suffers, we squeeze the workers.
If demand goes down because we squeezed the workers, ???
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday July 08 2018, @09:39PM
Then they look for a scapegoat, currently they are using immigrants.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:54AM (2 children)
I dunno if you're blowing smoke or not - but you're right. It's good to get some citations when calling gubbermint a bunch of liars though, so I'll give you one. http://www.shadowstats.com/ [shadowstats.com]
The site is pretty large, and it has a helluva lot of information on it. Click around, and learn. TLDR version: gubbermint lies day in and day out about all of our economic statistics. Unemployment has been above 20% since late 2008, almost reaching 25% in 2014. In the past year, it has dropped a little, around 21% now.
Some will argue that the figures and methods used to get these figures are invalid. But, Shadowstats uses the SAME methods used by Bill Clinton when he had unemployment below 5%. Gubbermint has an interest in keeping unemployment at or below 5%, so they have changed the methods, found new metrics, and outright lied to us to make Joe Sixpack believe that things are getting better.
Unemployment isn't the only thing that Shadowstats tracks - feel free to educate yourself over there!
(Score: 2, Informative) by speederaser on Monday July 09 2018, @12:02AM (1 child)
Shadowstats is utter garbage [econbrowser.com]. You should be ashamed of yourself for sending people to one of the original fake news sites.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday July 09 2018, @02:31AM
Thank you! The Fake News Media is DESPERATE TO DISTRACT from the economy and record setting economic numbers and so they keep talking about the phony Russian Witch Hunt. “We ran out of words to describe how good the jobs numbers are.” Neil Irwin of the @nytimes [twitter.com]. In many ways this is the greatest economy in the HISTORY of America and the best time EVER to look for a job! Stock Market up almost 40% since the Election, with 7 Trillion Dollars of U.S. value built throughout the economy. Lowest unemployment rate in many decades, with Black & Hispanic unemployment lowest in History (since Civil War), and Female unemployment lowest in 21 years. Highest confidence ever! Dems did nothing for you but get your vote! #NeverForget [twitter.com]@foxandfriends [twitter.com]
(Score: 1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 07 2018, @10:31PM (21 children)
Well, when life sucks and you know who to attack out of your anger, nobody attacks. We're all too busy attacking Trump supporters because those are people on the street and they are also a (perceived) minority. Nevermind that the people those Leftist agitators look up to are the very ones keeping them down. Divert your negative energy somewhere else!
But let's not try and solve an actual problem in society now...Punch Nazis! Hail Soros!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:37PM
Finance is a scam and it's the finance industry that is destroyed by a low growth, economy with advanced automation. I was ready to embrace that future, shame the financial industry decided to use immigration as a big "fuck you" to those of us who create wealth instead of stealing it. They can pay for their immigrants as well. [squawker.org]
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:17AM
They're only pseudo-left, otherwise they'd know exactly who we need to target with the final solution... the capitalist elites.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:29AM (18 children)
Like most Mexicans, I don't hate socialism when I see it work. Only problem is that is never does. Time to beat up White people instead! I rally you, my fellow Mexicans, to beat up all whites! It's like Europe, you can get away with it here for a while. Beat those Whites! Beat those Whites! Beat those Whites! Call them "racist" first though, so that everybody around you will believe that you are justified in their beatings. Then beat those Whites! Beat those Whites! Trump Bad!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:11AM (1 child)
Youre a fucking tool who should do the world a favor
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @08:39PM
Do thé world a faveur and have a beer
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:44AM (9 children)
You seem to be saying that you have Latinx heritage,[1] so let's stick with that theme.
[1] ...much as TMB claims to have Native American heritage.
I don't hate socialism when I see it work. Only problem is that is never does
Mexican tire factory workers turn their Capitalist plant into a (Socialist) worker-owned cooperative - Part 1 [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [labornotes.org]
Mexican tire factory workers turn their Capitalist plant into a (Socialist) worker-owned cooperative - Part 2 [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [labornotes.org]
Socialism works just fine, thank you very much.
...or perhaps you were referring to USA's Liberal Democracy (which was set up as an Oligarchy and has become a Corporatocracy).
N.B. You have repeatedly appeared to be advocating for Anti-Democracy.
Autocracy, perhaps (Let Trump be Trump); maybe Fascism (Gov't by the Whites, for the Whites).
Pretty shitty alternatives.
.
Now, if you want to see a gov't that actually gives Socialism a leg-up, have a look at Italy's Marcora Law. [google.com]
The thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of worker-owned cooperatives in Italy (making a major contribution to the Italian economy) demonstrate, once again, that Socialism works just fine, thank you very much.
OBTW, here's the definition once again:
Socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production by The Workers.
If it's not an ownership model you're talking about, you're talking about something, but it isn't Socialism.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:07AM (8 children)
*sigh*
Socialism works great, on a small scale. Socialism works best when all the "owners" understand that they have a vested interest. Problem is, socialism/communism has not been scaled up to a national level yet, and worked. The Soviet abandoned communism, and China has give communism a lobotomy and grafted in some modified capitalism.
But, you just won't learn, will you?
Capitalism and democracy truly sucks as an political/economic model, but it sucks less than anything else we've tried.
Come up with something new, to replace the shitty system we have, alright? Stop beating that old socialist drum.
Sorry. I'm asking a lot. It's taken you all of your life to understand Karl Marx, I can't expect you to do what he did, but better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:29AM (5 children)
Fundamentally, socialism is based on the theory that a man without a shovel can dig just as fast as a man with a shovel, if sufficiently motivated by good intentions.
Karl Marx (nowhere near as clever as Groucho) failed to see that automation made it possible to have businesses with no employees and no land (and also failed to see the attraction of BBWs).
--
Je suis Marxiste - avec tendence Groucho
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:44AM
BBW = black bisexual women
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:35PM (2 children)
Are you sure? When the production of most commodities is automated, what do you expect will happen to the working class? This sounds like one of those inherent contradictions. As automation increases, fewer workers are needed. Fewer people making sufficient wages to buy products means less demand. Less demand leads to rising prices and eventually shrinking supply. The economy grinds to a halt on the eve of a post-scarcity society.
That's when everybody is starving, and starving people will smash up those cute little gated communities. Especially consider how many "Second Amendment people" are in the working class.
It's a delusion to think they'll all become robot technicians. Some will, but if it takes one or two robots technicians to keep a car factor moving along, why would the capitalists ever hire any more? What happens when some asshole like me comes along and invents the robot technician robot?
You have a car factory capable of putting out cars without the participation of the working class, with a small group of private owners reaping the benefits. But this wonderful invention sits idle, because the number of people who can afford to buy new cars shrinks to about zip.
Automation is the reason it is more important than ever that the (present day) workers own the means of production. This can be realized through stock ownership.
Every person on Earth must be a vested stockholder of divided-paying shares in the automated means of production. This must be an international revolution. The benefits of capitalism continue to accrue, and the inherent contradiction above finds resolution. This is how we bootstrap a post-scarcity society instead of allowing the blind religion of capitalism to smother everything that's been accomplished so far into rot and ruin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:42PM
I left out a step.
- Automation increases; fewer workers are needed. Supply goes up.
- Increased supply decreases prices in the short-term.
- However, prices cannot decrease beyond the cost of the unworked materials.
- The amount of money available to the average person in the working class certainly will decrease below the cost of the raw materials to make a car.
- Even with an entirely automated supply chain, as crazy low as that will bring the cost of the entire supply chain, wages of most people in the working class decrease straight to flat zero.
- This accelerates the more automation is put into place to attempt to bring prices down to what the average person can afford. However, it is its own poison. Prices come down, but wages reach zero (unemployment) quicker.
- Demand shrinks. Prices begin rising as cars--any car--become luxury items.
- Supply responds by shrinking as well.
- The means of production go idle.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:16PM
Nope. That';s still Capitalism and, as always, the majority stockholders with inherited wealth will crush you like a bug.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @10:30PM
Socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production by The Workers.
Whoever gave you your definition of Socialism is an uneducated idiot.
...or, more likely, someone with an agenda that involves USAian hegemony and Oligarchy--and you swallowed the propaganda, hook, line, and sinker.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @11:30PM (1 child)
We've been over this numerous times before and you're still beating your broken drum.
First, get out of the ignorant backwater where you are and do some traveling.
I suggest that you try the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna [wikimedia.org]
While there, notice how the economy is largely due to Socialists. [google.com]
...lots and lots and lot and lots of Socialists. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [wikipedia.org]
...and, of course there's Mondragon, which started with 6 worker-owners in 1956 and is currently on 5 continents [google.com].
...and, as anyone who reads your swill can tell, you're in the bag for USAian imperialism|colonialism|hegemony.
Whatever criminal acts are done by USA.gov and USA.com are fine with you--as long as that's outside the borders of USA.
So, you give your approval to shit like regime change which kills off any nascent Democracy|Socialist movements in places like Nicaragua (Regan's illegal arms sales to fund the raping, torturing, murdering Contras)--while you insist that USA is all about Democracy.
I've scraped things off my shoe that were more interesting than you and which had better morals.
Oh, and continuing to insist that Socialism is a governmental form just shows how stupid you are and how susceptible you are to decades-old Cold War bullshit that wasn't even truthful back then.
...and Capitalism works great--if you're one of the 1 Percent.
Workers get cheated, abused, and screwed.
It's at the core of that system.
Do try to pull your head out of your ass, look around at what's happening in the world, and join the 21st Century.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 09 2018, @02:25AM
I traveled. Traveled a lot during the Cold War. And, you're still making no points. Were you even alive when the Soviet collapsed?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:44AM (3 children)
EF: If you can succeed in finding ways of getting all of us fighting each other, instead of THEM, you will have done their job for them.
When the economic collapse eventually occurs, there will be less of US to fight THEM!
Again, the one percenters win.
We are ALL trapped in this snit! We do NOT need to be fighting each other. We need to direct our venom toward the ones who fomented this snit.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:11AM (2 children)
I think youre giving EF too much credit here. I would argue he is happy to be doing the devils work.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:09AM (1 child)
FTFY
(Score: 1) by DECbot on Sunday July 08 2018, @03:05PM
But perhaps not the white devil, because beating those down is increasing in popularity.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday July 09 2018, @01:47AM
Whole time i'm reading this all I could think of was this song but with the lyrics "beat the whites" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGroVcIWVk [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday July 09 2018, @02:36AM
You're channelling Julia Child. Or possibly Anthony Bourdain. You want to eat the rich. With a meringue topping. And that's too bad. Because I'm VERY VERY RICH. Believe me!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @10:42PM (11 children)
Well, can't speak for other countries, but lets look at the situation here in the USA:
At the 'high end' : office jobs (IT..etc)
As soon as wages start to rise at any company, another 747 load of H1B's from India is loaded up and flown to the United States to fill open positions. As anyone on this website already knows, the IT departments of pretty much any Fortune 500 company has been
1)either offshored or
2)loaded with H1B Visa workers flown in from India..virtually no Americans to be found anyplace.
There are pretty much endless amounts of H1Bs waiting to be flown in, so anytime a shortage 'starts', load up another 747 and fly it in.. Of course wages won't rise in such a situation.
At the 'low end' : trades, unskilled work (cooks, low end construction work, agriculture, office cleaning staff..etc):
Here is California, the current market clearing wage is currently *below* the legal minimum wage. How is that you say? The millions of Illegal Aliens from Mexico or South America who will work for below the legal minimum wage and not tell anyone.
Go to the back of any restaurant kitchen, or construction site in this state and you hear nothing but spanish. Go to try to talk to them yourself, they cannot speak a lick of English. There is a 'head cook' or 'head construction worker' that might speak a bit of passable English to translate to the rest of them. We are neck deep in illegals right now in this country (and as for Trump, love him or hate him, he is right about this..), so wages at the 'low end' will not go up as long as this continues.
Finally the root of all this, government corruption by the 'rich', buying laws to let in the H1Bs, not control the border..etc., leading to this.. As well, the media for not telling it like it really is. The reasons are obvious, but it is currently too 'politically incorrect' to come out and say so... hence, the 'mystery'..
Fix the above, and wages will go up in no time for the lower / middle classes..
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:06PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE [youtube.com]
Not only that. We need to tackle the problem at the source. We are in a perverted way making the problem worse on the other end!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by legont on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:50PM
In fact it is worse than that. Company I work for does not hire any IT developers in the US any more, period. (we do hire some engineers, but that's for a fear of a total meltdown).
We simply have subsidiaries in Canada, Europe, China and, most importantly, India were we hire/fire developers as needed and at the lowest price/quality ratio.
The jobless rate can go negative for what we care, the salary increase is never above inflation.
There will be blood.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:45AM (5 children)
There's plenty of work to be had because home construction cannot be offshored
It pays good wages because skilled tradesmen who are possessed of a work ethic are hard to find.
Hard to find because Larry, Steve, satya and their ilk paid off all the state legislatures to cut finding for shop so that an entire generation of what would otherwise be Happy well paid tradesmen are forced into STEM classes.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:47AM (2 children)
>MichaelDavidCrawford
go look around at your nearest construction site.. Most of it done by Mexicans or other South American illegals now..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @04:20AM (1 child)
California and AZ maybe, but not here in WA yet. Based n the last two major construction projects I've had. And the prices where not that much higher either.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:22AM
As you might expect, Cal, Az, NM, and Texas, sure. Add in all of the states that border those four. La, Ar, Ok, Co, Ut, Nv. Print out a map of the US, and outline all of those states into one region. Helluva huge region, isn't it? Those are the states that are most affected by illegal invaders. Go outside of that region, and outline separately all of those states that border the region. Those states are also affected, to a somewhat lesser degree. And, you have encircled well over half of the population of the United States when you have done so.
Personally, I have met Mexican and other Latin American illegal aliens as far from Mexico as Vermont and New Hampshire. They are pretty rare in New England, but they are there. Yes, I've found them in Washington as well as Oregon.
In case you didn't know, I drove truck for several years. The trucking industry makes heavy use of people making less than minimum wage. Stop in any truckstop near where you live, work, and travel. You'll find illegals. Visit any grocery warehouse, you'll find Mexican lumpers - people who get paid to unload the trucks, because the warehouse is too damned cheap to employ labor, and the truckdriver is too damned tired to do it himself.
You go ahead, and make Wa some kind of example, and believe that the rest of the country has things as good as Wa has it. Your day is coming. The Mexicans WILL start taking your jobs, just like they took jobs in southwestern United States. It's coming. And, don't be surprised if your elected officials aren't bussing them in, to drive wages down.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:38AM (1 child)
Says the sleazy owner of Soggy Jobs, The Global Computer Industry Index.
You know exactly who you're fleecing, motherfucker.
Fuck MDC
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday July 10 2018, @06:40AM
I Am Absolutely Serious: My "Call To Action" is found on every page [soggy.jobs]:
Buy Me A Coffee
One Grande Pike's Place Roast with tip: $3.00.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:39AM
Construction is largely an unskilled trade. The actual skilled trades (welding, hvac, electrician, plumber, machinist, etc...) still pay damned nicely and cannot find enough good help. If you want a good, reliable job, drop out of college and take one. Most of the above still use apprentice, journeyman, contractor programs and apprentices need next to no knowledge of what they're getting into.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:23AM
Like this article just today...
Newsweek thinks we need even more H1B's and illegals!!
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-immigration-policy-h-1b-visa-978219 [newsweek.com]
I am not sure if they really do believe this or are just paid to write trips like this..
It's like pravda in the old USSR..
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday July 08 2018, @09:52PM
And as long as they just go after the immigrants the problem will never be solved. Take some away? More will take their place. If you want to end the "problem" go after the businesses that hire illegal labor. Start punishing these business owners, make it an economic death penalty to be caught hiring illegals, and the "problem" will go away. The way we are currently handling the issue is simply capitalism exploiting cheap labor, and punishing the labor for the transgressions of the capitalists.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:26PM (21 children)
If the collapse of the Soviet Union taught us anything, it's that the less people have to lose when the inevitable insolvency hits and the currency loses its value, the better.
Personally I'm putting my saving into gold instead of a pension plan. Not futures mind you. Actual gold sitting in a real safe in a real basement. I would have preferred buying a small family farm instead... But I don't know anything about farming :/
It's a shitty plan I know. But the way I see it, it's better then trusting the same investment bankers that got us this far in the first place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:30PM (4 children)
Have fun starving to death with a gold brick in your mouth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:24AM (2 children)
Because all the paper and digital dollars will be so useful when inflation hits.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:29AM (1 child)
When cans of beans will be worth more than gold, you hoard gold. Good choice.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:30AM
Well, you have to time it right or waste a ridiculous amount of money replenishing your bean reserves. If you hoard dry beans and have good storage you'll get a few years, but you need more than beans to survive for over a year. You'll quickly have more beans than you can handle, so again, what do you do with the extra money?
Do you prep for mad maxx world? Zombie apocalypse? Hunger games? Dystopia where everyone lives in a 3rd world ghetto?
They all have different outcomes, so what becomes the safest investment?
Maybe investing in self-sustaining community projects would be a better idea instead of trying to go all individualist survival mode.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:30AM
Personally, I have a lot of faith in the ability of precious metals to retain their value, in any economic situation.
Nothing beats having your own warehouse filled with staples, processed to stay stored for years. But, for those who lack their own warehouses, precious metals are the next best thing. The people who had the foresight to store food for the long term will be willing to barter with you, if you have metals. If you have nothing to barter with, then security will turn you away - and they'll shoot you if you attempt to break in. Sux to be the guy with no metals.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by legont on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:54PM
There was that infamous expression in 80's Russia: "they pretend to pay us while we pretend to work".
Looking the productivity statistics in the US, we are at a similar point.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:40AM (3 children)
No time like the present, as they say in temporal mechanics. One thing to consider is that without diesel fuel, modern industrial farming doesn't work. There were many farmers who found they could not possibly farm all of the land they owned.
Getting a ham radio general license is another good thing to do now if you don't already have it. Buy some ham equipment, too. Ham radio operators were crucial immediately after N-day.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday July 08 2018, @04:40AM (2 children)
Which timeline is this, which one are you referring to with N-day, and why don't you understand that this is all probability rather than there actually being separate parallel universes for every possibility? It doesn't work like that. Maybe breaking cover is a dumb idea, but what the hell: I can feel the ends of history flapping loose in the temporal breeze, and if there's someone or something out there trying to secure it back down, they're fucking up bad. Have been for over 45 years. Reagan was *not* supposed to be elected, damn it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:03AM (1 child)
N is for nuke, glad to see someone understands the quantum probabilities instead of the dumb infinite universes bit, and yes history is looser than Trump's bunghole.
I still have faith in the larger chunk of humanity even with the people such as the psychos on this site trying their damnedest to plunge us into chaos. The minions of evil hide themselves well and simply ignore when their duplicity is called out, then later claim they are the champions of truth and light.
But knowledge is power, spread the word, make sure the psychos are exposed for all to see. Trust that decent people can see the truth.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:23PM
I'm doing my best, but can't hold out much longer. See, I don't do this with the fancy hardware I'm assuming you boys do; it's all done in wetware. Part of what that implies is I have to feel the possible shapes of the most likely futures directly, and it's extremely bad for my sanity. As it is, I already spend a fair amount of time dissociated, feeling like this is just some bit part I'm playing in a movie somewhere, and most of the projected futures don't even have me in them by 2020.
Whatever happens, I can say for certain we're committed to massive climate change for centuries to come. It's too late to change that barring some extremely unlikely shenanigans with CO2 sequestration. There's also going to be essentially corporatocracy in place of actual rule of law rather soon, after several crises are filled in by companies like Amazon rather than any government relief agencies. Odd thing is, I'm not sensing nuclear warfare as strongly as these two, which doesn't mean it won't happen, of course.
We've fallen off a cliff. We passed several important tipping points a while back and gravity has finally started to take notice. No one can stop what's coming now...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:40AM (2 children)
I wouldn't if I were you. Gold is largely a hedge against the dollar and betting against the US over the long term is not a good idea.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:41AM (1 child)
The US dollar is worthless. In the long run, it will go the way of the Zimbabwe dollar. The question is "when?"
At the moment the Chinese (who have more land, people and general wealth) than the Americans, also have
shit-loads of dollars, and will prop the system up till they have off-loaded them onto Africa.
Africa is currently taking Chinese dollars because, in the short term, they are better than nothing.
In the long run, this can only end badly - but, with careful management, less badly for the Chinese than anyone else.
America will probably end up like Sudan or Syria.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 08 2018, @04:13PM
The above was friendly advice but feel free to not follow it. If the smart folks don't have dumb folks badly misreading the markets, they can't buy or sell as easily.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:25AM (7 children)
You can learn to farm. Then at least you can feed yourself and your family. What happens after you find a pound of rice or flour or a chicken to eat costs a brick of gold?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by anubi on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:55AM (6 children)
I know if I had several pounds of rice, but also knew I could not get any more - what I had was it. You think I would part with it for gold coin?
My guess is the guy with the gun is going to end up with both my rice and his gold.
I also speculate the only people who survive will either be ruthless warlord types or those who provide invaluable services... like mechanics, farmers, electricians, you know, skilled tradesmen... people who are needed by the men of the gun. The men of the gun will protect them like ants protect aphids.
A good car mechanic is better than having gold, but a property owner will make good compost.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:11AM (5 children)
So we're going full apocalypse when the specter of recession rises up?
Damn people, we're gonna have our hands full trying to save civilization with the ecological disasters we've been stupid enough to kick off. The first asshole to try and warlord his way to the top is gonna get buried right quick, or are all you 2nd amendment folks really so spineless and lacking moral fiber ;)?
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:33AM (3 children)
You might want to Google "French Revolution"
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday July 08 2018, @08:33AM (1 child)
Exactly, Dr. Spin... History does have a way of repeating itself.
I have been been really watching our federal funds rate charts [macrotrends.net] for quite some time now, like an overanxious airline passenger looking out the window to see how far down the ground is because the pilot keeps stalling the plane. It wasn't so bad when we were 30,000 feet up, but we are now scooting right above ground level.... one more stall and I have never been there before... I don't know what happens when they need to "lower rates to inject liquidity ( more loans ) into the economy"after they stall the plane, and the rates are right at zero now.
And I note they are now doing the same thing they do every time they want to stall the plane... pull up on the stick.
Its all falling into place just like watching a four stroke engine go through its cycles, how the banker types flood the market with cheap dollars, then the TV heads tell everyone to buy and flip houses, invest in stocks, then the banker types hike the rates, then no one has the money to pay debt service on the loans, then the foreclosure cycle ( that's the money stroke, as the bankers reap the real wealth of land and other things of value the loans were taken out to purchase ). Then the banks drop the rates, and sell the stuff back to those who they loan money to and the business cycle continues.
It hasn't gone unnoticed by me the barrage of talking heads on TV about house flipping and trading academies.... I have noted this same thing, which I suspect is highly underwritten by the banks, as a forerunner of the banks getting ready to engage the power stroke once they have gotten everyone into debt they won't be able to pay.
I don't know how they are gonna get the next rabbit out of the hat... and I'm kinda scared.
I can see the powers that be getting prepared... especially with all this snooping so they can get early heads-up on anyone organizing an upset of their apple-cart. And its also quite obvious to me that all of our infrastructure can be shut down at the drop of a hat, under the guise of "protection of intellectual property". A midnight "windows update" could be sent to brick everything just as sure as they sent out an update to nuke FTDI chips, leaving civilian systems in complete disarray, and I don't think there are enough of us old farts around and old equipment that can be trusted, or the time to port the stuff back if it comes to that.
No, I do not think the black helicopters are coming after me... but I do think that in the near future, anyone disobeying government orders to comply to some directive will be met with an armed drone, with superb facial recognition to pick them out for special treatment, and probably physically painful correction administered for the first few disobeyances. They know the populace is armed, and sending in human law enforcement officers into such a situation will not be effective.
I wonder if drones can be disabled with magnetrons out of microwave ovens mounted at the focal point of satellite TV dishes?
Its probably the old paradigm I discussed in a previous story about being afraid of walking in a dark alley at 2AM, afraid of a mugger... only because I cannot verify there is not a mugger there. But with all this secrecy, encryption, government and industry supplied misinformation, snooping, and enforcement of mechanisms to prevent me from verifying what my stuff is doing behind my back, yet catching it red-handed with a packet sniffer sending stuff back I do not know what it is, I am getting a bit paranoid.
Even the friendliest animals are likely to become aggressive when backed into a corner.
I see bankers closing in on borrowers who can't pay as triggering a massive backlash.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Monday July 09 2018, @06:33PM
I wonder if drones can be disabled with magnetrons out of microwave ovens mounted at the focal point of satellite TV dishes?
I often wondered if you could cook pigeons in flight that way.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:12PM
It wouldn't work that way with modern weaponry. Napalm and machine guns would make short work of any mob, if the government was serious about it. (Well, by government I mean "the group holding power".)
We don't know what a full-scale collapse would be like, because we've never seen one. My guess would be "many megadeaths", and that a large part of surviving in the short term will be not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Longer term survival depends on lots of different choices, depending on how thoroughly things collapse. One thing you can probably count on is gasoline no longer being available. Quite possibly not diesel either. At least temporary loss of electricity...but whether that means days, weeks, or years depends on what "collapse" means.
My guess is that the collapse will be less thorough than you think, and that if the civilian government falls, the military will take over. They aren't very good at running civilian things, but many of them know that, and will be willing to delegate to those they trust. They are strong or order. (A bit less strong on "law", other than military law.) Drums will be back in style so that they have plenty on hand to use the heads of in trials. They will be quite short with "hoarders and looters", and may be rather poor at distinguishing them.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:51PM
I read a book by Dmitri Orlov called: "Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects", written in 2008, about what happened in the (ex-)Soviet Union when it collapsed after the Berlin wall came down.
One of the points I remember clearly is that he described that common people in the SU had basically no money, but what they had they shared as best as they could. See it as a form of solidarity.
I have never ever read the word "solidarity" from any essays from the USA. It's like the word is not in their dictionary. But I suspect it's a survival trait.
Also there wasn't really civil war in the SU after collapse (except Chechnya and Dagestan, perhaps?) because people from different SSRs didn't hate each other sufficiently. It was all the fault of Gorbatsjov, anyway :-)
But the USA has a problem, with the hatred between Republican "Red States" and Democrat "Blue States" being fanned by its own president, no less. Gorbatsjov tried to keep the SU together and manage the collapse as gracefully as possible. OK so he failed.
Trump is not like that, he doesn't give a shit about Americans really. I think when TSHTF it would be more like the Ukrainian Viktor Yanukovych [wikipedia.org]; trying to flee the country by helicopter to Russia with as much cash as possible, and leave the Americans to their impending civil war.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:52PM (8 children)
Second, note the use of the term "wageless growth" in the story. Once again, we see the deception of using wage in place of total compensation. For example, one might recall claims that the US experienced a complete disconnect between wages and productivity starting back in the 1970s. What those wags don't tell you is that wages and benefits track productivity gains pretty well (for example, see this discussion [heritage.org] of the matter. There apparently is still a slight decline in the ratio with respect to productivity, but it's not the massive stall that is claimed.
Finally, why should we expect wages to increase during recessions? It's cherry picking.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @01:46AM (3 children)
Good point. Total compensation must be considered. The average worker needs more awareness of how much of their compensation goes into health "insurance." That lack of awareness I think is a major reason why we seem to have so much apathy about dismantling the scam insurance industry. If the working class were more aware, there would be broader and more urgent support for socialized medicine.
It's a shame, too, because all one needs to do is look at one's check stubs to see the crazy amount of money that goes to "insurance." And that's with an employer plan.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by qzm on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:35AM (2 children)
You think that the money that is drained off the side of US workers waged for 'health benefits' should be counted as part of total compensation?
Really? that is just one of the many ways that cooperates are draining money from the middle class. the fact that the US does it before you are
taxed rather than through the government doesn't make it any better, it appears to make it worse. The medical industry in the US is a massive
source of middle class funding drain, and has grown hugely.
The interesting part is going to be what comes when the middle class (historically the major tax base) crashes, as is looking more and more inevitable.
Middle class debt to income/asset ratios are SO far out of whack now that it may well be irrecoverable.
And what happens when the majority of your tax base become insolvent overnight due to a crash in housing/share markets? (probably one would be enough,
and both have been looking long overdue for some time).
Its not going to be pretty, for the lower classes or the upper classes, who have both historically relied on the middle class for funding.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday July 08 2018, @11:49AM (1 child)
Of course, it should. It's annoying how there's so much spin over the stagnation of US wages when health benefits are getting pumped up so much. That's where the money is going.
We didn't get where we are now because corporations are greedy. We got here because that's what the electorate wanted.
You do realize those richer than the middle class are growing considerably faster in number than those poorer than the middle class? It's been doing that for decades in the US.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Thursday July 12 2018, @06:52PM
I'd rather say the electorate was gas lighted into bad decision making.
Anyway this makes me wonder if it would pay to collect the health money in your own pocket and go abroad to get health services?
In the end the health vs net pay vs living costs are better elsewhere? (unless you do the business without trails..)
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday July 08 2018, @05:30AM (1 child)
Wow!! khallow brought up Globalism?? Just how does that fit in your MAGA?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday July 08 2018, @11:52AM
Look at the title of the story: "A Global Economic "Recovery" Without Wage Increases".
That's where "global" was brought up. And we see, that it wasn't global. Second, globalism != global.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:17AM (1 child)
Wow, you're so deluded. How does a person with an average IQ buy into so much bullshit?
Oh right, you're a shill, a plant, yet another cog in the propaganda machine. You're a terrible human being helping aid the oppression of everyone.
What exactly is it you think you'll stand to gain? You selfish pricks usually end up on the ass-end of history, and if not you then your progeny fair worse. Oppression has a shelf-life and when it goes bad it is an ugly affair all around.
I don't usually recommend religion, but for someone like you the bible might be a step up.
(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Sunday July 08 2018, @12:01PM
"Deluded"? Was even a single thing I stated incorrect? Or does that word merely mean that you disagree in some way with what I wrote?
A better world - less poverty, more freedom, cleaner, healthier, etc.
What I find interesting here is the massive level of projection in your post. Who hasn't bothered to refute even a single claim I've made? Who hasn't bothered to even look at the world today? Who accuses me of selfishness, but would tear down the world, if they don't get their bling?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Snotnose on Saturday July 07 2018, @11:53PM (5 children)
You'll see background scenes with hamburgers for $1.29, with a guy selling them that evidently makes a decent living.
Now the burgers are $6, from chains, fries an extra $2.
Now look at wages. Have they kept up? No way.
Now replace $1.29 burgers with $400 rent that went up to $1200. Think average wages went up that fast? Think again.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @06:30AM (3 children)
And they wonder why there is such an interest in music piracy.
I would have never thought I would see so many young people, already so far into debt, paying the asking rate for things like phones, phone/tv/internet bundles, sports, movies, fancy restaurants, bars, and other stuff that is not required for life functions, without transferring their enjoyment strategies to things that do not involve paying someone else.
Things like substituting evenings in the public park for baseball games, or having neighbors over more for shared barbeque instead of a "night on the town". I do not understand at all why the concept of shared internet hasn't taken off, being how hard it is to find anything that does not require bundling. You know, one guy sets himself up as a home-based business, and can probably furnish the whole block with internet, and if he knows how to set up his resources to allocate it, everyone can enjoy SOME bandwidth, for emails and VOIP.
The gamers and video-streamers will have to get their own... I've seen how much bandwidth those guys can use!
We have gotta quit going into debt in order to pay the asking price. Companies have gotten used to treating us like shit and getting away with it. Many companies make it crystal clear just what they think of their customer... look at their business communication they present to their customer.... would you even dream in your wildest dreams of talking that way to someone who you wanted to work for? Way too many of us are paying the asking price - which just reinforces their belief that they can ask for yet more.
Way too few of us are willing to just say no, put the charge card back in the wallet, and walk out.
Last case in point I had was an AT&T rep came by wanting to sell me on their new Universe. I looked at his papers. Full of "up to". I was pissed off because all that paperwork did not commit AT&T to a damned thing. But I told him to sign me up, so a big smile erupted on his face, his hand quickly extended to seal the deal, and he began furiously maneuvering his pen on papers. "Sign here" he said while flourishing his pen. I quickly wrote on his papers that I would pay "up to $99 for the phone, TV, and internet bundle" without signing where I was supposed to.
Whoa there, cowboy! This is AT&T you are talking to! Only a Business can talk that way! The sales rep told me the up-to could not be tolerated, not only that, the amount on the bill was going to be about $120 by the time the unmentionables were shoehorned in... and that's only during the introductory period.
I strung him out a bit longer and got him to fill out another round of paperwork, this time right before I signed it, I lined out and initialed every instance of "up to" I could find, and lined out everything that was so small I could not read it.
Again, he erupted that it was unacceptable for me to do this... and I put on my best old fart's puzzled look and queried him about him being so adamant about "up-to" being irrelevant. I thought he just spent the last 30 minutes telling me I could not do that.
I believe if we all would start doing business the way business does business, we would see this problem go away.
But, instead, we just keep giving the filthy rich yet more and more money. Here we are, so concerned over our personal presentation to a prospective employer... nice clean clothes, fresh bath, haircut, etc. trying to look the best we can, but business presents us with this kind of crap on paper - and we buy it? We are making our own problems here... no wonder we are getting steamrollered.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:23AM (1 child)
Because few people have the interest to spend so much effort trying to understand that shit. It'll have to get a liiiiitle bit worse, we're close, but it needs to be slightly worse so the average person simply KNOWS how horribly they're being ripped off.
Never underestimate how much learning and education goes into being able to spot and handle fucked up situations like these. Don't come down too hard on the average person for not being able to handle it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 08 2018, @08:42AM
If we don't wise up pretty damned fast, we are going under.
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Sunday July 08 2018, @02:00PM
That's why I like FTA satellite TV :-) from 75° East to 9° East ( can't get the other half the trees have grown too high).
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 08 2018, @07:40AM
I can remember 27¢ gasoline, 39¢ burgers, and $75 - $100 rent. Mortgage payments in the $200 - $300 range. And, a $200 takehome paycheck was pretty respectable. Visiting the doctor could make or break you, but it wouldn't put you in debt for the next decade.