Study Finds Rich-Poor Income Gap Growing. What a surprise.

[Truck]

Well, to take the example I know off the top of my head, seeing as how my work experience is rather limited, Costco. They are all OVER the place (400+ buildings in the U.S), and every single one of them starts people at 10\hr with the same other benefits I described. Same thing, staffing issues for all the buildings. It is for everyone? Hell no. Do I want to make a career of it? Retail isn't my thing and that's why I'm still in school. However, it's a job, it's not minimum wage, and there are benefits. I know this is a rather isolated company as far as they pay their people fairly well for what they do.

I didn't call anyone lazy, I said we need to look at people's work ethics. I know we have extremely hard working people in this country who don't make shit for a living, and it sucks. However, to try and classify the entire lower class (where ever) as hard workers is as bad as classifying them as lazy pieces of shit. People from both ends of the spectrum compose the lower 1\5.

I'd like to believe that you can do whatever you want as long as you bust your ass in everything you do. It's easier then ever to go to college. Especially with the grants and scholarships floating around. That's awesome, I'm all for educating people. I'd rather educate people and give them the chance to truly advance themselves then just send them a check every month or increase minimum wage. There's no drive to move up if it's handed to you. Does something need to be done about the wage gap? Probably, but I'm not sure what, then again, no one is, or else it would of been done. CEO's are getting paid record sums of money where as their workers aren't.

[hybrid]

Originally Posted by Truck

Well, to take the example I know off the top of my head, seeing as how my work experience is rather limited, Costco. They are all OVER the place (400+ buildings in the U.S), and every single one of them starts people at 10\hr with the same other benefits I described. Same thing, staffing issues for all the buildings. It is for everyone? Hell no. Do I want to make a career of it? Retail isn't my thing and that's why I'm still in school. However, it's a job, it's not minimum wage, and there are benefits. I know this is a rather isolated company as far as they pay their people fairly well for what they do.

I didn't call anyone lazy, I said we need to look at people's work ethics. I know we have extremely hard working people in this country who don't make shit for a living, and it sucks. However, to try and classify the entire lower class (where ever) as hard workers is as bad as classifying them as lazy pieces of shit. People from both ends of the spectrum compose the lower 1\5.

I'd like to believe that you can do whatever you want as long as you bust your ass in everything you do. It's easier then ever to go to college. Especially with the grants and scholarships floating around. That's awesome, I'm all for educating people. I'd rather educate people and give them the chance to truly advance themselves then just send them a check every month or increase minimum wage. There's no drive to move up if it's handed to you. Does something need to be done about the wage gap? Probably, but I'm not sure what, then again, no one is, or else it would of been done. CEO's are getting paid record sums of money where as their workers aren't.

First off, its not easy to go to college. Education costs are soaring. Take that into account with the fact that our government is doing a fine job of dumbing down america, youll see less and less truely educated people. (not that a college paper means your educated but america is run off the paper trail) We cant pay teachers to teach kids anymore, and somehow its easy to get into college?

The system that it is right now is pretty much geared at the 2% controlling the other 98%

It all boils down to morals, when is enough,enough? When do you have enough material security that you dont starve the people who give you such wealth?

[Keith_J]

Originally Posted by hybrid

First off, its not easy to go to college. Education costs are soaring. Take that into account with the fact that our government is doing a fine job of dumbing down america, youll see less and less truely educated people. (not that a college paper means your educated but america is run off the paper trail) We cant pay teachers to teach kids anymore, and somehow its easy to get into college?

The system that it is right now is pretty much geared at the 2% controlling the other 98%

It all boils down to morals, when is enough,enough? When do you have enough material security that you dont starve the people who give you such wealth?

Excuse me, the GOVERNMENT is "dumbing down" america (sic)? Since when?

How about the relaxing of school standards? Is this the government's fault? Or the school's?

We make the idea that everyone needs to attend post secondary eduction yet the students are NOT prepared for such study. So then the university-level standards must be relaxed since their customers, the students, cannot pass.

The problem isn't low teacher pay, its administration bloat. Administrators command that teachers pass students regardless of achievement. But to do this, standards are relaxed.

If this trend continues, college level education will become as inclusive as the high school diploma of the 1950's.

I went back to visit my school and noted seniors in mechanical engineering who were proposing schemes for "making energy" in a manner that violated the 2nd law of thermodynamics! Needless to say, it was perpetual energy, yet not one professor would dare point this out, lest the engineering student's "psyche" would be harmed.

[hybrid]

Your going to tell me that administration is what tells teachers to pass children? What the fuck are the IOWA tests about in school?

Why would you say that over filling rooms with teachers getting paid next to nothing wasnt the problem?

Dont you think that we should be paying teachers more so we would have more teachers? Education of the upcomming generations is going to be the only thing that keeps this country from crumbling.

[EEfz6]

I remember when I was in high school , there was talk of making the high school exit exam harder. The exam that I had to take was based on a 8th grade level. An exam for high school SENIORS to get out of school. Everyone in the school system was up in arms. I remeber one teacher saying, and I quote, "They are trying to make it so that no one can graduate high school if they aren't ready for college. Not everyone can go to college. The world needs ditch diggers, too." That "everybody deserves a high school diploma" attitude about education, which seems prevelant in this country, has a lot to do with it.

Everybody does deserve a high school diploma, but only when they learn the material that a senior in high school is supposed to know.

Just so you know, if I recall correctly, I think that they were trying to raise the exit exam to a 10th grade level, not even a senior level. I do not remember what became of it. I was concerned with other stuff when I got to college, so I did not follow it. Such laxed educational standards is one of the problem.

NOTICE: I did not say the only problem

[EEfz6]

Originally Posted by hybrid

Dont you think that we should be paying teachers more so we would have more teachers? Education of the upcomming generations is going to be the only thing that keeps this country from crumbling.

Actaully (well, at least around here) lack of teachers is not a problem. There are actually many people that can not get a job teaching, so paying individual teachers more would not help in that department. Rather than paying individual teachers more, more tachers should be hired at the current pay rate. That would solve the problem of overpopulated classrooms.

Paying more would have a different benefit, however. Most high school tachers (not all, but most, according to my experiences) are the people that wanted to get a degree, but wasn't really smart enough to do anything else. Very few truly acidemically gifted individuals go into teaching. Now no, I am not saying all teachers are dumb. There are a few that go into teaching because it is their passion. But from my experience, that is the exception, not the rule. People that are smarter can do things that pay better (engineer, doctor, lawyer, etc.). While paying better would not actually create more teachers (the market is already too crowded, at least here), it would most likely put more qualified individuals into the market, which would definantly be of benifit to our quality of education.

[Keith_J]

Originally Posted by hybrid

Your going to tell me that administration is what tells teachers to pass children? What the fuck are the IOWA tests about in school?

Why would you say that over filling rooms with teachers getting paid next to nothing wasnt the problem?

Dont you think that we should be paying teachers more so we would have more teachers? Education of the upcomming generations is going to be the only thing that keeps this country from crumbling.

What is causing the "packed classrooms"? And the teacher shortage? Hint, it isn't the lack of funds. It is the administration of these schools...sure, it is a necessary evil but when over 40% of the cost of educating children is in administration, you have to wonder.

And then we have the antiquated system of districts, an artifical monopoly, that forces students to attend one school. Choice makes the difference in Europe where schools must recruit and since the parents usually have a voice in this choice, excellence is the goal.

The problem with our public education system is it has never evolved to embrace modern technology. It is based on an agrarian economy with at best, horseback transportation and a typically slow snail-mail system.

[RugbyCanada]

wow--where to begin.
1st of all, everybody reading this/posting here has more money then 99% of the world population. You people are most likely paying for this internet access, and that puts you in the top 20% of Americans. Yet, the bleeding hearts here cry about how unfair the capitalists and their system are.
2nd--You DO NOT NEED A COLLEGE DEGREE TO "GET AHEAD"--the trade industries are crying for people to join {ie., plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc} and these tradesmen can make well over 100k per year. This is not me saying this, this is what YOUR OWN government is saying. {look at the economic round tables discussions going on in Oslo right now say} The problem with North America, as Truck was trying to say, is that we as a people are lazy. We dont want "shower after" jobs, we want "shower before" jobs.
3-In regards to the gap between so called "rich and poor" getting wider, take a hard look at what that says. Just because someone makes more money than another person does not mean that they are rich, it just means that they make more money. I'm sure their debt levels are probably the same, if not more so for the so called rich. What is rich, anyway? Mortgages, car payments, bike payments, etc., we all on here have those--are we rich compared to a bum, or poor compared to Donald Trump?
Holy christ man, look at the standard of living we as a culture enjoy. Last time I checked, none of us had to go to a river to use as a latrine and drinking source. Just because I make more money than a guy at Walmart doesnt mean I am richer than him/her--hell, that person could live the life of Riley in their own eyes, and be saving for a castle in lousiana or some bullshit.
The moral of my story is this--rich is in the eye of the beholder. If I moved to New Orleans right now, I could probably get a nice peice of property for a pretty good price, with a nice house and some toys to spare. Or, I could move to New York, and go on welfare for the same amount of money. Rich is just a term whinny people use to cry about their lives. Same as the word poor.

[bugeyed]

Originally Posted by RugbyCanada

The moral of my story is this--rich is in the eye of the beholder. If I moved to New Orleans right now, I could probably get a nice peice of property for a pretty good price, with a nice house and some toys to spare. Or, I could move to New York, and go on welfare for the same amount of money. Rich is just a term whinny people use to cry about their lives. Same as the word poor.

Rich is in the eye of the beholder, and yet you can't even have a concept of rich without the existence of poor. What is rich with nothing to compare it with?

Either the word "rich" has meaning or it does not. Is a starving Ethipian rich? Is Donald Trump sipping champagne on his yacht poor?

I am sure you could buy land pretty cheap in New Orleans. What isn't being bulldozed and seized by the city and sold at firesale prices to developers, are being protected by people with just the shirts on their back. Your getting that land on the cheap is simply another example of how people take advantage of the misfortune of others which perpetuates the class society we live in.

[Truck]

^ Good post Rugby. I wasn't saying all people are lazy, but let's face it, there is work out there, there really isn't a reason for a person that lives in a populated area to NOT have a job, hell, not have 2 jobs if they need the added income. You might not get into your choice career, but it pays the bills and it's more then likely going to be an honest living. I have a few friends in the trades that try and get people to join up, as most of their employers offer recruitment bonuses. Work is out there if you want it. Let me take care of any liberal comment now, I KNOW there are exceptions to every rule, so let's not go there (cough cough Jim ).

[BusaDave]

Originally Posted by RugbyCanada

Rich is just a term whinny people use to cry about their lives. Same as the word poor.

Wow! Was that an attempt to further define the terms, an attempt to say that someone with a million dollar mortage and 5 cars with no money left over is poor, that because we don't piss in a river we're ALL rich? I know there must be a point in their somewhere!

[Truck]

Originally Posted by BusaDave

Wow! Was that an attempt to further define the terms, an attempt to say that someone with a million dollar mortage and 5 cars with no money left over is poor, that because we don't piss in a river we're ALL rich? I know there must be a point in their somewhere!

Funny, goes for your post as well.

His point was rich depends on how you look at it. Do you set it at a household income of $120,000 for rich? No, can't do that, different areas of the country have different costs of living. Nothing like stating the obvious eh? Rich and poor are words people use to try and divide each other. Sure we have people who live in boxes, or people that don't know what it's like to drive a car thats worth less then $100,000. His point was how do you compare rich\poor and who do you compare to?

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by Truck

Let me take care of any liberal comment now, I KNOW there are exceptions to every rule, so let's not go there (cough cough Jim ).

At least you've opened that mind a crack. Good work. Now do some actual homework on the subject instead of just repeating your experience at your employer in your affluent (Blue) state as if it answers all questions.