I realize economics don't have much to do with SJW crap on the surface, but since it seems we're often fighting communists and Marxists, I'm increasingly wondering what people who frequent this community think of various economic issues.
I admit I see several problems with the capitalism system, but my background isn't in economics. I'd like to know how capitalism would solve those problems (if you believe it could), or what other solutions might work. I don't have any strong opinions either way (except that I reject communism) and I'm looking to hear different perspectives.
What I'd like to know most of all, is how do you feel about something like the wage gap between rich and poor (i.e. the '1%'). For example, look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
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Do you believe the richest 1% are really as rich as the video says, compared to everyone else?
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If so, do you think this is fair or unfair? Why? If you believe it's unfair, what solutions do you support?
I'm also wondering about other issues with the economy:
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People who live in extreme poverty (e.g. families sleeping in cars) despite seeking jobs or having two jobs: why do you think people find themselves in that situation, and what would potential solutions be?
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Employers having more negotiating power regarding salaries, because they don't have much competition when hiring workers, meanwhile employees are competing with thousands of other candidates: fair or unfair, and why? If unfair, what could be done to solve this?
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I often heard strong supporters of capitalism say that "Everyone can be rich if they work hard enough". Except there's a need for all kinds of jobs, even those that pay little, and there's no need for billions of people doing the jobs that currently pay millions. So even if everyone worked twice as hard tomorrow, nothing would change. In other words, it seems the system isn't designed to allow everyone who works hard to make a comfortable income - even if everyone worked twice as hard starting tomorrow, the poor would stay poor and nobody would earn more. How do you guys feel about that? I'm especially interested to know why if you disagree.
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I'd also like to know how people here feel about the argument that if you need someone to do a job for you, no matter how easy it is or how little training it requires, you should pay them a proper living wage. Otherwise, you're just exploiting them until they become unable to work due to health issues, at which point you discard and replace them with someone else. In other words, if you need someone to work for you, you should make sure the job lets them sustain themselves. Again, how do you feel about this and why?
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Social safety nets: I heard the opinions that everyone needs to be responsible for themselves. But is it really in the best interest of society to let a worker with years of experience and education end up on the streets because of a difficult period in their life they couldn't get out of? Why or why not?
This doesn't cover every economic issue obviously, so feel free to elaborate further and to touch on things I didn't mention, including other issues in the current economy.
Again, I don't have strong opinions and I'm looking to hear different perspectives to better make up my mind.
While wealth inequality is just as bad if not worse than he shows in the video you linked, it is just a symptom of a much larger evil called Central Banking. The Federal Reserve is the central bank in the US and despite the name it’s not actually part of the government, instead it is a private bank owned by shareholders. This video goes in depth on the Federal Reserve for anybody interested in learning more. Tl:dw the Fed effectively steals wealth from actual workers and gives it to bankers and the government.
Once properly understood I’m sure anybody would agree the current system is inherently unfair. To be honest I don’t have a perfect solution, but a great start would be to abolish the Federal Reserve and establish a new form of currency, unfortunately doing so would throw the entire world economy into chaos. As for what a new currency looks like precious metals and cryptocurrencies both have major potential as a stable currency upon which we can build a free market. Each comes with their own problems though, for gold and silver the primary issue is the fact that very few people currently hold most of the available supply which would leave the system open to manipulation if not dealt with. As for cryptocurrencies I haven’t done enough study into the underlying technology to comment on making a new one, but I can say existing ones like bitcoin have fatal long term flaws that make them bad choices.
As for your other bullet points I’ll number my responses 1-5 to make it easier on myself.
There’s lots of different reasons individuals can find themselves in poverty despite trying their hardest to raise themselves out of that situation, after all each person has a story. Some are due to poor financial decision making, while sometimes it’s factors beyond control of the individual (industry they trained for fails or becomes flooded with too many workers) the solution will be different for each individual. A wide ranging solution would again be to abolish the Fed and establish free markets on sound currency.
A lot of this comes down to 2 factors, first is unnecessary government regulation interfering with the free market. Big examples being things like minimum wage and regulatory compliance creating massive barriers to entry in certain industries which in turn gives the existing companies leverage when hiring workers. The other is immigration, using the tech sector as an example companies are able to list entry level jobs with bare minimum wage and 2+ years experience in the field then when no Americans apply for the insult of a “job” the company is allowed to hire H-1B visa workers from India who is already used to far lower salaries. This of course harms the negotiating power of all the American workers with fresh tech certifications/degrees trying to get started in the industry. The solution to both factors is less government interference.
“Everyone can be rich if they work hard enough" is indeed a fallacy as you have correctly identified. A correct statement in a free market economy would be “Anybody can be rich if they work hard enough at offering a valuable service or good.”
That’s just absolute nonsense, not every job deserves a ‘livable wage’. How exactly do you define a livable wage anyway? Is it the bare minimum to live in a shack and eat ramen 3 times a day? Enough to support a whole family with modern amenities? Let’s use the example of teenagers flipping burgers after school, why in the hell should an employer be expected to provide them with a livable wage? Is a burger flipper in NYC really worth more than a burger flipper in a rural town simply because where they live?
I’m actually in favor of social safety nets with one large caveat, they should be run privately and not by the government. Many churches and NGOs already provide services that help people when they fall on hard times. Anybody else who is also in favor of social safety nets is free to do their research and contribute to causes they believe in with direct donations or volunteering.