The mindset behind trickle down economics in the US

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Humans in the capitalist system can be sued.
Humans in the government can not.
How anyone believes that the same humans acting within the government without recourse for negative action are somehow going to automatically act more morally are baffling creatures.

If the above is accurate, Antrax, how do you reconcile the fact that the wealthiest people in the top 1% keep increasing their wealth, way over the increase of others.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia, but there are many more sources which make this claim:

In Inequality for All....Reich states that 95% of economic gains went to the top 1% net worth (HNWI) since 2009 when the recovery allegedly started.[10] More recently, in 2017, an Oxfam study found that eight rich people, six of them Americans, own as much combined wealth as half the human race.[11][12][13]

From what I read, the "wealth gap" is increasing, and the rest of us are just getting by.

The rich invest their money, so they get poorer or richer based on asset price changes.

Assets rebounded from 2009 to 2019

How do we teach poor people to live below their means, save and invest their money ?

That's how we lift them up.

Are you saying the increase in wealth gap is solely due to increase in the value of assets already on hand?

Yes, assets like stocks are at record highs now.

Take Bill Gates, he owns 64 million shares of Microsoft.

on Dec 31, 2008 , the stock was at 19.44.
on Aug 9, 2019, the stock is at 135.28

So, he made, (135.28-19.44) * 64 million = 7.4 Billion just in this investment

Because poor people are without extra income, they hardly have enough to invest or even save anything after buying the essentials. And even if they do spend money on "vices" like alcohol or Tabasco, or just entertainment, who can fault them for wanting to have a little happiness in their lives?

Then they will stay poor forever and work until they die.

Pretty sad, it's like playing the "GAME OF LIFE" and ending up in the "Poor house"

Mostly trickle down is BS because the people who are expected to allow wealth to trickle down hide it all in foreign bank accounts. You see the uber wealthy elites are beyond human responsibility, they shouldn't pay taxes or contribute to the economy they should hoard all their money and pass it on to their groomed children who never have worked a day of hard labor. And then have the audacity to pretend those well groomed children are more valuble than people who make their money doing actual labor.

One problem with trickle-down that I don't see mentioned is the power to shape society. If rich people are given massive tax benefits and even if all the wealth trickles down, it will do so in ways that only benefit people doing what and how the rich people want them to do it, and on and on down the line, and those who refuse to play by those rules are left out in the cold.

Trickle-down isn't just about the money, it's also about the power to shape society, and the creation or strengthening of a hierarchical structure in the economy.

Last edited by beneficii on 10 Aug 2019, 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yeah that is what the oil industry has been doing. They don't want people to reject their product so they have gone as far as lying about knowledge they had that their product was causing environmental deterioration. Their own studies showed it but they buried it.

Kind of like big tobacco tried to bury the reality of how addictive nicotine is. Yet I suppose people are more dependent on gas and oil than cigarettes over all...so there is that.

It increasingly creates a situation where instead of having things be decided by the Democratic process, where it's one person one vote regardless of wealth, you create a situation where people vote with their feet, where people who have more dollars get more votes.

How many poor people and families do you know intimately? If you are relying on news reports and the horrors that come to light in criminal events, you know nothing of the others who do work hard. And still there is not enough money to feed the family. In my work, I see and get to know a lot of them and see their struggles. I am guessing that all the people who espouse "just work harder" wouldn't last a minute in the conditions these people live.

Let's just take an adult with a disability, say someone with autism. His disability prevents him from working. Social Security benefits for someone who is getting SSI is $750/month.

You tell me how he pays rent, buys food, buys clothes, pays for someone to drive him to stores or doctor's appointments, and then saves money on that $750/month.

Even someone working at minimum wage would be hurting and it has been demonstrated the even a person educated and with previous success cannot get through a year on minimum wage jobs.

Your (editorially) attitude is to blame the poor for their plight. Relieves you (editorially) of any responsibility for the society you live in and from which you benefit.

The rich got relatively richer, hence the increase and wealth gap, but everyone else got richer as well. I've cited real income statistics several times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household ... ted_States

From 1979-2011 the median household income adjusted for inflation (the middle income of the country) increased from $59,400 to $75,200 a 26.5% increase. The income for the top 10% increased more as their income grew by 76%. So the rich go a lot richer, and the middle got richer. The bottom 10% also increased by 40% so the poor got richer as well.

This is because the economy as a whole grew over that time. More of the gains went to the rich, but everyone got gains. Hence why income inequality is larger, but people are still better off than 40 years ago. The rich getting richer did not make others poorer.

The path to wealth is clear; save and invest.

Terrible sacrifices must be made if the budget is so low.

For inspiration, I suggest you watch some Dave Ramsey videos …

How Do I Succeed Financially When I'm Medically Disabled?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4h4Oqu22GU

What Dave Ramsey Recommends When Someone Is On Disability
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJJ428qYtj0

There's A Difference Between Poor And Broke - Dave Ramsey Rant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdnhKJG6bYk

Last edited by LoveNotHate on 10 Aug 2019, 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You really don't get it. Wealthy elites don't hoard money, they invest it. Why let your fortune shrink when instead it can grow. Invested money is directly funneled into the economy.