They should keep patting themselves on the back for crumbs of improvement. And yet America is one of most unequal societies, far exceeding the inequality of the Gilded Age.
Let's visit the cities and countryside of each to find out. It's the only way to know if the data is realistic or bullshit, and whether it characterizes affordability and/or happiness appropriately.
Yep. Both are far better off than America. I'll say it again as I say too often but appear to be shouting into a void or deaf ears: I don't think most Americans realize how good they have some things, but economically, healthcare, and human rights they're screwed badly in a lot of ways that other countries hold work stoppages over much less.
We're very spoiled people who unfortunately are too far removed from the rest of the world to truly appreciate what other regions experience. This goes both for and against our society. The negatives all have a singular driver and that's capitalism. If we got over ourselves and unionized in large numbers we could grind things to a halt tomorrow to get change in the country should we have need. Unfortunately we're too scared or stupid to organize as a class and keep to our kind like crayons.
And so did inflation/COL, and petty fees have gone absolutely bonkers. My poor/artist friends tell me the most ridiculous stories these days. Broken rent payment portals, car repair extortion, wage theft, hidden fees just to access a paycheck. It's just one scam after another.
Wage increases outpaced inflation on the low end [1]. Still has a ways to go, minimum wage needs to get to at least $22/hr in most of the developed US to align with inflation current state. Also, importantly, no evidence of wage price spiral [2].
With regards to the anecdotes you mention, please ask them to report every incident to the FTC [3], the CFPB, the Dept of Labor, and any other relevant state or federal regulators. To action, they must be made aware.
"Inflation" is one thing. Rent prices and cost of living in a city with jobs is a very different thing.
>please ask them to report every incident to the FTC, the Dept of Labor, and any other relevant state or federal regulator.
No. If my friend doesn't even have time to make 3 stops around town to collect maximum allowed money orders for their landlord (who recently started requiring money orders for some reason) because they understandably don't have a bank account because they can't risk the fees, I would simply lose them as a friend if I made such an out-of-touch suggestion.
Do they have a USPS branch nearby? They are usually one of the cheapest places to get money orders, with a $1k limit per money order, $3k per day [1]. Walmart charges $1 for up to $1000 [2]. If you're in Florida, they are free at Amscot [3] (recommended only as a last resort, can be a pain).
I will think on how to make this reporting as frictionless as possible for such cohorts. If authorities are not aware of these events, they cannot seek redress for the injured. The harm won't magically go away, even if these systems are broadly improved. Unions still have a grievance process, for example.
If you're not looking for solutions and are only complaining/venting, that's fine too, just be upfront that you're not looking for a solution and I won't pollute the thread at attempting to help. I cannot speak to your friendship, but this is how I help my poor friends.
>I will think on how to make this reporting as frictionless as possible for such cohorts.
You have to be joking. Unionizing and a strong workers movement is the only thing that has ever moved the needle. The only exception might arguably be state competition, but this is the US we're talking about so that would be irrelevant.
I am not joking. Both can be true at the same time: providing a mechanism to make it as easy as possible to report violations, whether that be labor, consumer, financial, etc as well as unending effort to organize labor [1]. For example, someone bleeding out on the street doesn't want to hear about the policy efforts needed to deliver on universal healthcare. They need to be saved right now. Maybe we are talking past each other, or I am miscommunicating the nuance. My apologies regardless. Take care.
> No. If my friend doesn't even have time to make 3 stops around town to collect maximum allowed money orders for their landlord (who recently started requiring money orders for some reason) because they understandably don't have a bank account because they can't risk the fees, I would simply lose them as a friend if I made such an out-of-touch suggestion.
I agree. This is like asking them to "eat cake" when they're broke and starving. Collective action at work, unionizing, or through pooling efforts through legal and regulatory channels are more scalable efforts overworked and underpaid (and often cheated) people must use because letting it slide allows it to continue.
I don't know that I entirely agree. We've seen a massive investment on the part of say fast food corporations in areas relating to automation. They're pushing the apps, kiosks are in almost every lobby, and more often than not their menus are all digital. As soon as they crack the machine part of a kitchen they'll be squared away. Before they do they'll continue to work the staff they have at low wages and no benefits.
Americans aren't going to tend the fields, either. So we have our industry which can almost universally locate their development in an off shore office, the service industry being obsoleted as we speak, and we're going to work on farms? Maybe I misunderstood. It's entirely possible. I just don't see how treating the symptoms will cure the rot. Maybe that's my failing.
> Americans aren't going to tend the fields, either.
Why not? Europeans do it. They also have native born people working construction, etc. This idea that it’s somehow beneath Americans to do that work is all in our heads. One of our neighbors is a young, native born woman who works as a nanny. One of our neighbors is a native born American who cleans houses. You can have a self-contained, sustainable economy where native born people sell each other goods and services. It doesn’t need to be a pyramid scheme that relies on a continual flow of cheap immigrant labor.
And you’re right—the service jobs are being automated and outsourced. You know what won’t be automated and outsourced? Replacing roofs. Digging fiber trenches. Installing heat pumps. Remodeling bathrooms. If Americans won’t do that stuff, they don’t have jobs.
Infographics: Wealth Inequality in America (2012)
https://youtu.be/QPKKQnijnsM
(2023) 10 year update to Inequality for All (2013) - Robert Reich
https://youtu.be/MxW3l7rfv1k