MarkD
Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Agreed.
The US empire is in irreversible decline says Richard Wolff.
- Thread starter MarkD
- Start date
Agreed.
Marcy Sheiner
New Member
- Location
- Bay Area CA
So many negative comments about Richard Wolff. I love this guy! I listen to him on KPFA once a week when he is on. I know he's a Marxist, and that is just fine with me.
Agree, and it will continue to decline until we get a government which actually cares about the country and the British people.
On the title of this thread....since when did America have an empire?
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Wolff has been salivating pushing the narrative that Communist China will swallow the rest of the world for at least a decade. If he'd only look he'd see that they face imminent demise due to collapse from within.
horseless carriage
Well-known Member
One legacy left behind by The British Empire is that of the English language. It has become the modern day Latin, the most desirable second language. It also happens to be the spoken tongue of the USA.
America's empire may not be in the same sense as the British one but with her vast resources and skilled labour, drawn from all over the world, The USA was perfectly poised to fill the vacuum left by the British. helped in large by her spoken language.
Aunt Bea
SF VIP
- Location
- Near Mount Pilot
I worry about the National Debt and the cost to service it too.
The good news is that we owe most of that money to ourselves and we benefit from the cost
to service it in our investments and retirement plans.
I wish I had a better understanding of the big picture because sometimes it does feel like a giant Ponzi scheme to me.
If The United States goes under the rest of the world won’t be far behind and we will all be in the same situation as we attempt to start over.
I don't fully understand this mess myself. And you are correct, it seems the majority of the debt is owed to the private sector. However, that just seems to me like being profoundly in debt to your brother-in-law, or some other relative. Either way, sooner or later the revenue isn't going to be enough to pay the interest on the loans.
old medic
Senior Member
- Location
- Western NC
Please consider.... How do they make their money???? Its mostly selling, producing and investing... All 3 produce jobs. The question is WHERE...
So much CHEAP junk is made overseas and shipped here FAR cheaper than it can be made here.... WHY???... Because of regulations that choke manufacturing here....
Look at the thread "Things that use to cost alot" Most all of this use to be made here.... Once the USA based companies went under, Now the overhead and investment in starting over keeps the coffin nailed shut.
Judycat
Well-known Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
Back in the seventies when the stock market dropped to near 500 points my mother was crying and saying the end is coming. Mind you our home had only an outhouse to pee in and electricity was our only luxury. We're pretty much already there Mom, I thought.
Aunt Bea
SF VIP
- Location
- Near Mount Pilot
“Well, somebody told us Wall Street fell
But we were so poor that we couldn't tell…”
- Alabama, Song of the South
I believe this started back when we began to hear about globalization. American corporations realized that rather than pay Americans a living wage and benefits, they could move their factories to China, Taiwan, and Mexico and pay far below the minimum wage. This allowed them to produce and sell their products while greatly improving their profit margins. And so, here we are with corporate CEOs making an average salary of $13.9 million and our middle class being decimated. U.S. companies didn't "go under," they were moved to increase profit margins.
Moreover, regulations are in place to make sure that we have clean air, clean water, and safe work places. Check out New York City prior to the requirement for pollution controls on automobiles and factories. We had daily air quality reports, and you could barely see the tops of the buildings. Sort of like China today.
New York City in 1966:
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We'll be there too, just not quite yet. Very good book btw.
Aunt Bea
SF VIP
- Location
- Near Mount Pilot
I’m not convinced that the middle class has been decimated.
IMO it has more to do with rising expectations than it has to do with income.
Median Household Income by State 2024
IMO it has more to do with rising expectations than it has to do with income.
Median Household Income by State 2024
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
A map like that would be interesting to see if "animated" year by year allowing us to click forward and back between about 1945 to now showing inflation-adjusted figures.
I'll bet the "great sucking sound" as the middle was drained dry by the coasts would be visible.
Please take the time to go to the site of US Dept. of Statistics and review how these median numbers are being calculated. It is fascinating to see what does not get added.
Gee, I never thought anyone from the Bay Area would embrace Marxism. Just kidding.
I tried, I really tried. But between his droning voice, his arrogant demeanor and his stupid opinions, I just couldn't get more than halfway through. No further comments!
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Aww, ya gotta love his flatulent elephant dance opening theme music!
Oh drat, he didn't use it for this video.
MarkD
Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
It doesn't bother me either but I did think his pace and dead pan voice would be a turn off for some. For me that just made him easier to understand. I was never interested in Marxism but had to read a lot about it when I took a course in Intellectual History from Martin Jay when I was at Cal. It just seemed crazy to make such predictions about how the relationship between workers and capitalists would unfold. As historical fiction it would be alright but I thought it took itself too seriously.
But I appreciated how clear Wolff was and found him convincing obviously.
I'm not certain that median household income means a lot unless you compare it to the median cost of things like a car, a house, and groceries. The key is actual purchasing power. It would be hard to refute the fact that fewer and fewer people are able to purchase homes these days, or pay rent for that matter.
In 1994 the median cost of a house was $106,350 (inflation adjusted to 2024 = $224,300).
In 2024 the median cost of a house is $414,784 (inflation adjusted to 2024 = $417,103).
This represents an increase in the cost of a house of roughly 290%
In 1994, median household income was $32,264.
In 2024 the median household income is $74,580.
This represents an increase in income of roughly 26.5%.
So, if my salary went up by 26.5% and the cost of a house went up by 290%, that would surely decimate my ability to buy a house. However, I don't think these statistics are required to demonstrate my point. Look back at the late 50s through the 60s and early 70s. Most everybody had a house, a car, food on the table, health benifits, and one could work their way through college. Not all of that is true these days.
The sad part is, it didn't need to be this way. In an ideal situation salaries would keep pace with other prices. However, this change did produce enormous profits for corporations and landowners. Something tells me they're not done with us yet we're seeing much talk about cutting Social Security, revamping Medicare, etc.
This is just my 2 cents, of course YMMV
Maybe the way we were fighting in Cambodia during the Vietnam war?
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Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
I totally agree. And I'm optimistic the bumpy ride won't last more than 2 or 3 years. It will be a bumpy one, but I don't see starvation or anything like that. Personally, I might be filling up the empty-ish spot with a lot of biscuits, though.I might buy the notion that the world is in decline.
Never bet against The United States it’s still the best bet in almost every category you can name.
I believe that we will be in for a bumpy ride as people try to ‘fiddle’ with the market and the economy.
Our local television station did an interesting segment on stock markets declines by President. They found that each administration suffered through a market decline of between 19%-46% and always bounced back.
Some of us will have a rough time but overall I’m optimistic about our future as a nation.
What other option do we have?
