The US empire is in irreversible decline says Richard Wolff.

Rich said:
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 😐
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Rich, I am far from a math wizard but I question the math above. I don't dispute a disparity between increase in housing compared to increase in wage, but I do not agree with your increase in income %. Is not $74,580 more than twice $32,264, therefore more than a 100% increase in median household income?
 

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%
An increase of 86%.

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%.
An increase of 131%.
 
Tom52 said:
Rich, I am far from a math wizard but I question the math above. I don't dispute a disparity between increase in housing compared to increase in wage, but I do not agree with your increase in income %. Is not $74,580 more than twice $32,264, therefore more than a 100% increase in median household income?
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Agreed, I tried to go back and edit that number but it's already locked. 😳
 

The USA is in great decline. The only way to save ourselves is to REUNITE WITH ENGLAND as soon as possible.

Perhaps the President will have to spend a token night in the palace dungeon to show proper remorse for the War of Colonial Agreesion in 1776. And we will have to change the spelling of words like color and harbor. Whatever.
 
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Brookswood said:
The USA is in great decline. The only way to save ourselves is to REUNITE WITH ENGLAND as soon as possible.

Perhaps the President will have to spend a token night in the palace dungeon to show proper remorse for the War of Colonial Agreesion in 1776. And we will have to change the spelling of words like color and harbor. Whatever.
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Baby steps
 
Irishdude said:
MarkD, thanks for posting this. It's nice to see a discussion about something other than the cost of Tylenol or funny cat pictures.
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Well glad it spoke to you too.

Rich said:
In an ideal situation salaries would keep pace with other prices. However, this change did produce enormous profits for corporations and landowners.
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Yes this is how what wealth we have gets transferred to the wealthy and corporations. We are being bled and those who have increasingly less are being encouraged to see the person with absolutely nothing as the enemy instead of the fat cats.
 
To old medics point. Production is the cornerstone of jobs.
Not much in the way of production by the federal government.

Posted on June 20, 2024
Note: This post was updated on June 26 to change the description of EEO laws.

The federal government is our nation’s largest employer with more than 2 million workers. Equal opportunity laws and regulations are meant to ensure workplaces are free from discrimination.

https://www.gao.gov/blog/combatting...s our,workplaces are free from discrimination.

To Aunt Bea's point. Inability to pay debt to foreign or internal has consequences. I think this is an example of the potential.

In the payable-benefits scenario, Social Security benefit payments are reduced after the combined trust funds’ balance is exhausted in fiscal year 2034. As a result, initial benefits for people who begin collecting benefits after that date are smaller than in the scheduled-benefits scenario. In this analysis of initial benefits, people are assumed to claim Social Security retirement benefits at age 65, so those born before 1970 experience no change to their initial retirement benefits.

CBO’s 2024 Long-Term Projections for Social Security.

I don't think any of the above will impact me.
 
On a more serious note, the USA may see a relative decline in some areas compared to other countries that have seen rapid development int he last few decades. What else is new? But, China is hitting its limit as new authoritarian controls throttle the economic miracle of the past few decades. India has far too many poor people to come near us anytime soon. Russia? Same problem as China. Growth requires freedom and Russian won’t even let its citizens call a war a ’war’.

Europe? In 2000 the per captia GNP of Europe and the USA were about equal. Today the USA‘s per capita GNP is 50% more. With 400,000,000 million people Europe should be able to out produce the USA. We should be leaning on it for economic support. But, that isn't’ happening.

If the USA slips badly in the next few decades it’s because we did it to ourselves.
 
dilettante said:
Er, I think we just had a major election. From the sound of things in the media, both sides agree that the people had their voices heard.
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Democracy is more valuable than just having elections because it encompasses broader principles and practices that enhance citizen well-being and societal progress.
Democracy involves continuous citizen participation beyond periodic elections, such as participatory budgeting and policy juries, which empower communities to make decisions and increase trust in government.

It also involves Human Development

Democracy ensures fundamental rights like free expression, fair representation, and peaceful competition among diverse interests, which elections alone cannot guarantee.

These principles have declined to the point they are almost unrecognizable.


 
Look to our beautiful Orange sky at Sunset and Thank China Pollution there and India. You can't see across the River in town there.

There are tons of small businesses in large and small towns in the Mess we call the USA. Fear is just that Chicken Shat.
There are tons of opportunities for those who believe in themselves & build good relationships / friendships.

Yea a great lawn tractor costs near $3000 now at Lamps. But they cost 900 in 1973 at Sears's. Sure, most everything at the Grocery cost in excess of $5 / $10. $150 doesn't go as far. Buying Frozen stuff and fixing / cooking it is still economical.

Maybe understanding the Good the Billionaires do is important. Andrew Carnegie gave most of his fortune to charity, new libraries etc. Think his fund is still alive and well. Foundation History | Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Sure, some of them are concentrating on Africa. Maybe China will absorb them. Maybe the most important development will be better controls /uses / developments of Electricity. It seems to be what has been happening all my life. That infra structure continues to improve.

Maybe Billionaires will set up Foundations for improvement? Sure they create high paying jobs. Didn't Obama say he was concentrated on creating high paying jobs ? We should not be distracted by The Donalds College. Maybe it was meant well but failure is not an option.

We are A Federalized Republic, a group of free states with federal protections. A loose term for Democracy. We vote, they vote, we usually taken advantage of.
We are protected by a Scroll of promises that are often infringed upon by a Court of old guys. Sure the States approve amendments, & the old guys change it all. Business guys flocked to China for the TAX stamps so they could do business there thanks to the Feds rules.

Now those peoples want to flock to here. China wants them back. It's a vicious circle of "wants too" !

I saw a video the other day, the Dog and Cat frolicking & playing, the dog trained to push the cat away with his paw. Thas cool.
My Cat and Dog understand hand signals immediately.
 
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Firstly guys I believe that if the USA was driven to be an Empire It would have kept all the Ground / Countries, Japan Islands it occupied at the end of WW2... We gave it all back to the owners because that's who we were and still are. Did we keep France, Italy, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, S.K. ? Have we respected Germanies Culture and home? Sure, we have some island Republics. They have choices.

Guys Democracy is a very-far stretched mayhem of meaning today or yesterday.
We sort of have free enterprise and freedoms of choices, sort of!

You get a lot more freedoms if you have unlimited resources to hire attorneys to represent you.

The democratic part about fair elections are the controls of them. So maybe many elections in the past and the future will and have been fixed!
Every citizen knowing his rights and being represented by an attorney is an absolute must. Or you may have no legitimate rights.
The VP said it best at age 22? With a stroke of her pen, she can ruin your life.

With everything there is a counter conspiracy theorist.
 
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Murrmurr said:
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. 😊
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Lots of people in the USA are facing starvation now. People go to bed hungry. I live in a senior mobile home park. I see seniors receiving food packages from county, lunch delivered by the county, an on site small food bank which I am fortunate enough to add food to.

I am not starving, but others are certainly close.
 
Lavinia said:
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?
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My question too, Lavinia. Also, which countries are (or were) included in the once great Empire of America?

It is true that the US is (or has been) in a position of geopolitical power for most of the last hundred years but to compare it to empires of history (Roman, British, Holy Roman, Spanish, French, German, Ottoman etc) is to misunderstand the difference between empire and hegemony. There is some overlap between the two concepts.

An Empire is a group of countries ruled by a single person, government, or country

Hegemony refers to preponderant influence or authority exerted by a dominant group over others. It can be social, cultural, ideological, or economic in nature1.
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And no, I haven't watched the video.
 
dilettante said:
That's an odd statement. I doubt there is any truth in it.
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No it’s not. 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️.

In the 50’s and well into the 1960’s, even into the 70’s depending on where you lived. MEN owned their wives and children. They could beat them, place them into institutions, in some cases kill them with no fears of reprisal.

They had no protection, no legal means to escape the abuse. Woman in the fifties were divorced because the husband claimed they were crazy.

Educate yourself.
 
We need not get into the Woman at home raising the Children and caring for the house while the man worked, that was a age old adage that had to be because there was not a really great birth control. Of course, TV and Movies played with that B.S. ! I remember my grandma making
Lye soap in her fire outside and toward the yard, down the hill. She lived near her Cookstove. Had 18 children that lived to adults.

Birth control happened & women freedoms to have careers became in the 60's. Thus more freedoms to live their lives happens, the ladies began to have careers thus more taxes and SS# on retirements. Thus, the entire society might also accept gay life as normal behavior pattern of Sexual freedoms. Who knows?

I've chosen not to pick sides. One or the other or the drother? Build more bathroom's people is my needful thoughts with all of the stuff going on.

Every home needs the second bathroom for the Trans, Gay or whatever the positioner of the person, or legality issues of the childs right be.
The Law is getting crazy!
 
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