theliontamer

If you guys got hybrids you wouldnt mind the higher gas prices

Ole Miss will be mentally checked out, celebrating their super bowl win from last week.

Lane was their coach

I do believe wage stagnation is a real problem, but we can thank the global economy for that. Companies have consolidated and gotten larger, these corporations outsource more work overseas than you think. Even in the early 2000s, this wasn't even considered, but now it is widespread, and not only are these workers willing to work slave hours, they are willing to do it for less pay. This has had a big effect on the country that people don't talk about enough.

This point gets talked about a lot here, but most women work professional jobs now, we transitioned into a dual income household world. However, the equilibrium is skewed. High earning women still seek out high earning men. This has exacerbated the wealth gap tremendously. 2 middle class earners will live a great life together, but 1 middle class earner who grew up and went to school with the others, and maybe even got better grades, but he married a part time teacher and they can barely make ends meet. These are the people struggling immensely.

My last point, on the other hand, everybody wants to own a home, but nobody wants to the do the required maintenance that comes along with owning a home. So they hire the dwindling population of trade workers to do it. Trade workers charge more money now, supply and demand. Part time teacher Karen thinks she is better off than plumber Jim, but then she receives the bill and thinks she's getting ripped off. How do people afford this, she wonders.

There are a lot of things working against the average American employee now, things that didn't exist when their parents were growing up. There is also more pressure to be wealthy and keep up with the Joneses. I think colleges and universities have failed us. They sold out for profit, and left our young people unprepared for the new economy. Going to school and getting a job at a big company is no longer a guaranteed path to success. I'd like to see more young people being prepared to go into business on their own. Technical degrees need to be pushed way more than liberal arts degrees. Trade schools need to be more respected.

True, people are very lazy

Yea, i think they had to do that to maintain adequate staff.

I see that every now and then, but not a lot.

I think fast food is exploding. In the south at least. It's fast, convenient, and still cheaper than restaurant food. Even cooking at home has gotten expensive, unless you have a plan and buy on sale items.

Yea, fairly simple work, but not glamorous and fairly physically demanding if you include all the cleaning required. And working nights and weekends. Tough life.

Why won't they just go to Argentina, Chile, or Mexico?