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Up Topic Public Area / Off-Topic / Price Check
- - By Boanerges (Lieutenant / Council / Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-09 01:11
Our extended family, while on a family outing, stopped at a Hardee's Fast Food Joint. On the wall near the counter where orders are placed was a nice picture of one of the early Buildings with their sign. The interesting part of the sign was a triangle part on top that rotated (if memory serves me) with their main advertisment, "Hamburgers 15 cents". And I think I was the only one that had seen such signs when that price was accurate.

Another example was on a car I bought in my late teens. It was a '69 Chevelle SS396 with 4 in the floor. It was a year old and still had the "window sticker" in the dash. The NEW on the lot price was under $4,000.00. A similar type car today would run at least 10 times that price.
Parent - - By Lisa201 (Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-12 01:17
Makes sense, when I was growing up, we had a 1952 chevy 4-door.  I recall my father saying it was brand new for $600.00.  How things have changed...
That's the reason it's so stupid to think of raising the min-wage... everything else just goes up along with it and you are left with the exact same situation!
What is it called when you continue to do the same things, but expect different results?
Parent - By tsreknor (Commander / Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-12 07:22
When you raise the minimum wage, the actual minimum wage isn't the figure in the statute. The actual minimum wage is zero (i.e. unemployed).

-- tsreknor
Parent - By Fluffy Date 2014-10-12 18:26
It's more the global national dependency on inflation to hold government debt in check and validate the continued use of credit to pay the day to day bills.  Add to that an investment environment not content with traditional growth rates pouring excess money into categories and over inflating the value beyond anything realistic- such as the tech bubble of 2000 and the housing bubble of 2008.  Just wait until the farm bubble decides to burst!  Wages do have an effect, but a small one imo.  The real problem wage wise is the lack of quality jobs in the US to support a middle class.  The primary growth seems to be in the low wage service sector, primarily retail and food service from what I can see.

Further, imo the crash of 2008 was nothing more than the exposure of just how hollow the real US economy has become.

/me gets off his soap box and runs
Parent - - By Anachronos Date 2014-10-12 12:50
The price of things go up due to demand and inflation and has next to nothing to do with minimum wage.  Maybe if people stopped breeding like insects, we taxed the wealthy like during the times the country prospered, and made it so our CEOs can't take home $10,000/hr, shit would be better.  The corporate greed has to stop and the best way to stop it is to make sure you don't vote for any pro-corporation assholes next month. ALEC is fascism and anybody participating in that program needs to end up in the unemployment lines so they can physically witness the hard times they cause onto their people.
Parent - - By Fluffy Date 2014-10-12 18:36
Most developed countries have lower birth rates due a larger middle class consolidating it's resources and concentrating them on fewer children.  Poorer communities on the other hand, barring religious dogma such as prohibition of birth control, tend to have more children to hedge their bets.

Also, I don't think it's as simple as just taxing the wealthy.  The roaring 50's of the US were a unique time in history where US manufacturing dominated the world market because cheaper markets like China, India, and a host of 3rd world countries did not yet exist, as well as Europe was recovering from a devastating war and so was not in a position to compete.

The problem imo isn't necessarily the ridiculous wages some executives make.  It is the economic structure and laws that create incentives that have a cumulative negative affect.  Just as an example, the corporate reporting the public companies are required to do on a monthly / quarterly basis causes a lot of craziness on the ground level which is where companies either meet or fail to meet market expectations.

/me hacks his soap box to bits and runs
Parent - By Ecka Estenk (Councilor / Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-12 19:50
I would agree fluffy, your point about quality employment applies to most of europe as well as the usa.
Parent - - By Anachronos Date 2014-10-13 12:47
One thing is for sure is we need to end this Reaganomics bullshit that people actually think works.

No, it is not as simple as taxing the wealthy.  I totally agree with that. It is a great start though. One thing for sure is I'm sick and tired of crony capitalism and greed overrunning society and life. 

Free and easy access to birth control methods, none of this discriminatory fascist Hobby Lobby bullshit, to start with.  One child born in America uses 13 times the natural resources than just about every developed country in the world. That is a major problem and it needs addressed.   There's one way.  Stay out of other countries. We are not the world's police and we should never involve our (supposed to be) secular government in holy wars. They want a holy war? Let them blow each other up. I don't fight for christ or any other deity and neither should anybody with a brain.  That will save a ton of cash.  Audit the fed and make every single thing public and let the public decide on how to proceed. Watch magic happen if that happens. That will fix quite a bit.  Ban all private schooling. Education should be equal, not capitalist. A smarter society is the most dominant and we're becoming the movie "Idiocracy," courtesy of a number of things. 

There is quite a bit we can do beyond that, but we're divided, not united.   MANY factors contribute to that.
Parent - By Fluffy Date 2014-10-13 13:32
The first thing I would change tax wise, would be to institute a progressive tax on investment income above $200,000. I think that number is a bit high, but I'd like to encourage investment by the non wealthy while forcing the wealthy back into investments that actually benefit the economy by creating and growing businesses.
Parent - By Lunchfoot (Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-13 19:09
BTW, that movie is awesome even though you are right and we do indeed seem to be headed that way.  Sad but funny.
Parent - By kennyb (Trident Captain) Date 2014-10-13 22:33
I just kick back and enjoy the show the years when I choose to pay attention to it. Some years are more entertaining than others.
Parent - By Surbius Date 2014-10-14 11:15
Incentives, will power, education, opportunities, short term gains, long term gains, does the end justify the means...

Pragmatic (epistemology) and nihilism, seeking the truth in life yet see the meaning of said truth to be meaningless...

I might need a new hobby...
- By Evo Date 2017-10-13 15:15
Im a few years late but I live in a very small area in archer Gainesville fl or whatever and the only thing I have to pay is electricity and per person is prob...$20 maybe. we have 5 people living in the same house so you can do the math.... but in the more dense population of Gainesville the cheapest apartment (just as rent no electric or whatever) is $700+.
Up Topic Public Area / Off-Topic / Price Check

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