It looks like the source article is either purposely skewed or is misunderstanding both the problem and the driving forces behind the Occupy movement.
First off, the income is adjusted for capital gains. Yet we all know that real estate values have been decreasing. Never mind dollar values for a moment, an acre of land is an acre of land, just as a loaf of bread is a loaf of bread. Money is what we use to speculate and purchase with. Five acres of ocean front property is five acres of ocean front property. A 4000 square foot beauty of a home built on it is a a 4000 square foot beauty of a home, no matter what the monetary value the market places on it.
People outside the 1% are losing their properties. If the value of property returns, then the capital gains of the 1% will skyrocket, at least in that column. But this won't happen for the people who lost their homes.
Another side to this is to see that many small business people could make a million a year. Car dealers, for instance--and many have gone out of business, although most likely the ones categorized with the one percenters are still hanging in there. (Their income has gone down because of the slowing economy. The slowing down of the economy is not looked at enough. It causes earning to slow down, not just go down. People are not buying as frequently, so both income and taxes come in more slowly.)
Lets look back at the corporate side of automobiles. A salesperson, the bottom of the auto food chain, although the one who keeps the economy moving in this industry, gets squeezed in two ways. First, the number of people buying cars goes down, then our average commissions go down so that the dealer can find a way to survive, but all the while, the auto manufacturer is cutting out the $100-$500 per car spiffs they give to sales people. That becomes near zero, while average commissions get cut drastically. It'll be interesting to see if with all the money being saved, CEOs like Daniel Akerson dare to take huge bonus money for themselves for being so "successful". Lots of the propaganda being dished out now is that employees respond to attaboys as well as money. Seems like a set up not to pay. When we go down the store to buy groceries, instead of paying, we can tell the grocer how good a job he is doing running his store.
I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, Rus, but nobody is going to remember Occupy this time next year. Their website already gets virtually no traffic. Their poll numbers are abysmal. Their PR was abysmal.
If so, and I have no crystal ball, then the system will continue failing. That is sad tidings for you, as well as me, as well as anyone in the Occupy movement.
But if the arguments from the Occupy movement's opponents have to fall into whether the movement is still around next year, then there seems to be an admittance of defeat in that. I score that as an argumentative win for the Occupiers.
I wonder how many people will lose their homes between now and then, how many more will become disenfranchised and too troubled with trying to survive than to worry about the politics that brought them to such a point, and too broke than to be able to have any impact even if they wanted to do something.
It looks like the source article is either purposely skewed or is misunderstanding both the problem and the driving forces behind the Occupy movement.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the income is adjusted for capital gains. Yet we all know that real estate values have been decreasing. Never mind dollar values for a moment, an acre of land is an acre of land, just as a loaf of bread is a loaf of bread. Money is what we use to speculate and purchase with. Five acres of ocean front property is five acres of ocean front property. A 4000 square foot beauty of a home built on it is a a 4000 square foot beauty of a home, no matter what the monetary value the market places on it.
People outside the 1% are losing their properties. If the value of property returns, then the capital gains of the 1% will skyrocket, at least in that column. But this won't happen for the people who lost their homes.
Another side to this is to see that many small business people could make a million a year. Car dealers, for instance--and many have gone out of business, although most likely the ones categorized with the one percenters are still hanging in there. (Their income has gone down because of the slowing economy. The slowing down of the economy is not looked at enough. It causes earning to slow down, not just go down. People are not buying as frequently, so both income and taxes come in more slowly.)
Lets look back at the corporate side of automobiles. A salesperson, the bottom of the auto food chain, although the one who keeps the economy moving in this industry, gets squeezed in two ways. First, the number of people buying cars goes down, then our average commissions go down so that the dealer can find a way to survive, but all the while, the auto manufacturer is cutting out the $100-$500 per car spiffs they give to sales people. That becomes near zero, while average commissions get cut drastically. It'll be interesting to see if with all the money being saved, CEOs like Daniel Akerson dare to take huge bonus money for themselves for being so "successful". Lots of the propaganda being dished out now is that employees respond to attaboys as well as money. Seems like a set up not to pay. When we go down the store to buy groceries, instead of paying, we can tell the grocer how good a job he is doing running his store.
I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, Rus, but nobody is going to remember Occupy this time next year. Their website already gets virtually no traffic. Their poll numbers are abysmal. Their PR was abysmal.
ReplyDeleteIf so, and I have no crystal ball, then the system will continue failing. That is sad tidings for you, as well as me, as well as anyone in the Occupy movement.
ReplyDeleteBut if the arguments from the Occupy movement's opponents have to fall into whether the movement is still around next year, then there seems to be an admittance of defeat in that. I score that as an argumentative win for the Occupiers.
I wonder how many people will lose their homes between now and then, how many more will become disenfranchised and too troubled with trying to survive than to worry about the politics that brought them to such a point, and too broke than to be able to have any impact even if they wanted to do something.