Is America at the Point of No Return?

[Retire Soon]

The gap between the "Super Rich 1%" of the U.S. population and the other 99% is now greater than it was before the stock market crash of 1929. Jack Bogle has warned that the "Invisible Hand" no longer serves the people. Instead, Wall Street is obsessed with restoring the unregulated market that brought the world to its knees in 2008. With many of the 261,0000 lobbyists in Washington D.C. serving the super rich, they can get what they want in terms of regulations, tax loopholes, and earmarks at the expense of the general public.

Average investors are simply no match for the gambling that goes on in the derivative casinos by Wall Street Insiders. The rich have an insatiable appetite for wealth that can never be satisfied.

Paul Farrell offers some compelling arguments supporting his theory that America is being destroyed by the misuse of capitalism by the Super Rich in his article, "10 Doomsday Trends America can't Survive."

10 Doomsday trends America can

 

[haha]

The rich have an insatiable appetite for wealth that can never be satisfied.

This ought to lead to a nice, fact filled, highly informative ER.org discussion.

Ha

 

[HFWR]

Round up the usual suspects...

 

[Bimmerbill]

Is the American Dream dead? I don't think so. I still believe if you work hard you can have a great life.

 

[REWahoo]

Good grief, another doomsday article by Paul B Farrell, the world leader in Chicken Little journalism. Don't you know he's a lot of fun to hang around with...

 

[unclemick]

Hmmm - how about everyone go to the library and reread Mark Twain's The Gilded Age. We all read it once as kids - Right?

And then make up your own mind whether we have been down the tubes for a long time and just didn't know it.

heh heh heh - been a while but 'God Looks After Drunkards, Fools, and The United States of America.'

 

[molly]

I am increasingly becoming a skepticNotes from an undergrad on the vanishing American Dream | The Daily Mississippian. My sister forwarded this article from a local college town newspaper.

Though it doesn't reflect the behavior of most of the people on this forum (or they wouldn't be here), I continue to observe "bad financial behavior" among older boomers who think that they are "entitled".

 

[samclem]

Yep, Farrell strikes again. I wonder if he'll soon concatenate, CamelCase, and copyright the word "SuperRich©?" Conveniently for his future poetic career, it already rhymes with "sonofabitch."

 

[MichaelB]

This is at least the 3rd time the American dream has died since I graduated from college. It just won't stay dead!

The American dream dies if nothing changes. If we look back, recently or long ago, it becomes clear that things will change, and the dream will be there again, for those that adapt or evolve.

 

[MichaelB]

heh heh heh - been a while but 'God Looks After Drunkards, Fools, and The United States of America.'

Hey, UM, how'ya been?

Thanks for posting that. It reminds me that I have God looking after me from multiple perspectives...

 

[rescueme]

The American dream dies if nothing changes. If we look back, recently or long ago, it becomes clear that things will change, and the dream will be there again, for those that adapt or evolve.

I agree.

The only problem is if we lose the "American Spirit" for innovation, change, and willingness to accept the premise that nothing remains the same...

 

[MasterBlaster]

I am increasingly becoming a skepticNotes from an undergrad on the vanishing American Dream | The Daily Mississippian. My sister forwarded this article from a local college town newspaper.

Though it doesn't reflect the behavior of most of the people on this forum (or they wouldn't be here), I continue to observe "bad financial behavior" among older boomers who think that they are "entitled".

The article states the obvious about the vast unfairness of taking on that kind of debt to fund boomers retirement and leaving it for the younguns to deal with.

generational accounting is the technical term the author should reference.

 

[Bestwifeever]

...With many of the 261,0000 lobbyists in Washington D.C. serving the super rich, they can get what they want in terms of regulations, tax loopholes, and earmarks at the expense of the general public. ....

Shoot, obviously the solution is to go become one of those 2 million lobbyists in DC! Jobs for everyone!

 

[MasterBlaster]

rescueMe:

You missed the point. Fair or not, the US can't afford what has been promised.

The true un-fairness would be to keep going as we have been, ignoring the burden we place on others.

 

[FIREd]

I don't know about America, but Paul Farrell seems to be at the point of no return.

 

[rescueme]

I don't know about America, but Paul Farrell seems to be at the point of no return.

+1

I most certainly agree. He's one person I consider "off the wall"...

 

[rescueme]

rescueMe:

You missed the point. Fair or not, the US can't afford what has been promised.

OK, I deleted my rant (I don't want to get in trouble two days in a row )...

 

[bbbamI]

...how about the point of know return...

YouTube - Kansas - Point Of Know Return

 

[Nords]

The gap between the "Super Rich 1%" of the U.S. population and the other 99% is now greater than it was before the stock market crash of 1929.
Paul Farrell offers some compelling arguments supporting his theory that America is being destroyed by the misuse of capitalism by the Super Rich in his article, "10 Doomsday Trends America can't Survive."

I'm a little confused on the concept of "misuse of capitalism". Seems to me that the Super Rich are using the heck out of it. Imagine how they'd do if they turned out to be just misusing it now! Why, with a little motivation and some hard work...

I think having to give back the money is the real misuse of capitalism. I still haven't made up my mind whether it's better to be a sterling philanthropist giving people a hand up, or a filthy money-grubbing capitalist giving people a job.

I'm also surprised this thread is still open.

 

[donheff]

Jack Bogle has warned that the "Invisible Hand" no longer serves the people. Instead, Wall Street is obsessed with restoring the unregulated market that brought the world to its knees in 2008. With many of the 261,0000 lobbyists in Washington D.C. serving the super rich,

I agree with Bogle but you are off by an order of magnitude on the number of lobbyists. Two orders of magnitude if your last zero isn't a typo I have lobbyists in the familiy so I gotta defend them

 

[MasterBlaster]

I have lobbyists in the familiy so I gotta defend them

So that makes you are a lobbyist, for lobbyists.

 

[FinanceDude]

The rich have an insatiable appetite for wealth that can never be satisfied.

Farrell is an idiot. He makes Chicken Little look like a calm rational person. How do YOU define "rich"

 

[dex]

Paul Farrell offers some compelling arguments supporting his theory that America is being destroyed by the misuse of capitalism by the Super Rich in his article, "10 Doomsday Trends America can't Survive."

Correlation without showing causation

YouTube - Cute sleepy baby trying to stay awake

 

[rescueme]

Farrell is an idiot.

Well said ...

 

[Independent]

I don't know about America, but Paul Farrell seems to be at the point of no return.

+1

I have an instinctive response to rants like this - I look for the holes. Unfortunately, there's at least a nugget of truth in most of what he says.

IMO, the rise of communists and socialists in Europe in the first half of the 20th century scared the American wealthy into enlightened self interest. They accepted unions, limits on immigration, and a social safety net as ways to keep the US from sliding too far to the left. That approach seems to have faded away. The new approach is to sell the masses on the notion that the rich create all the wealth and the masses are the parasites (where's Atlas Shrugged on the Amazon list these days?).

I think we've reached a "point of no return" in that we are not going to get back to a world with income distributions that we saw in the 1950's and 1960's. I think we're looking at an extended period of stagnant incomes for most working people. But, I don't think that automatically leads to complete social meltdown like Farrell claims.