Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 12:55:49 -0700
From: Lisa Rogers <eqwq.lrogers-AT-state.ut.us>
Subject:  Re: The collapse of capitalism? -Reply


Why bother to talk to someone who doesn't seem to know [or care] that
over the last two decades in US the rich have got richer and the poor
got poorer?  That's by the US gov.'s own figures.  

This will be my only attempt to explain anything to Carnell.  Then,
delete on sight, I say.

Don't look for some 'measure of the standard of living' to cling to
for some shred of indication that, gee, the workers don't have it so
bad.  Maybe the last recession combined with an election campaign
finally triggered a drop in interest rates, so that some of us that
were paying very high rents could finally afford to buy a house. 
Don't expect us to be grateful and sing the praises of capitalism on
that account.

Notice that real wages are indeed dropping at the same time as the
owners are getting richer than ever.  Now consider that those two
things are integrally related, i.e. what we are seeing is a
redistribution of wealth, from workers toward owners.

Duh.


On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, Brian Carnell wrote:
>  > . . .  But haven't we seen over the past few decades that even
as real  > wages have stagnated, for example, the standard of living
has actually  > increased for most workers.  For example, while real
wages in the U.S. have  > been on a slight decline, measures of
standard of living such as home  > ownership, etc. have steadily
increased.  >  > If anything it seems that capitalism is
demonstrating that if left free of  > government intervention it will
provide an ever increasing standard of  > living to the masses.




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