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swanny
Nov 24, 2004, 07:50 AM
INDEX PROGRAMS


I wonder...? is it hard to be the boss of the wealthiest province in the country? It is perhaps hard to be a boss regardless, but in a province awash in resources, capital and money, it must be somewhat easier?
Policies have been enacted that have benefited the people or at least some of the people or perhaps the people that seem to count. The oil companies, the power companies, the pundits and politicians, the packing houses and all the spin offs have received their share and due of the provincial pie but what? Are perhaps some being overlooked or forgotten or are they perhaps just plain misunderstood?
It is perhaps not necessarily so much that the working poor and the disadvantaged etc etc want more than they are allotted but they, I would assure, certainly don't want less and yet less and less is what is transpiring and what they are getting.
Study after study seem to indicate that the gap between the rich and poor mysteriously seems to be widening even as the standards of life are increasing. The have nots have not though been receiving any less in number or amount but in the breakdown and workings of economics, that amounts to receiving less and less, due to purchasing power and real dollar value and due to inflation and the cost of living increases and the general profit taking of market forces. In short they are in fact receiving less and less by receiving the same and the disparity increases with and due to time.
Is this right ? Is it right not to adjust or index these amounts and programs to at least the rate of inflation and allow them to at least "retain" a state of decent impoverishment rather than sink further and further into despair and sometimes debt? It is bad enough from time to time to be poor and sick and ill and old or young but to on top of it become poorer and poorer day by day, minute by minute, as inflation and the cost of living continually eat away at ones meager means, savings and income seems inhumane and cruel. At least it seems so to me.
What does it appear to you?


swanny



gwuMACaddict
Nov 24, 2004, 08:28 AM
socialism? :(

robbieduncan
Nov 24, 2004, 08:44 AM
Should be in the Politics forum?

blackfox
Nov 24, 2004, 08:56 AM
swanny, I have seen a few of your threads and while they seem to be about potentially interesting topics, I can't know for sure since you seem uniquely capable of being unable to be anywhere near concise in either your point or your exposition.

While you obviously have a decent vocabulary, you seem to mangle grammatical structure in ways that would make Italo Calvino or Post-Modernists proud.

Please do not take this as an insult, I mean it only as constructive criticism.

As for the your (current) topic, It is entirely too early to discuss Economics.

Perhaps later when this thread inevitably enters the Political Forum...

MacDawg
Nov 24, 2004, 09:07 AM
Definitely the political forum...

I'm curious Swanny, is English your second language? I don't mean that in a judgmental way, but I've read most of your posts, and I am wondering if that accounts for the disconnect that occurs in your posts. I am guessing that maybe your background contributes to the sometimes odd sentence structure and phraseology. It appears almost like a translation from an Asian or Middle Eastern language at times.

Help us out here and tell us a little about yourself.

I know you have a tendency to just withdraw when you don't get a favorable response, but honestly, nobody here is wanting to trash you, we are just trying to engage you. We value your opinions, just like we do everyone else's, we just don't always follow what your opinion is.

Just a thought.

swanny
Nov 24, 2004, 09:18 AM
Wow .....
Impressive Macdawg....
You are quite correct .....
technically and actually ....
English is my second language....
My first language is actually German.... although it was rudimentary German as I was switched to English at about the age of four. Very astute of you to deduct that.... it may quite explain our disconnect..... or I suppose its my
disconnect. Hmmmmmm Not quite sure how to proceed then?
I hope I don't have to teach everyone German as I am not at a very functional level with my German.
Ah a linquistic impasse it would appear.

pseudobrit
Nov 24, 2004, 09:50 AM
Your rant lacks a thesis statement.

You need to rid your writing of the disconnect that damns it.

gwuMACaddict
Nov 24, 2004, 10:17 AM
when do we start taking bets on how long this thread lasts before wasteland/closing?

Xtremehkr
Nov 24, 2004, 10:34 AM
Despite all of that, I think you make a good point. But things like that don't happen by themselves. Receiving raises to match inflation could come from government intervention, or from organized labor.

Either way works for me, but I think that since the government (depending on where you are) can change drastically in a relatively short period of time, I would prefer that it be done through organized labor.

I like the old idea of having 'one big union' myself. Maybe not entirely managable, but large unions that are inclusive of many different groups tend to be much more effective.

The government avenue should not be ignored though as sometimes they have a tendency to pass laws that suit the purpose of monied interests. But Unions compromise large groups of voters, which is another advantage that they have.

skunk
Nov 24, 2004, 12:01 PM
you seem uniquely capable of being unable to be anywhere near concise in either your point or your exposition.
Case in point... :rolleyes:

blackfox
Nov 24, 2004, 12:18 PM
Case in point... :rolleyes:
touche.

I can plead the fact that I had just gotten up and the coffee wasn't finished...

...still that leaves all the other times...

Desertrat
Nov 24, 2004, 04:28 PM
The history of government controls regarding money is one of eventual disaster.

Any efforts to control wages or prices leads to disconnects. If wages are forced to be raised, those doing the hiring will seek ways to reduce overhead and maintain or increase productivity. Robotics caused a reduction in the labor force of such manufacturers as General Motors, for instance. When I worked for the Chevrolet Test Lab in Detroit in 1962/1963, GM had some 400,000 employees, worldwide. Now, it's around 300,000--but GM is making more products.

If prices are frozen at any level, we wind up back with what happened under Nixon: Unavailability of certain goods. People won't produce when there's no profit.

The buying power of the poor and of the middle class has been downward in the US for some 30+ years. Rich folks make money from money, but the poor can't buy stocks or foreign currencies or gold, and most of the middle class never has been that active in those arenas.

I don't know about Canada's monetary future, insofar as any government debt. Ours, including both present actual debt and future obligations based upon actuarial expectations, exceeds forty trillion dollars. Private sector corporations' retirement programs face the same sort of high-number dollar problem.

A lot of do-good programs can be helpful for some period of time; years and even decades. Eventually, however, the financial burden on those footing the bill becomes too large and like all past fiat-money systems, a crash occurs.

'Rat

pseudobrit
Nov 24, 2004, 11:51 PM
Case in point... :rolleyes:

I thought the irony was deliberate.

skunk
Nov 25, 2004, 04:32 AM
You were too kind. :)

blackfox
Nov 25, 2004, 05:29 AM
You were too kind. :)
oh, thanks mate...

skunk
Nov 25, 2004, 05:43 AM
Yer welcome! Always ready to help. :D