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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: The US middle class is in the top 1% .... [View all]pampango
(24,692 posts)73. No. I think the Western middle class is in the top 80% to 95% globally, not the top 1%.
As liberals, shouldn't we be equally concerned about the other human beings on our planet?
Of course we should. And if we don't, nobody will because conservatives certainly are not going to be concerned with poor people anywhere.
Shouldn't we be willing to share the wealth and the jobs and the industries with other countries and peoples?
Should people with more be willing to share with people who have less? That's a pretty good definition of 'liberal'.
We have been very privileged...and like the silver spoon portion of our society, most of that good fortune has been an accident of birth rather than something we have earned.
Winning the 'birth lottery' (witness the Donald) says a lot about your prospects in life. If you or I had been born in Bangladesh or Nigeria, our life prospects would be significantly diminished.
Trade agreements in spite of their ugly local side effects are good for the worlds populations.
I don't know that it is 'trade agreements' themselves. Few of the really poor countries in south Asia or Africa or the rest of the world have trade agreements with Western countries unless you count belonging to the WTO as a 'trade agreement'.
You could make the case that trade, in general, has contributed to the increasing incomes of the worlds poorest 70%. That would not have surprised FDR. Increased global prosperity was one of the reasons he wanted to promote international trade after WWII.
The problem is not disruption due to trade agreements, it's the failure of the social safety net including job training and housing/food assistance.
True. That is why progressive countries can trade 2 to 3 times as much as the US and have stronger unions and middle classes than the US has. They provide the safety nets, progressive taxes, business regulation, etc. that FDR provided to the US.
We shouldn't be trade isolationists any more than we should be political isolationist.
True indeed. Trump and Cruz are classic republican isolationists like Coolidge and Hoover of the pre-FDR era. They love walls and tariffs; they want to break our international agreements; withdraw from international organizations, etc. Basically they are the opposite of what FDR was trying to accomplish.
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Fresh_Start I pray for you and your excellent post. You will be slammed for being a globalist,
Hoyt
Apr 2016
#1
You are supposed to quit treating poor foreign workers like scabs and competition.
Hoyt
Apr 2016
#92
Yep America First and Nationalism, screw the rest of world we are the "greedy 1%ers of the world."
Hoyt
Apr 2016
#95
"Race to bottom" and other such BS is just dog whistle against poor foreign workers.
Hoyt
Apr 2016
#99
"Trade agreements in spite of their ugly local side effects are good for the worlds populations."
Scuba
Apr 2016
#2
Let's see someone in India get's a $3/day job at the expense of someone in the USA who loses ...
Scuba
Apr 2016
#10
Nationalism at its ugliest. If in fact an Indian is getting $3/day, it damn sure is better than
Hoyt
Apr 2016
#25
It's certainly a boon for the Indian guy who was previously making 20 cents a day
Recursion
Apr 2016
#57
It's a net loss for working people. Your attempt to suggest it's racist is noted, however.
Scuba
Apr 2016
#80
In the example I used in the thread, net income for working people is NOT up. Period.
Scuba
Apr 2016
#83
No. Income drops from $240.20 per day to $3.00 per day. If you think that's higher ...
Scuba
Apr 2016
#85
Free Trade agreements do not help with the poverty around the world. FAIR TRADE agreements do.
jillan
Apr 2016
#4
sources? citations? It's not true just because someone says it on the internet
Cheese Sandwich
Apr 2016
#16
The "trade" agreements are meant to bring most of us down to that worldwide poverty level, with the
djean111
Apr 2016
#28
Besides, it costs more to live in the US, especially in the COLD north!
raging moderate
Apr 2016
#82
The US is 4.4% of the world population. So an American with an average income is definitely not
jfern
Apr 2016
#34
Individual or Total household Income? either way the 40k jobs of the future. where are they?
Hiraeth
Apr 2016
#50
You basicaally just said the middle class if fine, because others are worse. Idiot.
Joob
Apr 2016
#56
How UNINFORMED can you get? I'm guessing you are a HILLARIAN because this is so bad.
Zira
Apr 2016
#64
No. I think the Western middle class is in the top 80% to 95% globally, not the top 1%.
pampango
Apr 2016
#73