Sick of the term "income equality" ...

Sorry, minor rant here. I'm getting tired of the expression "income equality". While I don't doubt there is a disparity of income levels, there is also what I call "effort inequality". As an example, my wife and I both bust our asses in our careers. We both got an education on our own dime (in my case working through school, in hers that and loans which we paid off). We've never availed our self of any aid programs, nor would I ever want to be dependent upon one. She works normal hours, but I work six days a week and often long days at that. I'm on call 24/7/365 in my IT position. Am I complaining? Nope not for a second. We make a good living and provide well for our children. One of the many things I love about this country is if someone puts in the effort, he or she can do well. This is not the case in a lot of places I've been to and/or have family there.

That said, should our income be higher than someone who drops out of high school, doesn't work at all, smokes weed all day long, and produces the next generation of children that, well, do just that? According to some on the Left they should be rewarded for their behavior.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a social safety net. I am down with job training, educational programs, and anything that helps folks succeeded in this hyper competitive economy. If anything, we should be doing more to get people fast tracked. But paying for them to be nothing but a drain on resources is asinine.

Alright, end rant. It was a long week. Longer than normal.

 

Income inequality can be due to many factors. In the middle east for example, if you are a US, UK, Canadian or any western country p-a-s-sport holder, it is expected that you will be receiving higher salary over another with the same caliber - provided both have earned the same degree and with the same amount of experience. I think this is how it goes here and will take looooooong time to change.

Effort inequality could be cultural, if you are working in a multinational environment - some race think that they should only work 6 hours a day and receive 8 hours work. crazy stuff!!

 

No one should complain or even chirp about income inequality when they do NOTHING that will positively change their lives. I've always said that welfare makes people lazy. What would make make a lazy person work when they know they'll get some cash they don't have to work for? IMO the government encourages this kind of behavior.

 

What is one supposed to do when there are no jobs out there ? The amount of full time jobs available in USA keeps on dropping, and most people are stuck working part time. The economy has gotten worse and worse in the last 10 years, and Gallup just released a poll showing that the unemployment rate is much higher then the what the government states. Unemployment is not going down, the government is just changing the rules on how they calculate unemployment.

I think everyone should have the right to a job.

 

There are always jobs out there. If unemployment is at 5%, that means that the rest 95% of people have managed to find jobs for themselves. Why couldn't you? The jobs are not always easy to find, and I think in modern times you do have to start looking a bit outside of your own confort zone. You might not want to be cleaning hallways or driving a truck... but if you can't get a job you want then you need to stick with a job you can get.

99% of the unemployed people I know are unemployed because they prefer unemployment to a crappy job, mainly because the system in Europe is designed so that unemployment IS more attractive than a low end job. I realise in the USA it's a bit different since your unemployment is far from what we have in Europe so jobs are indeed more rare, even in the "bad" sectors.

I despise this leftist "income equality" as in modern times it means taking from the people who are smart/creative/hardworking and giving it to those who find themselves working as a cashier in Walmart for 50 years. If we were born into certain roles (ie. You were assigned to become a baker the day you were born) then I would understand it, but in a world where we ourselves decide where we end up in, I think it's silly to punish those who do well. Some social security has to be there but it shouldn't be overdone to the point where working and earning is a punishable act.

 

Thanks all for the replies. I'm not impugning anyone is having a hard time finding work. It is tough out there. I will say this; you need to move to where the money is. Goodness knows my family moved all over the place in the 2000s.

Anyway, my beef is just with those that will contribute nothing to society except misery, but want more "free" stuff. Those of us paying around the 50% rate in taxes (local, state, federal, and all the cute extras) are getting a little tired of pulling most the load.

 

I'll add a bit more into the whole "social security has to be there but it shouldn't be overdone to the point where working and earning is a punishable act." point I made at the end of my last post. There is this country in Europe, I won't mention which one but it's obviously one of the higher taxed ones. Used to even live there for some time.
Income tax is one of the highest in Europe but I was working part time night shifts while studying... ended up earning about 800-900e/month depending on how much I worked. Due to the progressive tax system and my extremely low income (less than minimum wage for someone in a full time job), I only paid somewhere around 15% tax. That is with all the social security, healtcare, blaablaablaa. The whole deal, so not too bad.

Now how to earn more? A second job during daytime maybe? When I'm on vacation, weekends etc? Well, secondary jobs are always taxed at 40%... so no point in getting a second job since 40% of the money will disappear before you ever see it.
How about investments then? 30% from the very first euro you make in capital gains. Dividends were taxed at a lower rate back in the day (22%?), but even that has been moved to 25.5% (I think. Don't live there anymore) from the very first euro you make. This is one of the reasons that eventually drove me away from that country: for "normal" people not dealing with hundreds of thousands in investments, the taxes simply make it impossible to make a living with investing. If I earn that 800e/month from work, I'm left with about 680e. If I earn THE SAME amount from investing, I'm left with 560e. Simply because "if you own shares then you must be ridiculously rich so you can afford to help the less fortunate" seemed to be the general idea of investing in the country.

Improving your financial situation should be something that is not punished. It is the only logical way. The more people have in cash, the more they will spend: we all know what this does to the economy of the city and country they live in. And seeing the positive results from the effort that they made motivates them to keep improving their finances.

 

I know the feeling. I just wrapped up the paperwork and worksheets to send off to my tax accountant. "Paying through the snot box" is about the nicest away as I can say the amount were paying in federal and state income tax, social(ist) security, medicare, property tax, gasoline tax, capital gains tax, NFA tax, and all the other hidden nonsense. It is enough to make one's head hurt.

 

Opportunity inequality does get votes. Politicians have to cater to what gets them the most votes. Most western countries because of their laws and guidelines limit people from opportunity. In most western countries you almot need a college education to get hired as a janitor, except they call janitors, maintance engineers or something like that now days. You can't even sell food items out of your own home without a license.

Then as usual they will complain why is there unemployment.