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Everyone tries to look at this as Republican vs. Democrat or rich vs. poor... but it's much simpler than that.
Technology has accelerated at a pace that far outstrips our ability to control it. In the same way that our daily lives will never be the same as they were before the Internet, our overall economy will never be the same.
1. Improved health care: Great news for grandma who might live to be 100 now, but not so great for her heirs. Middle class are living longer, burning up their savings and retirement and leaving less (or no) inheritance to their children.
2. Manufacturing, customer service and almost everything in between can be sent off-shore. American workers are in direct competition with Mexican and Vietnamese workers. It's unreasonable for our wages not to suffer, as much as that totally sucks.
3. Automation means we need fewer people. Period. And Asians and white people have sort of indirectly gotten the message, birth rates are way down and many middle class people seem to be waiting until they need a team of scientists to help them have their first baby. But we still have a few generations of "excess inventory" of people sitting around. And immigrants haven't gotten the message that we need fewer off-spring just yet. Many demographic groups are still multiplying like it's the Lord's will or some nonsense.
There's no returning to the high flying yesterday of American economic prosperity. At best, we can hope for a not-too-painful crash landing.
That's the fucking truth. And no Republican or Democrat will ever admit it or consider trying to address the reality of the situation. It's all about getting re-elected and kicking the can down the road so that you can, hopefully, blame the eventual meltdown on the next guy in office.
In many ways... we're fucked, folks.
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