62 Percent Of All U.S. Jobs Do Not Pay Enough To Support A Middle Class Life

We just got more evidence that the middle class in America is rapidly disappearing.  According to a shocking new study that was just released, 62 percent of all jobs in the United States do not pay enough to support a middle class life.  That means that “the American Dream” is truly out of reach for most of the country at this point.  Today, Americans are working harder than ever but the cost of living continues to rise much faster than our paychecks are increasing.  Earlier this month, I went and looked at the latest numbers from the Social Security Administration, and I discovered that 50 percent of all American workers make less than $30,533 a year.  But that is just above poverty level.  In fact, the federal poverty level for a family of five is currently $29,420.  Most families are just barely scraping by from month to month, and most U.S. workers are just one major setback away from falling out of the middle class. (Read More...)

7 Glimpses Into The Social Decay That Is Voraciously Eating Away At The Fabric Of Our Country

Everyone agrees that America is not the same place that it once was.  Our society is undergoing a fundamental transformation that is absolutely breathtaking, and some of the changes have been positive.  But many would argue that most of the changes have been negative, and the truth is that we can see evidence of this all around us.  Wikipedia defines social decay as “the tendency for society to decline or disintegrate over time, perhaps due to the lapse or breakdown of traditional social support systems.”  As a society, we are more disconnected from one another than we have ever been before, and perhaps this is one of the big reasons why so much anger and hatred are growing all around us.  At this point, a large portion of the population doesn’t even seem to possess a basic level of empathy and compassion for their fellow citizens, and that has frightening implications for the future of our nation. (Read More...)

They Are Putting Armed Guards On Food Trucks In Venezuela

Security Guard - Public DomainWe are watching what happens when the economy of a developed nation totally implodes.  Just a few years ago, Venezuela was the wealthiest nation in all of South America, and they still have more proven oil reserves than anyone else on the entire planet including Saudi Arabia.  But now people down there are so hungry and so desperate that some of them are actually hunting dogs, cats and pigeons for food.  Just a few days ago, I gave a talk down at Morningside during which I warned that someday we would see armed guards on food trucks in America.  After that talk was done, I went back up to my room and I came across a New York Times article which had been republished by MSN that explained that this exact thing is already happening down in Venezuela… (Read More...)

8 Lessons That We Can Learn From The Epic Economic Meltdown In Venezuela

Venezuela Shortages - Photo by ZiaLaterWe are watching an entire nation collapse right in front of our eyes.  As you read this article, there are severe shortages of just about anything you can imagine in Venezuela.  That includes food, toilet paper, medicine, electricity and even Coca-Cola.  All over the country, people are standing in extremely long lines for hours on end just hoping that they will be able to purchase some provisions for their hungry families.  At times when there hasn’t been anything for the people that have waited in those long lines, full-blown riots have broken out.  All of this is happening even though Venezuela has not been hit by a war, a major natural disaster, a terror attack, an EMP burst or any other type of significant “black swan” event.  When debt spirals out of control, currency manipulation goes too far and government interference reaches ridiculous extremes, this is what can happen to an economy.  The following are 8 lessons that we can learn from the epic economic meltdown in Venezuela… (Read More...)

Chinese Exports Plunge 11.2 Percent As Economic Activity Continues To Collapse All Over The Planet

Cargo Ship - Public DomainIf the global economy is in fine shape, then why does all of the hard data tell us that global trade is absolutely collapsing?  The Baltic Dry Index has fallen below 300 for the first time ever, and export numbers are way down for almost every major exporting nation on the entire planet.  As you will see below, this includes China.  The Chinese account for more global trade than anyone else, and so the fact that their imports and their exports are both collapsing precipitously is a huge red flag.  When less stuff is being bought and sold and shipped around the world, that tells us that the “real economy” is contracting.  Tremendous efforts are being made to try to prop up financial markets all over the globe right now, but in the end those efforts are going to prove to be rather futile.  The global economy is clearly plunging into recession, and at this point it is becoming exceedingly difficult for even the most optimistic economic analysts to deny this reality. (Read More...)

The Rise Of The Temp Economy: More U.S. Employers Than Ever Want A ‘Disposable Workforce’

Disposable Workers - Public DomainIn this day and age it seems like almost everything is disposable, and many employers have found that they can make a lot more money if they have a workforce that can be turned on and off like a faucet. In America today, there are more than 17 million “independent workers”, and they represent a bigger share of the workforce than ever before. Federal laws give a lot of protection to “full-time workers”, but for temporary and contract employees it is a much different story. Temp workers don’t get health insurance, vacation time or retirement benefits. They are simply paid for the limited amount of time that they are needed and then they are disposed of immediately. There has always been a role for such workers in our economy, but these days some of the biggest corporations in the entire country are getting rid of “full-time workers” and replacing them with temp workers just so that they can make a few extra bucks. As a result, the ranks of the “working poor” continue to expand, and the decline of the middle class is accelerating. (Read More...)

Goodbye Middle Class: 51 Percent Of All American Workers Make Less Than 30,000 Dollars A Year

The Middle Class - Public DomainWe just got more evidence that the middle class in America is dying.  According to brand new numbers that were just released by the Social Security Administration, 51 percent of all workers in the United States make less than $30,000 a year.  Let that number sink in for a moment.  You can’t support a middle class family in America today on just $2,500 a month – especially after taxes are taken out.  And yet more than half of all workers in this country make less than that each month.  In order to have a thriving middle class, you have got to have an economy that produces lots of middle class jobs, and that simply is not happening in America today. (Read More...)

America Looks A Lot Like Nazi Germany Did Just Prior To World War II

Big Brother Eye - Public DomainOnce upon a time America fought a great war to rid the world of the Nazis, but now we have become just like them.  In fact, I would venture to say that the Nazification of the United States is pretty much complete.  As you will see below, we have a heavily socialized economy where tax rates are out of control and lots of freebies are given out just like the Nazis did.  And just like the Nazis, our society has become highly militarized and our government has become increasingly obsessed with watching, tracking, monitoring and controlling the general population.  But more than anything else, all of the pageantry and beauty in our society masks an evil which has grown to a level that is almost unspeakable.  The other day, my wife and I were watching some footage of the beautiful parades and celebrations that were held in Germany before World War II, and they certainly were very impressive.  But under the surface, a great evil was growing.  Just because something happens behind closed doors does not make it okay, and just like the Nazis, our society is about to learn an exceedingly painful lesson in that regard. (Read More...)