realjohnboy wrote:okie wrote: also isn't it true that small business is growing in terms of percentage of employees accounted for in this country, so perhaps the impact on mass layoff statistics is affected that way.
Forgive me for interrupting ci and okie in the middle of assaulting each other. Your comment above, okie, may be true. I know of no way to prove it or disprove it. I can say that some 50 or 70% of small businesses fail within a year or two.
Can they afford to pay above minimum wages, much less provide health care benefits, vacation pay, sick leave pay? Probably not. But, okie, this is a sector of our economy that is seen to be growing. And we are supposed to get excited about that?
There is this big bubble in the middle, the so called middle class, who bought stuff like houses and anything else they could put on their credit cards. All of that debt, built on the illussion that great times would go on forever, is going to come crashing down.
And I haven't even mentioned the Whole Food Markets Inc. thing.
rjb, you are quite a mild mannered poster here. Thanks. As far as assaulting each other, I view cicerone as just a very staunch liberal Democrat, and he is not ever going to admit the Republicans can do anything right. He also likes to run down the country, which really is highly irritating. I want to say something not often heard on forums like this. I feel extremely grateful for living in such a wonderful country, where hard work is rewarded, where we have the freedom to pursue happiness. Happiness is not wealth in my view, but responsible living is part of happiness, and usually being responsible will bring us most of the comforts we want and need. Also, happiness is not a constitutional right, but the pursuit of it is. So if people want to sit around and feel sorry for themselves and constantly blame the country, or the system, or rich people, or something else, for their unhappiness, I don't know what will fix it.
Now, on to health care benefits. Contrary to what some politicians say these days, the constitution does not guarantee health care as a right. It is a problem, and we need to work on it, but I do not believe government health care will improve it. That is another debate subject all by itself.
In regard to buying houses and then cannot afford them, my parents taught me to live well within my means, and that means do not buy a house you can barely afford, or the one the real estate agent said you can afford. Buy something less instead. That applies to everything, cars, furniture, vacations, you name it. Unfortunately, I believe people are living beyond their means much more now than 50 years ago. Some of what we observe today is not altogether the economy. It involves the lifestyles, habits, and attitudes of this generation vs past generations.
