I understand what I'm saying is easily conflated with what no-empathy libertarian/conservatives say. I'm a Pikkety-reading progressive who absolutely thinks the U.S. government has to consider a wealth tax, increase top marginal tax rates (and add brackets), etc. This does
not mean people have 0 responsibility for their finances. Most people can and should do better.
> Most American households don't have disposable income
This is consistent with what I've said: much of their income could be spent much more efficiently. Transportation and food alone are two areas where a normal American could easily save $10k+/year without any real drop in quality of life.
> This whole "pull your bootstraps up!" talk about what is essentially under $6K/year of disposable income is pretty unrealistic.
1. Where'd $6k/year come from?
2. Even $6k/year invested at 7% annually nets $1.3M over a normal career.
> And why shouldn't middle America enjoy creature comforts?
Nobody's saying they shouldn't. Just they should be aware of their cost. At the end of the day, you trade your time for money. It's important to respect that money, and not frit it away on "creature comforts" that don't really bring you any joy.
> The reality is that people at the top are taking a larger and larger piece of the pie since de-unionisation, and the middle class has almost vanished as a direct result.
Hear hear! I'm with you. Again: this isn't an either-or situation. When you buy expensive high-margin things, you're voluntarily donating your money to the 1%ers. Don't do that.