The End of Upward Mobility?

ugh... haven't any of you heard of 'work smart, not hard?" Farmers and coal miners work hard, but they don't get to the current middle class... If you want to be in the 'middle' of America today, then look to the future and plan your education and goals accordingly, otherwise you won't get beyond that. You will only become 'exceedingly rich,' etc. if you go beyond the curve and provide some service or product to the world that cannot have been foreseen. The gap between the rich and the poor is going to increase. Duh. The 'highest' levels of society have always belonged to those who did MORE than simply 'work hard.' the group belongs to those who either get lucky, act smart, or cheat their way there. Don't think it is the government's job to make that group available to 'everyone.' It's only job is to prevent those who cheat there way there. 'Everyone' can't be special, otherwise no one will be. Just realize that the world is different than in the 20's, 40's, 60's, 80's, or 90's. We live in an era where only those who have the very most marketable ideas become rich. either become marketable or live less than the richest live.

Funny how after all the financial bailouts - not one of those CEOs have been fired and no restrictions on how they spend the money have been placed. Billionares who ran huge corps into the ground receive billions from the government with no strings attached - good deal if you can get it.

Employers are the problem. Greed, selfishness, and the need to control are a few of traits to be a succesfull business owner. these days, you have to be a little cut-throat. The employee is the only thing that gets stepped on and ignored. Yet expected to give 200%, while recieving a lot less than 100%. The money shuffle and "projected losses" specious tax filings, outright robbery are the benchmarks of sucess. No one ever got rich being a "nice guy".

Your article has many "snippits" of truth. However, there are some real contradications that fail to reconcile your theory.

During "time of social mobility...WWII to 1970s" most blacks were restrained from social mobility and we had a relatively limited amount of immigration. This meant that the social mobility was provided to middle and lower class whites, while being denied to "others." During our current era, higher (legal and illegal) immigration, together with some greater opportunities for blacks, has meant that many jobs blacks did in the past are now occupied by low-paid immigrants. The faces have changed, but the problems persist.

Even though I am an advocate for a massive increase in incentive-based educational financial support for the lower socioeconomic classes to motivate the lower economic class kids to strive for higher education, I think the whole idea of a social mobility ladder is a clever way of justifying the law of the jungle. Just tell the chimps that one day they can be top-chimp, so that each will wait and hope for that day. Meanwhile, the one at the top has no motivation to make a change. When we recognize how primate instinct permeates our social structure, I believe we can work to see through the unfairness of our system and devise a "balance of power" where the king-monkeys stop hoarding all the bananas. Monkeys do not have French Revolutions, but humans can be brought to that if change does not move fast enough.

Vive La Chimpanzee Revolutionaire!

Upward mobility has been stifled for a very long time and is now becoming very evident.
Restoration of the free enterprise system brand of capitalism; instead of the elite corporate brand we have will help a lot.
A major overhaul of the IRS policies who routinely target small startup business's would go a long way to that end.

It is not a suprise that rise and fall of upward mobility and the growing gap between rich and poor mirrors the rise and fall of the private sector Organized Labor movement in America. Organized Labor provides a means to hold some the excess that naturally occur in a capitalistic society in check. We would be well served as a country to stop or campaign of beating up on this group and give them the tools to function more effectively.

There is nothing wrong with the person that fixes your toilet, installs your cable system, or makes and repairs your automoblie being able to afford a home, buy a new car once in a while and send thier children to college.

A good place to start would be the prompt passage of the Employee Free Choice Act now before Congress.

It is not suprising to me that the rise and fall of the middle class wage earner closely mirrors the rise and fall of the private sector organized labor movement. We have had decades now of a system that looks down on the contributions of blue collar / hands on workers that are essential for any society to function. A solution would entail a shift in the way we view our working people. There is essentially no valid reason that the person installing your cable TV system should not make a living wage, be able to afford private home ownership, send his/her kids to college etc...

The passage of the Employee Free Choice Act would be a good place to start.

This economic system that we are familiar with requires capital to generate more capital. When there are so many players who have the resources already (and with basic competition) they will surely cut everyone else's chances. The large slice of the pie is simply not big enough for some.

It's also worth to note that a society (in any capital based market) cannot function efficiently without cheap and plentiful labour. The skilled and unskilled working class will always be needed in order to ensure the profits stay on top. Any particular country that provides abundant social mobility relies on another exploited society to fill that niche. This is done through a foreign workforce and/or free market globalisation.

This economic system that we are familiar with requires capital to generate more capital. When there are so many players who have the resources already (and with basic competition) they will surely cut everyone else's chances. The large slice of the pie is simply not big enough for some.

It's also worth to note that a society (in any capital based market) cannot function efficiently without cheap and plentiful labour. The skilled and unskilled working class will always be needed in order to ensure the profits stay on top. Any particular country that provides abundant social mobility relies on another exploited society to fill that niche. This is done through a foreign workforce and/or free market globalisation.