Precisely, the job market has been changing at a dramatic pace. Many variables have been changing and stock holders still demand ever increasing profits every year. Also with unemployment starting to encroach on 3%, available jobs are becoming more scarce. Disallowing people to move around or upward, as there's no open positions to do that. If the workers at the bottom are putting in 40ish hours a week, then they should be able to make a living off that sort of work. Not a life of oppulance, but not living hand to mouth and only one missed paycheck away from eviction.
Kind of got off topic from the start of this thread.
Disallowing people to move around or upward, as there's no open positions to do that.
I would disagree here. I'm seeing that companies are having to pay more to fill positions now that workers are harder to find. For instance, one company I am affiliated with has raised their wages across the board from entry level to district management. I'm seeing this elsewhere too.
Kind of off topic but it all interrelates in one way or the other. I guess my overall point to the original topic is we can't make people too comfortable in poverty. I don't believe anyone should go hungry in this country, but right now it is too convenient to live off the work of others.
I agree that is a problem and it is not one that can solved solely by the worker you describe.
It seems like the tightening job market we are seeing now has offered some relief. I believe we need to further tighten the wage market with stricter immigration controls and tariffs to reduce jobs shipped out of the country.
Ever since NAFTA we have seen a steady flow of good paying jobs move out of the country and it is a sad state. Not everyone is going to be an engineer. We still need good paying factory and industrial jobs to make America work.