Quote:
Originally Posted by slowmover
Moving to where “opportunity” lays is the “answer”.
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Yes, but only to a degree. The worldwide tendency is that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Many experts say this tendency is here to stay.
A lot is to blame to the same thing that led to the creation of the middle class in the first place, the industrial revolution. Back when the industrial revolution began it created the need for many workers. It made many people rise up out of poorer conditions since it was still profitable to the rich to pay more to the poor. The standard of living rose in many parts of the world as a result.
But now the technology that we have built is actually making more jobs less necessary. Machines now can run themselves without the need for near as many workers. When cars can drive themselves better than humans can, who will need drivers? When robots can perform surgery better than surgeons, who will need doctors? Computers can already monitor bank accounts and keep records of transactions and make automatic payments with little help from humans. The world being ran by robots sounds like science fiction, but it's a reality that is already started.
Many are recognizing the trends caused by this. I read a recent article that said Millennials, who generally are stereotyped and are blamed for not buying enough new homes and cars, actually are on this trend because they can't make enough money, not because they prefer to living in Mom's basement playing videogames. The study stated that Millennials have basically the same working and buying habits that previous generations did and are even very comparable to the Baby Boomers. The difference is that Millennials are feeling the technology takeover in the world of labor and therefore simply have less opportunities to make as much money.
Sure, there still are those who can strike it rich. But you need more talent, skills, be willing to work more or to born in the right family more so than back in later half of the 20th century in order to make it into that higher standard of living.