[galieos_ghost]

Globalization, free trade deals, and illegal immigration only benefit corporations and shareholders. Jobs are outsourced to the country willing to take the worst deal, immigrants with no federal labor protection flood in lowering wages and living standards. Corporations pocket the labor saving rather than passing it on to consumers.

End result is increasing income inequality. If nothing is done we will return to the historical norm of peasants and wealthy nobles with nothing in between.

[ryan_j_naughton]

>Globalization, free trade deals, and illegal immigration only benefit corporations and shareholders

I'm sorry, but that is obviously not true.

In the case of illegal immigration, the illegal immigrant is definitely better off by finding a higher wage and safer life than in his/her home country. The average Central American working illegally in the US, while not afforded employment rights like a legal worker, is still unequivocally better off than his/her options in his/her home country.

Similarly globalization has been a major benefit to the poor in many developing countries. If you compare the median per capita GDP in countries like China, Vietnam, or any African country, it is immediately obvious that economic development and globalization has been good for them.

I think what you are referring to is the it has not been good for the average American while it has been good to elite/wealthy Americans.

But please don't misrepresent that it has only been a benefit to the few simply bc it hasn't helped the majority of people in developed countries. People in developing countries have been benefitted immensely.

[wool_gather]

It also does not seem to be the case, in the U.S. at least, that immigration depresses wages: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/jobs/2012/05/04/what-immigrat...

[crdoconnor]

It doesn't depress wages in aggregate but it certainly does depress wages of low skilled workers (your article seems to think it causes a -5% hit).

[pjc50]

Immigration also tends to benefit the immigrants themselves and their families, who should not be discounted in this.

[echotango]

There are 5 billion impoverished people who would move to a first world country and depress natives' wages to nil if given a chance. Those who haven't done so yet shouldn't be discounted either.

[Applejinx]

Technically, we're already there—in a world where iPhones are made about as easily and cheaply as they used to make pewter teapots.

Or worse. The amount of control and capital on that 'wealthy noble' side is way more than it's ever been at any time in history, and we are watching the kinds of damage they inflict when they're capable of that much more than just 'buying fancy tulip bulbs'. All it takes is a few crazy ones deciding the best thing to do is kill all the serfs, and their real power will show. We're already seeing it.