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by navane 629 days ago
We've had stagnant incomes for the last 50 years. The fruits of automation are not shared with the workers.

The small minority that keeps a country by the balls is not the unions but the owning class. The 2008 crash that put the whole world in a decade recession is collateral damage.
2 comments
throwawaybbq1 629 days ago
In the US? I don't think what you are saying is supported by real data. My understanding is that US works did see an improvement in incomes in the last decade but Canadian workers did not.

What makes life better for everyone is competition. Canada's stagnation can be be summed up in a single phrase - lack of competition. Generally, the US has been a free-for-all when it comes to competition and hence its populace enjoys some of the best living standards.

I'll also relate my experience traveling the subway in Asia vs. Manhattan. Asian transit seems like space-age compared to what we have in the West. I think UBI won't save us as the income must come from somewhere. Hiking taxes kills incentives. The better way is to have more freedom/efficiencies in my humble opinion.

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Enk1du 629 days ago
North America is very car-focused. Transit in Europe is also much better, although your experience will vary from country to country.

Even with all that oil money gushing through Alberta, it still takes 9.5 hours to drive from Medicine Hat to Grand Prairie - which is the same distance as Barcelona to Seville, a train journey of 5.5 hours including the changing of trains in Madrid.

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polski-g 628 days ago
It has not been stagnant for 50 years: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1uDSE
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navane 627 days ago
It has been: https://www.statista.com/statistics/185369/median-hourly-ear...

I guess we're at a stalemate now?

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