Is this a fair assessment of the two tiered economy?

[DaveJ]

I may be mistaken but the U.S. currently is a rich country. As a result, most who live in the U.S. are more (fiscally) fortunate than most others around the globe.

Therefore, where is the dividing line in this two tiered economy? I would contend that it is whether or not you own your own home. I know many who own their own home will still contend that they are poor, but not compared to those who, against their desires, can't. Correct? Even if the ownership is only on paper, a mortgage, is still represents the idea that one day the home will be yours to retire to.

I've known since day one that whether one can own one's own home is a matter of credit ratings and income versus expenses. But regardless of hard work, or that person's capabilities, some people are left out to dry. Those people are the bottom tier, correct? All their money that goes to rent goes to a landlord who is fortunate enough to own the property, or perhaps some middle eastern banker who is fortunate enough to own the property.

A member of the bottom tier he has no option to spend his money elsewhere than rent. He probably is spending more in rent than others spend on a house payment but he has no choice. He is the bottom tier. Even churches refuse to acknowledge him as an active parishioner because he can't afford the weekly donation requirement. He is not a part of the American dream, even though he may have perfect work credentials, work 11 hours per day, and do everything else to be responsible. He is on the bottom tier and nothing will change it. He will never be able to retire, not having a home, and work until he dies.

Can anyone possibly point to a better dividing line?

[cornermouse]

1. If he's renting, he's making the house payment for the landlord.

He may not know it, but that's what he's doing. The thing that he lacks is the ability to get enough money together to make a down payment.

[DaveJ]

2. Many do know but have no choice

Say someone has a college loan payment and never gets a job equivalent to his abilities, or medical bills, or some other unique circumstance that makes him unable to qualify for a mortgage. People think they are able to make judgments on others based on their financial situations, but they have no way of knowing the precise series of events were leading up to them. All that we know for sure is there are have's, who will have a home, and the have not's who never will.

What bothers me is this. Say someone, for whatever reason, is fortunate enough to have $500k. Suddenly that person is able to buy rental units and for the rest of his life have interruptible income for doing next to nothing. I understand that guy may have earned the $500k, but how does that give him the right to sit for the rest of his life and collect free money? If he wants to earn another $500k work for it. But no. It just points to how our two tiered economy works.

[dcfirefighter]

3. You'd probably like this book

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=cV1LprZB71&isbn=1596051507&itm=4

regarding landownership.

[cornermouse]

5. It bothers me too.

I agree we have a two tiered society which extends into medical care. People with plenty of money are going to live longer than most of us simply because they can afford to see the doctor when they stub their toe, they can afford to pay for extra time in the hospital instead of getting jettisoned out the door like the rest of us, or they can afford to have a nurse come in and take care of them.

[DaveJ]

6. Money doesn't mean a person's 'better'

That's exactly what Repugs think, and it's completely wrong. I know someone who is unable to find a decent paying job, and who each and every Repug would consider the epitome of a social leach. They could not care less about her person situation. Her mom was a drug abusing biker who spent time in prison for welfare fraud. Her biological father abused her and 3 subsequent stepfathers abused her too. One finally put a gun to her head and said 'leave or I'll kill you' when she was 17. Can you blame her that she left home before graduating HS, and ended up with 2 kids and a husband who was nice in the beginning but abused her after her 2 kids were born? What do Repugs expect, that she just pick herself up by her bootstraps, get a college education despite her dyslexia and a myriad of other medical ailments and kids to support, and suddenly get a $40k job? Is she going to be a Repug? Of course not... because every Repug thinks she is to scum of the Earth. Even a church recently said she isn't donating enough money so can't go there anymore. Yet she actually is the strongest woman on the Earth for surviving what she's been through. Money is not a determinant of self worth, and the U.S. should not be a country which allows her to be a sacrificial lamb.

[applegrove]

4. There is a line & that is what the GOP wants to smash with SS reform.

By putting the working poor into the market with stocks ... the working poor will be dependant on the market (even though that does not improve their SS returns one lick & indeed creates great risk and costs the working poor do not pay these days).

That is what the GOP & Rove are up to with their policies that are involve no net 'policy gain' but massive 'political gain'.

It is all about smashing that line.. They use "patriotism" too to get people to vote against their own best interests. That is an old thing that Disrali came up with to get conservative votes when the numbers who benefit from conservative policies do not make up enough to get voted into office - so they extend conservatism into being "patriotic" and get the poor or lower middle class to vote on that. Patriotism doesn't actually pan out in jobs or anything but war really. And war they like because it means government spending is getting the economy going - but not in ways that make people grateful to government or respect government programs. They hate it when the economy is 'got going' through spending on education or unemployment insurance or the like. Because that creates more grateful democrats or liberals.