Reading Census results sounds like a good Insomnia cure, or an eternal project reserved for those in the Seventh circle of hell, but – luckily for us – there are people turned on by huge amounts of data like this, and will gladly pass on the results of their research to those of us with a shorter attention span.
If you are so inclined, however, to get national pictures of the Western world, these reports can be fascinating. Especially now, when it is possible to see what effect a ‘wired, connected World’ and the global economy has meant to the populace in general. I am a fan of global markets, because I always felt that eventually it would lead to a better life for everyone. So why hasn’t it? Shouldn’t everyone be guaranteed a better daily existence for actually living in an area that not only runs this $60-Trillion per year economy? If all of the naysayers are correct, they are living with the guys that made the rules and run the game, so it would seem plausible to assume that everyone has been better off in the last 15 or so years. It isn’t true, though. While the world gets cheaper, it appears that this only raises the costs of R and D so that we are all buying more expensive ‘must haves’ than we did in the early ‘90’s. If you feel that your monthly check doesn’t go as far as it used to, you would be correct.
The reason for this is the advent of online business. When it costs less to do a task, then the rewards do not go to those that made it happen, it goes to those that made the decision. That’s Capitalism. I remember hearing in the early 90’s (Wow! College!!),that the cost of doing business on paper was about $1.60 per transaction when you put the cost of all those copies, faxes, and carbon paper together. The same transaction using online or e-documents is about 43 cents. What happens to the rest of the dough, bro?
Comparing censuses from pre-e-world and today, there are some startling winners and losers:
Winners: Anyone earning over $100,000 per year in the early 90’s is now earning more than double that figure. Everyone else is earning les, and I mean EVERYIONE. Startlingly, Men aged 25 to 40 are the biggest losers, earning about $4,000 per year less than a time when items were cheaper, and I was dancing to Rick Astley. Isn’t this the prime working cohort of any generation? Women in the same age group have stagnated, financially, and we all know that immigrants of a different colour aren’t even let into the job market.
At a time when we have all been encouraged to get specialized education for the ‘new, wired’ job market, and prices for almost everything have dropped, only those in charge of the private sector earn more, and have been gradually for almost two decade. After outsourcing their training needs to the individual, corporations are earning more profit, while poisoning the very bedrock we exist on in this space oasis.At a time when more women entered the job market, they were paid at a lower level for no reason other than that of procreative reasons that gave a smaller addition to the family wage than their male counterpart. It is this tiny amount that is solely responsible for a 19% rise over 25 years for working families – almost 1.25% per year for half a generation.
After 1995, when the West voted in more right wing governments, the gap between rich and poor actually began widening, and it still does 13 years later.“We will look after the books for you”. Was the election cry we all heard, and it benefited about 5% of the population. What is worse, these conservatives will blame the socialist parties that came before them for spending too much on social infrastructure, and the most needy in their society – so the ‘haves’ haven’t even been supporting the social causes that they should be mandated to do. Yes, they give away millions, but why not to healthcare? Why the local Ballet company?
How many people do you know that actively complete a census form? Because this is the kicker – all of this is only part if the problem. Without accurate data that we rely on the citizenry to report, we don’t know how bad the situation actually is.
Insomnia? I will be lucky if I don’t lose sleep reading this stuff.
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