[lbo-talk] US immiseration

[John Thornton]

James Heartfield wrote:
> How much worse off you are in the US:
>
> 1975
>
> life expectancy 71.4 (65 if you are black)
>
> Unemployment rate 9 per cent
>
> Youth literacy 80 % (1980)
>
> Human Development Index 0.875
>
>
> 2007
>
> life expectancy 77.9 (72.7 if you are black)
>
> infant mortality 'has been declining steadily for more than four decades' 
> Joyce Martin CDC
>
> Unemployment rate 4.6 per cent
>
> Youth (18-24) literacy 87 %
>
> Human development index 0.948
More cherry picking of data points and from what source?
Why choose 1975 (perhaps because it was an all-time high in post-war 
unemployment rather than representative of any era no matter how defined?)
In 1969 the unemployment rate was 3.4 according to the US Dept of labor. 
That's better than todays 4.6%.
The US Census claims literacy in 1960 was 97.6%  for those 14 and older 
and that the US had slipped to 96.8% in 2000 for those 14 and over.

Life expectancy has increased but why should one take this as evidence 
that Capitalism is not barbaric?
What evidence do you have that can attribute this gain to Capitalism?
Has uberCapitalist state the US outperformed a socialist state like Sweden?
Life expectancy there is higher there than the US.
You're grasping at straws James.

Incidentally I haven't seen it posted yet in this thread (admittedly I 
haven't read every word of every post) but the easy explanation to US 
overconsumption is debt.
In 1970 US citizens carried much less debt than they do today and had 
more savings.
This simple fact explains much of how people can purchase more "stuff" 
yet still experience falling wages over time.

John Thornton