Has the growing wealthy class in Calgary raised the cost of living substantially to the point where the lower middle class are now essentially poor? It seems to be a trend in a lot of places these days.
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Like him or hate him, this guy brings up some great points...
He brings up interesting statistics, i'm not sure if they are great points, unless his points are that poor people are better off today than poor people were 20 years ago.
I think his computer example almost hurts his argument. Sure poor people only get computers about 15 years later than rich people, but that's an eternity and in order to stay competitive and move up the socio-economic ladder, you need the latest technologies.
Do you think a child without a computer in their home isn't a significant disadvantage compared to their peers? They are a necessity in today's day and age.
Not necessarily. Rather than compare neighbourhoods as they have done with this study, I think it would have been more useful and informative to compare income levels, and growth, based on education.
If the income inequality is primarily due to a segment of society not completing their education or furthering their education, I don't see inequality in growth of incomes as the problem HuffPost is trying to make it.
The other important factor is that Calgary is an entrepreneurial city. Much of the wealth generated in this city is by people starting a new business, then cashing in on the growth in the value of that business somewhere down the line. Wealth generated by entrepreneurial activity should not be included in a study about income disparities (IMO).
Oil-and-gas companies such as EnCana are constantly looking for new people.
Unskilled and semi-skilled labourers are paid $18 to $28 an hour, with 90 per cent of people making more than $24, according to Platoon Oilfield Construction Services, a company that hires workers for oil-and-gas companies.
Journeymen pipefitters and welders make the big bucks - they rake in anywhere from $85 to $105 an hour.
And workers from out of town don't need to worry about hotel or food costs. Most workers are given $150 a day for room and board, and it's up to them to decide whether to be thrifty or spend the whole amount.
Based on these numbers, a welder working year-round could potentially make around $200,000 a year and receive $54,000 for room and board.
I think another point needs to be made, poor people are making some pretty stupid choices with their limited funds but no one would ever suggest it's their own fault would they?
Right now in Alberta, everyone has the chance to make a very good living, there is a small segment of the population whether it's illness(mental or physical) or sadly just a lack of intelligence, who won't ever be able to hold down a decent paying job and that is unfortunate, and personally i don't have a problem helping those people out. I definately think AISH benefits need to be improved.
But for the vast majority, it comes down to choices, you can choose a easier job, or one that you love, or one that gives you more flexibility and time off. Or you can go out there and bust your butt for a job you might not like but brings home the bacon.
The thing is, none of those choices are wrong, depending on your personal motivation. But it becomes annoying when someone takes a "easy" job, then turns around and complains because some guy he knows just came back from his first shift on the rigs with a $6000 check in his hands.
It's funny they single out Calgary, because if you're motivated there are very few places in the world where you have the oppourtunity to break out of poverty, then in Calgary and Alberta in general.
In the last 25 years, Calgarys all grown up, the people at the top have busted ass, made moves, taken risks and been rewarded. The people at the bottom have been content to do the same BS they were content to do 25 years ago.
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Do you think a child without a computer in their home isn't a significant disadvantage compared to their peers? They are a necessity in today's day and age.
I can't speak for a child where it probably would be a useful tool in but as a adult I completely disagree. Outside of the workplace, having a personal computer has almost nothing to do with your ability to break out of poverty and earn a decent living. I would go as far as to say if you took away the ability to waste time on your computer/xbox, a lot of these poor people would be better off.
Infact I've been talking with friends lately about ditching the computer all together. I've been cableless for years, gave away my Wii long ago and use the xbox once in a blue moon when people are over, who knows maybe this will be my last ever post on CP
In the last 25 years, Calgarys all grown up, the people at the top have busted ass, made moves, taken risks and been rewarded. The people at the bottom have been content to do the same BS they were content to do 25 years ago.
25 years from now, Calgary will be an even more vibrant city, and probably the economic center of Canada. There will be a bunch of new people at the top who are currently busting their balls to get there, while at the same time there will be a bunch of people at the bottom, many of whom are currently being lazy and not taking the opportunity to go out there and accomplish something so that 25 years from now they too can say they are at the top.
Of course that excludes those that can't help themselves, and like you I agree with allocating time and money to helping them. As a rich province, Alberta should be leading the way.
IMO, the gap will always be there. What is important is making sure the opportunity is there as well for EVERYONE.
Would they be counted as Calgarians though (for the purposes of these statistics)?
Some of them yes.
Some don't even work on the rigs, but are instead working construction in Calgary.
There is work out there if you want to do it.
Alberta labor shortage? Companies are hiring. People just have to be willing to put in the hours. And quite frankly a lot of 'poor' people can't do that.
25 years from now, Calgary will be an even more vibrant city, and probably the economic center of Canada. There will be a bunch of new people at the top who are currently busting their balls to get there, while at the same time there will be a bunch of people at the bottom, many of whom are currently being lazy and not taking the opportunity to go out there and accomplish something so that 25 years from now they too can say they are at the top.
In the late 1970's, a little more than 30 years ago, the running joke during the First Boom was "Calgary's going to be a helluva city when they finish unpacking it," referencing the forest of construction cranes dominating the skyline at the time.
I suspect that's going to continue to be relevant 25 years into the future as well.
Cowperson
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I can't speak for a child where it probably would be a useful tool in but as a adult I completely disagree. Outside of the workplace, having a personal computer has almost nothing to do with your ability to break out of poverty and earn a decent living.
If you have a job and you're trying to get a better job the IT department tends to notice when you email your resume out twenty times in a single day.
"Hmmm...Employee X seems to be using ten times as much bandwidth as everyone else... Most common file... Resume_2011... Time to score points with my supervisor..."
If you have a job and you're trying to get a better job the IT department tends to notice when you email your resume out twenty times in a single day.
"Hmmm...Employee X seems to be using ten times as much bandwidth as everyone else... Most common file... Resume_2011... Time to score points with my supervisor..."
Speakings as an IT admin/manager, I have better things to do than watch individual user's bandwidth for kicks. Plus how much extra bandwidth could that be? 25 megs for 25 emails? How could that even be noticed? What is this 1991?
Am I the only one who finds comments like, "Poor people are only poor because they're lazy," to be incredibly ill-informed? Almost every day I see people working significantly harder than most of us middle- and upper-classers do, but they only make a fraction of what we earn. Are you really going to call a single parent who works long hours at two jobs but is barely scraping by when it comes to providing for his or her family "lazy"? There are many systemic reasons why poor children grow up to be poor adults, and work ethic/laziness is not part of the problem for the majority of them.
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I accuse no one of being lazy, but the question I ask is this.
Can you take a person that digs ditches and clears streets and scrubs toilets and put them into a well paid middle or upper class person today? No. Can you take the upper or middle classer and put them in those jobs? Yes.
The people that work in well paying jobs have in my mind worked just as hard in different ways, sacrificed just as much if not more, and invested in their career, gained the skills and experiences and are full merit for what they make when there's heavy competition for those positions.
We can cry and bemoan why one person's $170k as anothers $24,000k but income disparity and vast income disparity is a fact of life when there are skill, knowledge and behaviour factors involved in a job.
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Can you take a person that digs ditches and clears streets and scrubs toilets and put them into a well paid middle or upper class person today? No. Can you take the upper or middle classer and put them in those jobs? Yes.
The people that work in well paying jobs have in my mind worked just as hard in different ways, sacrificed just as much if not more, and invested in their career, gained the skills and experiences and are full merit for what they make when there's heavy competition for those positions.
I absolutely agree with this, but the underlying cause is almost always related to one's upbringing, not one's personal work ethic.
Statistically, the #1 indicator to predict the future success (or lack thereof) of a given person is the financial stature of his or her parents. When parents are better off, they're more likely to take an active interest in their children's education and involve them in extra-curricular activities. Both of these make it far more likely for the child to complete post-secondary education, which in turn makes it more likely for him or her to land a successful middle or upper class job as an adult.
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