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Wow. Talk about "when all you have is a hammer."
by Albright 11y ago
Wow. Talk about "when all you have is a hammer."
- erbo 11y agoDamn. You took the words right out of my mouth.
- notacoward 11y agoWow. Talk about gratuitous negativity. Lots of people have a favorite theory about where Daesh came from. Blame Bush. Blame Obama. Blame Islam. Blame oil companies. At least this hammer isn't one we're already sick of hearing. What do you actually think is wrong with Piketty's analysis, other than the fact that he has actually published on this topic before?
- xirdstl 11y agoI think he meant that "income inequality" is the hammer, as the source of every one of society's ills.
- GuiA 11y agoYes, to which 'notacoward replied: "What do you actually think is wrong with Piketty's analysis, other than the fact that he has actually published on this topic before?"
- notacoward 11y agoUnderstood, but why do you think that hammer is out of place here? A hammer is still a useful tool for certain tasks, and a true statement doesn't cease being true when it's repeated. If Piketty is wrong, the constructive response would be to explain why.
- kaonashi 11y agoWhy address the substance when a glib dismissal will do?
- Bud 11y agoYou didn't address his argument at all. Just an ad hominem. Is that because you can't address it? Because his thesis seems quite reasonable to me. And historically, we certainly know that societies with extreme income inequality are less stable than those with more equality.
- nostromo 11y agoI'll address the argument. Lots of countries with high income inequality do not have a terrorism problem. When is the last time Brazilians terrorists attacked New York and/or Paris? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
- mikeash 11y agoYou are addressing a one-sentence summary of the argument, not the actual argument, which is much more complex than "income inequality results in terrorism."
- vezzy-fnord 11y agoOstensibly Brazil does, but domestically: http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/terrorism-in-brazil http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/terrorism-in-brazil
- Mikeb85 11y agoThere's over 50,000 violent deaths per year in Brazil. Not that the Paris attacks weren't bad, but yes, Brazil suffers from violence due to inequality.
- marknutter 11y agoOk, then how about China.
- Mikeb85 11y agoBelieve it or not, China has significantly less inequality than Brazil (as measured by the World Bank)... Not to mention a social net.
- dogecoinbase 11y ago"That is not an argument."
- mikeash 11y agoWhat if instead I said that the rise of the Islamic State can be traced back to dictators allowing a small elite to get rich off of oil, while oppressing and impoverishing the masses, who finally revolted? I'm guessing you might find that less objectionable even though it's just a specific rendering of "income inequality."
- rm_-rf_slash 11y agoWhile I agree, there is one point that must be considered: the Arab Spring directly sprang, if you will pardon the pun, from an extreme rise in the prices of basic staples, and the population of the Middle East didn't have the income buffer to compensate. Not being able to afford bread tends to lead to a lot of revolutions, or at least the breakdown of society. Just ask France.
- fleitz 11y agoI think that's the key there, it's not income inequality per se, but whether what meager income they have is enough to buy food.