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Perhaps I am an ignorant. A little background about me: * I live in NYC * I live with my parents, still very young as a recent grad * I don't make tons of mo

by yeukhon 11y ago

Perhaps I am an ignorant. A little background about me: * I live in NYC * I live with my parents, still very young as a recent grad * I don't make tons of money, but with overtime I probably make 80K? I don't really count my money these days. * I do spend money on monthly gym membership (I should suspend that to save $100 since I am too busy haven't been there for a few months), netflix and couple other stuff. * I give my parents allowance (almost half of my paycheck) to help with mortgage and stuff * I am single all the way (that seems to be a pretty saving...) * only been working full time for one year And yet, I am still able to afford nice meal if I wanted to, go to nice places if I wanted to. Of course my wallet will bleed and cry if I were to spend too much, but on a daily basis I have a comfortable life, so I don't really feel an economic hardship, I don't make millions and the wealth is still controlled by that 1%. It doesn't bother me, until, if I were to have kids to raise, and a mortgage entirely on me. I think the attitude toward economic inequality needs a context. If you want to go on a cruise 365 days of course we can't afford that. Going to Italy and France once a year? That's gonna bleed for most of us. But in case of affording a good meal? Little but not too much. Then for those who makes significantly less than I make, they will feel the pain the most and I don't see a way out of it.

burkaman 11y ago
I'm in a similar situation to you, but: * One year out of college, you're in the top 30% of the US: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-percent-map.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-p... * You didn't mention loans, so I'm assuming you were able to graduate college mostly or completely debt-free Just these two points mean you're doing better than most people in the US, and much better than most people in the world. You never have to worry about about food or shelter, you have plenty of disposable income, you can support your family. Your comment seems to be phrased as "I'm as average guy, and I can be happy with what I have", but you're not average. 80K is "tons of money" for most Americans your age, most people aren't so comfortable that they never have to worry about money, most people can't throw away $100 a month without noticing. So you're right, discussion about inequality does need a context, but your context is that you're well into the top half of society.

by yeukhon 11y ago

burkaman 11y ago

I'm in a similar situation to you, but: * One year out of college, you're in the top 30% of the US: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-percent-map.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-p... * You didn't mention loans, so I'm assuming you were able to graduate college mostly or completely debt-free Just these two points mean you're doing better than most people in the US, and much better than most people in the world. You never have to worry about about food or shelter, you have plenty of disposable income, you can support your family. Your comment seems to be phrased as "I'm as average guy, and I can be happy with what I have", but you're not average. 80K is "tons of money" for most Americans your age, most people aren't so comfortable that they never have to worry about money, most people can't throw away $100 a month without noticing. So you're right, discussion about inequality does need a context, but your context is that you're well into the top half of society.