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"I put "poverty" in scare quotes because in India this would be considered "rich"" Yeah, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Yes, in India, that mig
by st3v3r 10y ago
"I put "poverty" in scare quotes because in India this would be considered "rich""
Yeah, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Yes, in India, that might be considered "rich". But he's not talking about India. He's talking about the US. And in the US, that amount of money would make you desperately poor. Further, if you could make that amount of money either doing hard, laborious work, or not doing anything, any rational person would do nothing, as it doesn't have the costs that labor have on the body.
If you really wanted to see that the person took the job as a maid, then what should happen is that they would get the safety net money as well. That way, there's an incentive to take the maid job. (One could also just raise the wages of the maid job, but nobody wants to do that).
- yummyfajitas 10y agoIf you don't like my informal description, look at the main graph in this article: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-the-have-nots/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-t... Branco Milanovic's numbers support the exact claim I made - 95'th percentile in India is approximately the bottom 5'th percentile in the US. THOSE NUMBERS ARE ADJUSTED FOR PURCHASING POWER. (I feel the need to heavily emphasize this since whenever I post that graph, people ignore this fact.)
- steakandpeas 10y agoI think it is worth noting that the graph you provide is based on data from 1998, and only includes data for rural india, since Milanovic's study split rural and urban india into two separate countries (with good statistical reason). But your claim only holds for a rural india to US comparison in 1998.
- ank_the_elder 10y agoAbout Eric Garner: > "At the time of the incident, he was out on bail for selling untaxed cigarettes, driving without a license, marijuana possession, and false impersonation." From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner You happily ignore all these circumstances surrounding his death and only mention cigarette sales, as if he was some sort of renegade, libertarian unlicensed cigarette salesman and nothing else. It's an interesting, deceptive way to use someone's death to surreptitiously effect an emotionally charged opinion on your readers. Bravo.
- st3v3r 10y agoBecause none of those circumstances are important. There is no way you can say those circumstances justified what happened. None.
- ank_the_elder 10y agoI don't know where you got the idea that his death was justified. Wouldn't mind a quote, as I never said that.
- st3v3r 10y agoBecause your numbers are absolutely meaningless. Yes, the amount of money a poor person has in America would make them wealthy in India. But they're not in India. They're in America. And in America, they're fucking poor. Stop trying to say otherwise.