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This is fantastically written, but I hesitate to upvote it out of fear it will increase public support for forcible income redistribution and other forms of cen
by CryptoPunk 9y ago
This is fantastically written, but I hesitate to upvote it out of fear it will increase public support for forcible income redistribution and other forms of centralization.
On the subject of Japan: people overestimate its wealth. It industrialized much more recently than the West, and even pre-industrialization, was behind economically and technologically. What the society has accomplished in such a short period of time is impressive, but looking at its buildings it's clear that it still trails the West in capital concentration.
In any case, there's more to a society than wealth. The orderliness and safety of Japanese society makes for a standard of living that is much higher than it otherwise would be. There are a lot of intangible and hard to quantify benefits to feeling safe in person and property when outside your home at any time of day or night.
- emodendroket 9y ago"I liked this post about poverty, but I hesitate to upvote it because I fear it will increase public support for alleviating poverty."
- CryptoPunk 9y agoI believe such policies retard economic development, which is the only way to alleviate poverty.
- emodendroket 9y agoI mean there's only so much of the islands they can pave over before a new strategy is needed.
- CryptoPunk 9y agoExpanding the area of land occupied by buildings and machines is not all economic development encompasses.
- tmnvix 9y agoDo you agree with any form of wealth redistribution? If you don't, I have nothing more to say. If you do, I would have to ask to what extent, and how do you arrive at this amount if poverty plays no part in your estimation?
- CryptoPunk 9y agoNo, I do not believe in forcible wealth redistribution.
- kalleboo 9y agoThe US has some of the highest economic development in the world, but it also has some of the highest poverty in the developed world. I don't see any correlation between economic development and lack of poverty once a country has raised itself out of developing status.
- CryptoPunk 9y agoThe US is a very large country, both in terms of population, and in terms of geography. That will naturally lead to more diversity in socioeconomic status. Alabama is not really comparable to Massachusetts for example. It's also more ethnically and racially diverse, which will contribute to greater disparity. Given poverty is a relative measure, this greater variability in socioeconomic status between regions will lead to higher poverty rates in the US.
- kalleboo 9y ago> Alabama is not really comparable to Massachusetts for example So Alabama shouldn't be counted as a developed country? > It's also more ethnically and racially diverse aaand now it's the black people's fault > greater variability in socioeconomic status between regions will lead to higher poverty rates Yes inequality leads to higher poverty rates. Hence why economic redistribution is a useful tool to reduce inequality.
- CryptoPunk 9y ago>So Alabama shouldn't be counted as a developed country? Do you understand what poverty being a relative measure means? If Alabama were its own country, the poverty line would be much lower than the US poverty line. >aaand now it's the black people's fault Why would you deliberately make such an offensive strawman of my comment? What's your motive?
- Feniks 9y agoFunny, my socialist country ended up with a small surplus in the budget last year. Meanwhile the US has a trillion deficit.
- emodendroket 9y agoI don't agree with that guy but I don't know what surplus/deficit has to do with it.
- emodendroket 9y agoI also wonder which country we're talking about because, really, what extant government could be described as "socialist"? All of this guy's post history seems to be making critical posts about the US, some of which strike me as pretty wide of the mark.
- msla 9y agoMeasuring things like this in terms of surplus/deficit indicates economic illiteracy.