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The economy is the best its ever been, but wealth inequality is the worst its ever been. The cost of living has gone up far, far faster than income has, while w

The economy is the best its ever been, but wealth inequality is the worst its ever been. The cost of living has gone up far, far faster than income has, while wages have stagnated or dropped, meaning people these days are earning less money and have more expenses than before. To hear someone who was making $10/hour out of college and bought a home for $40,000 say that the reason millennials can't buy a home today is because they're buying avocado toast and not because equivalent homes cost $1.6 million today is infuriating. Relatively speaking, millennials are doing better, frugally, than baby boomers were (saving more, spending less, etc), but the cost of the things that people are complaining about has grown exponentially. Meanwhile, almost all of the growth of the economy has gone towards the top 1% of people. If you look at, for example, Canada, the average CEO makes as much by January 2nd as the average worker does by December 31st. CEO pay growth over the last few decades has skyrocketed (compared to inflation, worker wages, or even corporate profits), while worker wages basically track inflation. In other words, people are making the same amount of money as people 50 years ago, even though a lot of things cost more (e.g. housing). Blaming the economy inequality on the fact that people aren't willing to take on second jobs ignores the fact that wealth and power is all being concentrated in a small number of people and the rest of us are forced to fight over what they're willing to leave behind for everyone else.

throwaway84742 9y ago
Demand more money. You’re now in a position to do so.
Consultant32452 9y ago
Do you actually care about the well-being of the poor, or do you just hate the rich? Because you seem much more concerned about the relative difference between the rich and the poor than you do about the nominal well-being of anyone. Population densities have increased and it's more expensive to live in cities. That's for sure. We opened up free trade which gave the American middle class a minor kick in the pants at the expense of bringing huge swaths of India and China up to a position of basic food security, increased healthcare, education, and just about every other measurement of well-being you can think of. Your essential argument is that from a relative perspective the American middle class is not as well off as it was during a unique time following WWII during which the American middle class reached the highest levels of relative wealth in the history of the planet. Okay, but they're still nominally better off than they were back then and an almost unimaginable number of people have had their lives dramatically improved across the globe in the process.
- Frondo 9y ago
  No one's talking about hating the rich here but you. We can all care about societal inequality, and how it probably suggests that the levers of civilization need to be jiggered a bit, without hating anyone. I think housing in the PNW is way unaffordable but that doesn't mean I hate either the developers, the planners, or the numerous other social and geographical factors that have led to this situation. In short, please don't bring up things like "hate the rich" when no one else is.
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    Your primary complaint could have all the wind taken out of its sails if we just magically took all the money away from wealthy people and burned it. Because wealth inequality would go down. It wouldn't actually help anyone, but wealth inequality would go down. Affordable housing is a problem best addressed by the people who live in the areas that have a lack of affordable housing. It's not something that needs addressing on the national scale.
    - your-nanny 9y ago
      It might help, actually. Your assumption is that what the rich do with their mmonet doesn't actually hurt the poor; but it can. Itcab be used to purchase narratives and political influence in ways deeply harmful
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - Consultant32452 9y ago
        You're still focusing your attention on supposed bad behavior of the rich rather than the wellbeing of the poor. If you think the poor need something, like say more funding for inner city schools, then say that and suggest a reasonable tax, perhaps a tax on luxury goods that would disproportionately affect the wealthy. Or if there's a specific bad behavior, such as pharmaceutical advertising, talk about that. But just complaining about wealth inequality sounds more like hating the rich than caring about the poor.
sokoloff 9y ago
> The cost of living has gone up far, far faster than income has, while wages have stagnated or dropped, meaning people these days are earning less money and have more expenses than before. Common talking point, not borne out by data. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16682711 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16682711 for references.

throwaway84742 9y ago

Demand more money. You’re now in a position to do so.

Consultant32452 9y ago

Do you actually care about the well-being of the poor, or do you just hate the rich? Because you seem much more concerned about the relative difference between the rich and the poor than you do about the nominal well-being of anyone. Population densities have increased and it's more expensive to live in cities. That's for sure. We opened up free trade which gave the American middle class a minor kick in the pants at the expense of bringing huge swaths of India and China up to a position of basic food security, increased healthcare, education, and just about every other measurement of well-being you can think of. Your essential argument is that from a relative perspective the American middle class is not as well off as it was during a unique time following WWII during which the American middle class reached the highest levels of relative wealth in the history of the planet. Okay, but they're still nominally better off than they were back then and an almost unimaginable number of people have had their lives dramatically improved across the globe in the process.

Frondo 9y ago
No one's talking about hating the rich here but you. We can all care about societal inequality, and how it probably suggests that the levers of civilization need to be jiggered a bit, without hating anyone. I think housing in the PNW is way unaffordable but that doesn't mean I hate either the developers, the planners, or the numerous other social and geographical factors that have led to this situation. In short, please don't bring up things like "hate the rich" when no one else is.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  Your primary complaint could have all the wind taken out of its sails if we just magically took all the money away from wealthy people and burned it. Because wealth inequality would go down. It wouldn't actually help anyone, but wealth inequality would go down. Affordable housing is a problem best addressed by the people who live in the areas that have a lack of affordable housing. It's not something that needs addressing on the national scale.
  - your-nanny 9y ago
    It might help, actually. Your assumption is that what the rich do with their mmonet doesn't actually hurt the poor; but it can. Itcab be used to purchase narratives and political influence in ways deeply harmful
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - Consultant32452 9y ago
      You're still focusing your attention on supposed bad behavior of the rich rather than the wellbeing of the poor. If you think the poor need something, like say more funding for inner city schools, then say that and suggest a reasonable tax, perhaps a tax on luxury goods that would disproportionately affect the wealthy. Or if there's a specific bad behavior, such as pharmaceutical advertising, talk about that. But just complaining about wealth inequality sounds more like hating the rich than caring about the poor.

sokoloff 9y ago

> The cost of living has gone up far, far faster than income has, while wages have stagnated or dropped, meaning people these days are earning less money and have more expenses than before. Common talking point, not borne out by data. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16682711 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16682711 for references.