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I also wondered the same thing and sought out data on it a while back. I provided those data in this thread here [1]. The gist of it is that our hypothesis does

I also wondered the same thing and sought out data on it a while back. I provided those data in this thread here [1]. The gist of it is that our hypothesis does seem to be supported by the data. And I think it makes sense if you consider things in a thought experiment. In a nation with a king and a 100 impoverished citizens inequality would be mostly invisible. But now imagine our king decides he's been cruel keeping everything to himself. And so he decides to grant 10 of the citizens great tracts of lands means of production. Well now the inequality would become quite a bit more visible. Instead of just one king you now have 10% of the entire population living in the lap of luxury. The king realizes this is a problem and so decides to greatly expand the holdings of these 10 individuals and now grant an additional 30 individuals holdings comparable to what the 10 prior had. So now you have a king, 10 incredibly wealthy individuals, 30 wealthy individuals, and 60 commoners. But of course the problem becomes even more apparent. Now an entire 40% of the population is living in luxury while 60% feel completely left out. What made those 40% so special anyhow? As more and more people make their way to the top, even as a percent of society, the apparent inequality somehow grows. This feels paradoxical because if we look at things objectively society has become vastly better off as a whole, yet it would feel quite the opposite. And that does seem to be exactly what is happening to America today. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16952930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16952930

sgt101 9y ago
Most people are not interested in being as wealth as the king, or the nobles, but they are interested in having an extra pig and a hut that doesn't leak.
- TangoTrotFox 9y ago
  Until they have that pig and hut that doesn't leak. Look at the typical poor in the US just a matter of decades ago. No indoor plumbing, no electricity, certainly no air conditioning, etc, etc. Flour and feed sacks would even come with patterns and designs on them. The reason is that people were regularly fashioning clothes out of those sacks and the companies saw it as a selling point. Many of these things we really can't even imagine today. But of course people are not suddenly content. When the standard of living changes people take it for granted and then seek more. It's not a bad thing. This never-ending desire for more is undoubtedly a big part of the evolutionary drive that's brought us to where we are, but it also means people will never be content. Describe the life of the poor today to people from not all that long ago and it would seem like we live in a utopia - air conditioning, electric toys, color television, cars, regular access to food, indoor plumbing? But of course we see things quite differently! And I expect in a few hundred years we'd see the lives of the poor of that time as something like utopia, but they too will undoubtedly see things quite differently! Man's nature is a great and awful thing!

sgt101 9y ago

Most people are not interested in being as wealth as the king, or the nobles, but they are interested in having an extra pig and a hut that doesn't leak.

TangoTrotFox 9y ago
Until they have that pig and hut that doesn't leak. Look at the typical poor in the US just a matter of decades ago. No indoor plumbing, no electricity, certainly no air conditioning, etc, etc. Flour and feed sacks would even come with patterns and designs on them. The reason is that people were regularly fashioning clothes out of those sacks and the companies saw it as a selling point. Many of these things we really can't even imagine today. But of course people are not suddenly content. When the standard of living changes people take it for granted and then seek more. It's not a bad thing. This never-ending desire for more is undoubtedly a big part of the evolutionary drive that's brought us to where we are, but it also means people will never be content. Describe the life of the poor today to people from not all that long ago and it would seem like we live in a utopia - air conditioning, electric toys, color television, cars, regular access to food, indoor plumbing? But of course we see things quite differently! And I expect in a few hundred years we'd see the lives of the poor of that time as something like utopia, but they too will undoubtedly see things quite differently! Man's nature is a great and awful thing!