10 ms·

Not just racial disparities. Women make up slightly more than half the population. Even if we just limit our scope to white men, I don't see much argument for

Not just racial disparities. Women make up slightly more than half the population. Even if we just limit our scope to white men, I don't see much argument for the idea that white men have it nominally worse off today than they had it 50-80 years ago. I only see that they are not as far ahead of women and racial minorities as they were 50-80 years ago. And 70 years ago was the end of WWII. I assume it was an accident to include that in your range. Regarding the explosion of "disease of dispair", suicide, drug use, etc. I do acknowledge that but I don't see how it's related to the OP. The OP appeared to be talking about relative wealth as being socially disruptive. Let's run a thought experiment there. If we could magically decimate the wealth of everyone with over $1 Billion, without changing anything else, do you believe the "diseases of despair" situation would improve? I personally do not believe it would. My personal belief on that issue is that we've gained one kind of social safety net but lost another. There's seemingly countless ways in which the government offers programs to help people avoid certain kinds of suffering: unemployment insurance, medical care for the poor, disability insurance, social security, etc. But somehow we've managed to lose the other kind of social safety net... strong social ties to the community. I believe this latter thing is the root cause of the disease of despair, and I don't believe any check cut by the government, or any tax program that reduces the wealthy can resolve that problem. Just one anecdotal piece of evidence here is the TED talk about our lack of understanding of addiction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs

flukus 8y ago
50 years ago it was possible to buy a house and raise a family on a single working class income, this is rare now and becoming rarer. We've got bigger TV's and smart phones, but we've gone backwards where it counts. > But somehow we've managed to lose the other kind of social safety net... strong social ties to the community. When you're renting and don't have employment with long term stability it's a lot harder to put down roots. > I believe this latter thing is the root cause of the disease of despair, and I don't believe any check cut by the government A lot of that community comes from things like sports fields, scout halls and the like that governments pay for. Another thing that builds them is bars, but government is taxing the small community bars out of existence, at least around here.
- krapht 8y ago
  I dislike your first point because there's no comparing the quality of mass-produced housing 50 years ago and that of today's mass-produced housing. It IS possible to purchase a home on a single working class income - look up prices for a double wide trailer; put on foundation. They would also be roughly equivalent square footage, and the double-wide would actually be sturdier.
  - dwiel 8y ago
    It's not that simple. A lot in the midwestern college town I live in costs more than the inflation adjusted median total house+lot price from 70 years ago and trailers are against zoning laws.

flukus 8y ago

50 years ago it was possible to buy a house and raise a family on a single working class income, this is rare now and becoming rarer. We've got bigger TV's and smart phones, but we've gone backwards where it counts. > But somehow we've managed to lose the other kind of social safety net... strong social ties to the community. When you're renting and don't have employment with long term stability it's a lot harder to put down roots. > I believe this latter thing is the root cause of the disease of despair, and I don't believe any check cut by the government A lot of that community comes from things like sports fields, scout halls and the like that governments pay for. Another thing that builds them is bars, but government is taxing the small community bars out of existence, at least around here.

krapht 8y ago
I dislike your first point because there's no comparing the quality of mass-produced housing 50 years ago and that of today's mass-produced housing. It IS possible to purchase a home on a single working class income - look up prices for a double wide trailer; put on foundation. They would also be roughly equivalent square footage, and the double-wide would actually be sturdier.
- dwiel 8y ago
  It's not that simple. A lot in the midwestern college town I live in costs more than the inflation adjusted median total house+lot price from 70 years ago and trailers are against zoning laws.