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Talking about cost of living is avoiding the underlying point. Would you rather live in a society where everyone just gets enough to survive, or one where ever

Talking about cost of living is avoiding the underlying point. Would you rather live in a society where everyone just gets enough to survive, or one where everyone gets enough to survive, half can afford basic consumer goods, and the other half can afford luxury consumer goods? A significant number of people would genuinely pick the former. Some people really do think the pursuit of equality is just even if it makes everyone worse off.

CydeWeys 8y ago
I think this is a strawman argument. I really don't believe there are a significant number of people that would rather have everyone be poor so long as they're equally poor.
- manfredo 8y ago
  Plenty of people support policies that do exactly that. Plenty of people also have positive opinions of, say, the Cuban revolution despite all the metrics indicating that the overwhelming majority of Cubans were ultimately worse off because of it.
  - CydeWeys 8y ago
    You're moving the goalposts now from "people actively want this" to "people support policies that I say have this as a side effect".
    - manfredo 8y ago
      There really are people who think that eliminating inequality is worth it even if it makes everyone worse off, and say so explicitly. Usually they try to frame it as having some sort of positive externalities, but when you dig deep and probe specifically they will say that lowering inequality is good even if it leaves everyone worse off. I've met plenty of these people. Maybe I'm exposed to this view more often than you seeing as I live in San Francisco.
      - CydeWeys 8y ago
        I don't live in SF so I can't speak to that, but I really don't think this is a widely held view. It sounds very fringe.
    - dahdum 8y ago
      It's not just people supporting policies with that effect (like the GND). I've met plenty of people pushing for equality of outcome over opportunity, and seriously proposing confiscating all the wealth of the rich to do so.

CydeWeys 8y ago

I think this is a strawman argument. I really don't believe there are a significant number of people that would rather have everyone be poor so long as they're equally poor.

manfredo 8y ago
Plenty of people support policies that do exactly that. Plenty of people also have positive opinions of, say, the Cuban revolution despite all the metrics indicating that the overwhelming majority of Cubans were ultimately worse off because of it.
- CydeWeys 8y ago
  You're moving the goalposts now from "people actively want this" to "people support policies that I say have this as a side effect".
  - manfredo 8y ago
    There really are people who think that eliminating inequality is worth it even if it makes everyone worse off, and say so explicitly. Usually they try to frame it as having some sort of positive externalities, but when you dig deep and probe specifically they will say that lowering inequality is good even if it leaves everyone worse off. I've met plenty of these people. Maybe I'm exposed to this view more often than you seeing as I live in San Francisco.
    - CydeWeys 8y ago
      I don't live in SF so I can't speak to that, but I really don't think this is a widely held view. It sounds very fringe.
  - dahdum 8y ago
    It's not just people supporting policies with that effect (like the GND). I've met plenty of people pushing for equality of outcome over opportunity, and seriously proposing confiscating all the wealth of the rich to do so.