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It costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack with no running water or electricity and eat rice and beans for every meal everywhere. This whole "cost of

It costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack with no running water or electricity and eat rice and beans for every meal everywhere. This whole "cost of living" thing is a rationalization to make westerners feel better.

asutekku 7y ago
I’m pretty sure a bag of rice is way more cheaper in the countries where it is produced versus the countries where it’s exported. In some countries it’s more expensive to be poor than in others.
- fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
  $8.43 gets you 20 pounds of rice in the west, 42 cents a pound. How much cheaper could it be? Put it this way, India is a relatively wealthy nation and a large proportion of middle class Indians don't have flush toilets. How can you compare that to a middle class European with a straight face? It's not that the cost of living is lower it's that standards of living are. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-Rice-20-lb https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-R...
Aaargh20318 7y ago
> It costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack with no running water or electricity and eat rice and beans for every meal everywhere. No it doesn't. First of all, the price of land can vary wildly. One square meter in the middle of Amsterdam will be a bit more than a square meter in Bumfuck, Alabama. IF you can buy land at all, in some places you can only lease it (you could own a home, but not the ground it sits on). Then there's all kinds of taxes you'd have to pay, just for owning that piece of land. A 19.5ft by 8ft parking spot in London was on the market a few years back for £350,000, and you won't even be allowed to build a shed on it, just park your car. An empty lot without even a tin shack can cost more than a mansion, depending on location.
- fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
  You are comparing living in the one of the most expensive cities in the world to someone living in Zimbabwe as if they are remotely the same thing. Only 40% of Zimbabwean people have access to toilets, what do you think that number is in London?
  - Aaargh20318 7y ago
    > You are comparing living in the one of the most expensive cities in the world to someone living in Zimbabwe as if they are remotely the same thing. Yes, that was my point, they aren't the same thing at all. It's complete bullshit to say that it costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack everywhere, as it clearly doesn't.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    I'm not aware of anywhere in the UK that will allow you to buy land and build a tin shack on it. Does an entire country count? Hell, most Western European countries will probably have something to say about it if the authorities find out you're living without water and waste. Your minimum is probably a well, septic tank, permits and so on, this is if you even get planning permission. It's almost certainly going to be cheaper to buy an old terraced house in a post industrial town.
    - fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
      Those damn Zimbabweans if only they made it a law that you have to have clean drinking water then everyone would have it!

asutekku 7y ago

I’m pretty sure a bag of rice is way more cheaper in the countries where it is produced versus the countries where it’s exported. In some countries it’s more expensive to be poor than in others.

fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
$8.43 gets you 20 pounds of rice in the west, 42 cents a pound. How much cheaper could it be? Put it this way, India is a relatively wealthy nation and a large proportion of middle class Indians don't have flush toilets. How can you compare that to a middle class European with a straight face? It's not that the cost of living is lower it's that standards of living are. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-Rice-20-lb https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-R...

Aaargh20318 7y ago

> It costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack with no running water or electricity and eat rice and beans for every meal everywhere. No it doesn't. First of all, the price of land can vary wildly. One square meter in the middle of Amsterdam will be a bit more than a square meter in Bumfuck, Alabama. IF you can buy land at all, in some places you can only lease it (you could own a home, but not the ground it sits on). Then there's all kinds of taxes you'd have to pay, just for owning that piece of land. A 19.5ft by 8ft parking spot in London was on the market a few years back for £350,000, and you won't even be allowed to build a shed on it, just park your car. An empty lot without even a tin shack can cost more than a mansion, depending on location.

fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
You are comparing living in the one of the most expensive cities in the world to someone living in Zimbabwe as if they are remotely the same thing. Only 40% of Zimbabwean people have access to toilets, what do you think that number is in London?
- Aaargh20318 7y ago
  > You are comparing living in the one of the most expensive cities in the world to someone living in Zimbabwe as if they are remotely the same thing. Yes, that was my point, they aren't the same thing at all. It's complete bullshit to say that it costs pretty much the same to live in a tin shack everywhere, as it clearly doesn't.
- esotericn 7y ago
  I'm not aware of anywhere in the UK that will allow you to buy land and build a tin shack on it. Does an entire country count? Hell, most Western European countries will probably have something to say about it if the authorities find out you're living without water and waste. Your minimum is probably a well, septic tank, permits and so on, this is if you even get planning permission. It's almost certainly going to be cheaper to buy an old terraced house in a post industrial town.
  - fuzz4lyfe 7y ago
    Those damn Zimbabweans if only they made it a law that you have to have clean drinking water then everyone would have it!