8 ms·

>On every measurable metric, there has literally never been a better time to be alive and living in America. Not sure there has ever been a time so many people

>On every measurable metric, there has literally never been a better time to be alive and living in America. Not sure there has ever been a time so many people are in debt with no possibility of being able to repay. Consider 1M student loans go into default every year. That's 1M a year, mostly young people, who will have these loan debts for the rest of their lives with no way out. That's just 1 area of debt to highlight, but more of these young people will never buy a house, probably not own a car, likely not have families, and die younger than their parents. To tell these people there has literally never been a better time to be alive is an insult, any time in history was relatively good so long as you had wealth, the same is true today.

efa 7y ago
Young people with college degrees and debt will never own a car, never have a family? This seems like a gross exaggeration. I know many people with student debt and they all manage to have a car and relationships/families.
- throwaway_tech 7y ago
  >I know many people with student debt and they all manage to have a car and relationships/families. How many have defaulted on their loans? Again 1M default every year...how many do you know? Home ownership, car ownership and marriage are all down with this demographic and millennials overall.
- FussyZeus 7y ago
  It's not impossible but it shouldn't be this fuckin hard. I'm struggling personally in an in-demand industry with a competitive job, and I don't even have children. I own a home but it's in no small part thanks to family helping me out.
hcurtiss 7y ago
I guess, but every quintile is either improving or staying flat.[1] No quintile is declining. And poverty is declining too.[2] As a society, things are improving, though admittedly faster for some than others. [1] https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2019/11/26/u-s-household-incomes-a-50-year-perspective https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2019/11/2... [2] https://www3.nd.edu/~jsulliv4/2017%20Consumption%20Poverty%20Report%20Meyer%20Sullivan%20final.pdf https://www3.nd.edu/~jsulliv4/2017%20Consumption%20Poverty%2...
- dv_dt 7y ago
  Poverty rate has improved in since the recession, but the improvement is to get back to basically the same rate as the 1970s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
  - hcurtiss 7y ago
    That's true only if you don't account for transfer payments (e.g., food stamps, state health care, etc.). I would refer you again to the second document I linked above.
    - dv_dt 7y ago
      That document claims that accounting for transfers not in income (eg. SNAP payments) are a better measure of "consumption poverty rate", yet food insecurity rates are barely returning to 1995 levels. So to me it's really not clear that this other "consumption poverty rate" is an improved measure. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#trends https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...

efa 7y ago

Young people with college degrees and debt will never own a car, never have a family? This seems like a gross exaggeration. I know many people with student debt and they all manage to have a car and relationships/families.

throwaway_tech 7y ago
>I know many people with student debt and they all manage to have a car and relationships/families. How many have defaulted on their loans? Again 1M default every year...how many do you know? Home ownership, car ownership and marriage are all down with this demographic and millennials overall.
FussyZeus 7y ago
It's not impossible but it shouldn't be this fuckin hard. I'm struggling personally in an in-demand industry with a competitive job, and I don't even have children. I own a home but it's in no small part thanks to family helping me out.

hcurtiss 7y ago

I guess, but every quintile is either improving or staying flat.[1] No quintile is declining. And poverty is declining too.[2] As a society, things are improving, though admittedly faster for some than others. [1] https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2019/11/26/u-s-household-incomes-a-50-year-perspective https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2019/11/2... [2] https://www3.nd.edu/~jsulliv4/2017%20Consumption%20Poverty%20Report%20Meyer%20Sullivan%20final.pdf https://www3.nd.edu/~jsulliv4/2017%20Consumption%20Poverty%2...

dv_dt 7y ago
Poverty rate has improved in since the recession, but the improvement is to get back to basically the same rate as the 1970s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
- hcurtiss 7y ago
  That's true only if you don't account for transfer payments (e.g., food stamps, state health care, etc.). I would refer you again to the second document I linked above.
  - dv_dt 7y ago
    That document claims that accounting for transfers not in income (eg. SNAP payments) are a better measure of "consumption poverty rate", yet food insecurity rates are barely returning to 1995 levels. So to me it's really not clear that this other "consumption poverty rate" is an improved measure. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#trends https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...