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Thank you for saying this. I'm bookmarking it for the next time I hear "no one is saying we should make everyone poor." When I talk about the anti-inequality pe

Thank you for saying this. I'm bookmarking it for the next time I hear "no one is saying we should make everyone poor." When I talk about the anti-inequality people preferring a third-world standard of living as long as no one else has it better, they typically call it a strawman. I appreciate the admission that this is actually your belief.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago
Exactly nowhere in that post did barrin92 say that we should make everyone poor. You seem to be reading into it something that is not actually there. In another post, you refer to this comment and say that it said that we should go back to being hunter-gatherers. That is even less there.
- closeparen 7y ago
  The argument about Germany and Nigeria is to say that absolute standard of living doesn't matter much, and the rest of the post argues that relative position does. What part of the characterization "preferring a third-world standard of living as long as no one else has it better" is unfair? To be charitable, I'm sure the parent would appreciate a high uniform standard of living even better. But he seems to find the situation I describe preferable to the current state of things, which is pretty wild.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    The argument about Germany and Nigeria is to say that absolute standard of living doesn't matter much to happiness. > What part of the characterization "preferring a third-world standard of living as long as no one else has it better" is unfair? All of it? Barrin92 explicitly notes "the worse material outcomes of inequality like worse healthcare access". > But he seems to find the situation I describe preferable to the current state of things, which is pretty wild. Not at all. That's you reading into what was said; Barrin92 said no such thing. What he said was that inequality, by itself, causes worse outcomes. He didn't say "therefore go back to hunter-gatherer societies". He didn't say "therefore go to third-world societies". He said that, even after you account for the negative effects of poverty, there are additional negative effects from inequality. No actions were proposed other than to stop assuming that inequality itself has no consequences. Everything beyond that is you reading into Barrin92's comment, and is on you, not him.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

Exactly nowhere in that post did barrin92 say that we should make everyone poor. You seem to be reading into it something that is not actually there. In another post, you refer to this comment and say that it said that we should go back to being hunter-gatherers. That is even less there.

closeparen 7y ago
The argument about Germany and Nigeria is to say that absolute standard of living doesn't matter much, and the rest of the post argues that relative position does. What part of the characterization "preferring a third-world standard of living as long as no one else has it better" is unfair? To be charitable, I'm sure the parent would appreciate a high uniform standard of living even better. But he seems to find the situation I describe preferable to the current state of things, which is pretty wild.
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  The argument about Germany and Nigeria is to say that absolute standard of living doesn't matter much to happiness. > What part of the characterization "preferring a third-world standard of living as long as no one else has it better" is unfair? All of it? Barrin92 explicitly notes "the worse material outcomes of inequality like worse healthcare access". > But he seems to find the situation I describe preferable to the current state of things, which is pretty wild. Not at all. That's you reading into what was said; Barrin92 said no such thing. What he said was that inequality, by itself, causes worse outcomes. He didn't say "therefore go back to hunter-gatherer societies". He didn't say "therefore go to third-world societies". He said that, even after you account for the negative effects of poverty, there are additional negative effects from inequality. No actions were proposed other than to stop assuming that inequality itself has no consequences. Everything beyond that is you reading into Barrin92's comment, and is on you, not him.