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Saying things like, "look, it really is better!" when wages haven't gone up in 50 years as college has gotten twice as expensive in the last 20 I think is reall

Saying things like, "look, it really is better!" when wages haven't gone up in 50 years as college has gotten twice as expensive in the last 20 I think is really missing the point and being overly dismissive of people's life experiences. Price gouging because kinds of healthcare most people weren't really getting a few years ago? My best friend was billed 1100 dollars for an ambulance ride and 4000 dollars for a recent hospitalization that lasted 12 hours. Get out of here with this dismissive nonsense.

ledauphin 6y ago
not intending to dismiss real challenges! merely pointing out that often news media talk about these things like society is crumbling, when they really aren't indicative of that.
bhupy 6y ago
> when wages haven't gone up in 50 years This argument is made time and time again as though it's a self-evident truth...except it's not true at all. The inflation-adjusted median personal income is higher than it's ever been. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N The median disposable income in the US is in the top 3 in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income#Median https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c... Since 1967, the middle class has been shrinking...because the upper class has been growing: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/25/upshot/shrinking-middle-class.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/25/upshot/shrink... Yes, college has gotten more expensive (and there are a lot of reasons why), but it's also worth contextualizing: the median number of years to recoup the cost of a bachelors degree, adjusted for inflation, has gone down since the 1980’s, from about 22 years to about 10 years. https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/09/the-value-of-a-college-degree.html https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/09/the-va... This is all information you're not going to read in most news media today, because it's, well, pretty boring and doesn't generate revenue. Yes, there are always improvements that we need to make. Healthcare is indeed a bit of a mess. There are a number of ways to fix it (and not just the one proposal you keep hearing about). Does that mean society is crumbling? Absolutely not. We're living in just about the best time in human history. But climate change is very real, and just about the most catastrophic thing we have to worry about.
deleted 6y ago
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ledauphin 6y ago

not intending to dismiss real challenges! merely pointing out that often news media talk about these things like society is crumbling, when they really aren't indicative of that.

bhupy 6y ago

> when wages haven't gone up in 50 years This argument is made time and time again as though it's a self-evident truth...except it's not true at all. The inflation-adjusted median personal income is higher than it's ever been. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N The median disposable income in the US is in the top 3 in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income#Median https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c... Since 1967, the middle class has been shrinking...because the upper class has been growing: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/25/upshot/shrinking-middle-class.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/25/upshot/shrink... Yes, college has gotten more expensive (and there are a lot of reasons why), but it's also worth contextualizing: the median number of years to recoup the cost of a bachelors degree, adjusted for inflation, has gone down since the 1980’s, from about 22 years to about 10 years. https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/09/the-value-of-a-college-degree.html https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/09/the-va... This is all information you're not going to read in most news media today, because it's, well, pretty boring and doesn't generate revenue. Yes, there are always improvements that we need to make. Healthcare is indeed a bit of a mess. There are a number of ways to fix it (and not just the one proposal you keep hearing about). Does that mean society is crumbling? Absolutely not. We're living in just about the best time in human history. But climate change is very real, and just about the most catastrophic thing we have to worry about.

deleted 6y ago

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