4 ms·

So true. I don't see how anyone could feel financially secure with less than a few million in net worth. Everyone else is one accident away from drifting down

So true. I don't see how anyone could feel financially secure with less than a few million in net worth. Everyone else is one accident away from drifting down into poverty.

tbihl 5y ago
Satire?
- ghaff 5y ago
  Almost certainly not. A lot of people here seem to be convinced that, even if you can afford (admittedly expensive) health insurance, you're one slip on a banana peel away from bankruptcy. One can doubtless dredge up horror stories of one sort or another but they're circulating stories for a reason. (What is true is that people who can't work because of illness have an issue of income not coming in but that's somewhat separate from the healthcare costs themselves.)
okareaman 5y ago
I'm living below the poverty level in Silicon Valley on a fixed social security income and I've never been happier. California Covered takes care of health insurance for almost no out of pocket money. I am healthy. I'm having fun exploring the online world, finding interesting things I never had time for before. I'm also exploring the Bay Area by throwing my bike on Bart or the Caltrans Train and getting around that way cheaply. I have almost no material things and no money anymore, but don't miss either. I realize a lot of people would be unhappy with no money, but I'm here to say I'm not. That's all.
- pdonis 5y ago
  > I'm living below the poverty level No, you're not, because you are getting all kinds of benefits from living in a rich area of a rich country (you name a number of them in your post) that don't appear explicitly in your income but have a huge positive impact on your quality of life. Try living on the same income in a much poorer area or a much poorer country where none of those benefits are available and see how you like it.
  - okareaman 5y ago
    "Poverty level" is an official number used as a standard put out by the American federal govt. It's not based on quality of life, but only on income. I was referring to that. I've lived in areas of grinding poverty and hated it, but I'm more interested now in how William Gibson's quote "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." Silicon Valley is the future. Those other areas of deprivation are in the past. In the future, many of our needs will be taken care of, freeing us up to be creative. You are right, I am lucky to live where I live. I am astonishingly rich compared to what people had 40 years ago, within my own living memory. I have a supercomputer on my desk connected to the world's information. I have a device in my pocket that lets me communicate with anyone on the planet. Long-distance charges no longer apply. My local library has every magazine I'd ever want to read. I'm awash in free music from around the world. I can view University level courses, free of charge. Have an idea for a 3D design? Download Blender for free and 3D print it for very little cost. The device in my pocket is a phone, voice recorder, video camera, still camera, mapping system and much more. I tend to agree with Louis C.K. - "Everything is amazing, and no one is happy"
    - pdonis 5y ago
      > "Poverty level" is an official number used as a standard put out by the American federal govt. I know that. I'm pointing out that it is often not a good indicator of the actual amount of wealth you have access to. As you acknowledge, you have access to a huge amount of wealth that does not appear in your nominal income or your nominal net worth. Your real net worth includes your share of that huge amount of wealth. And the post you responded to with your comment about "poverty level" was talking about net worth, i.e., the actual wealth you have access to, not nominal income. > In the future, many of our needs will be taken care of How? By magic? No: by other people creating the wealth you make use of. You have access to all those wonderful benefits in your area because other people built those things. What about their needs? Who is "taking care of" those? Answer: nobody except themselves. In short, this vision you have, where you can just have all your needs taken care of, only works for some fraction of people. If everybody takes that approach, nobody's needs will be taken care of, because nobody will be creating any of the wealth required to do that.

So true. I don't see how anyone could feel financially secure with less than a few million in net worth. Everyone else is one accident away from drifting down into poverty.

tbihl 5y ago

Satire?

ghaff 5y ago
Almost certainly not. A lot of people here seem to be convinced that, even if you can afford (admittedly expensive) health insurance, you're one slip on a banana peel away from bankruptcy. One can doubtless dredge up horror stories of one sort or another but they're circulating stories for a reason. (What is true is that people who can't work because of illness have an issue of income not coming in but that's somewhat separate from the healthcare costs themselves.)

okareaman 5y ago

I'm living below the poverty level in Silicon Valley on a fixed social security income and I've never been happier. California Covered takes care of health insurance for almost no out of pocket money. I am healthy. I'm having fun exploring the online world, finding interesting things I never had time for before. I'm also exploring the Bay Area by throwing my bike on Bart or the Caltrans Train and getting around that way cheaply. I have almost no material things and no money anymore, but don't miss either. I realize a lot of people would be unhappy with no money, but I'm here to say I'm not. That's all.

pdonis 5y ago
> I'm living below the poverty level No, you're not, because you are getting all kinds of benefits from living in a rich area of a rich country (you name a number of them in your post) that don't appear explicitly in your income but have a huge positive impact on your quality of life. Try living on the same income in a much poorer area or a much poorer country where none of those benefits are available and see how you like it.
- okareaman 5y ago
  "Poverty level" is an official number used as a standard put out by the American federal govt. It's not based on quality of life, but only on income. I was referring to that. I've lived in areas of grinding poverty and hated it, but I'm more interested now in how William Gibson's quote "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." Silicon Valley is the future. Those other areas of deprivation are in the past. In the future, many of our needs will be taken care of, freeing us up to be creative. You are right, I am lucky to live where I live. I am astonishingly rich compared to what people had 40 years ago, within my own living memory. I have a supercomputer on my desk connected to the world's information. I have a device in my pocket that lets me communicate with anyone on the planet. Long-distance charges no longer apply. My local library has every magazine I'd ever want to read. I'm awash in free music from around the world. I can view University level courses, free of charge. Have an idea for a 3D design? Download Blender for free and 3D print it for very little cost. The device in my pocket is a phone, voice recorder, video camera, still camera, mapping system and much more. I tend to agree with Louis C.K. - "Everything is amazing, and no one is happy"
  - pdonis 5y ago
    > "Poverty level" is an official number used as a standard put out by the American federal govt. I know that. I'm pointing out that it is often not a good indicator of the actual amount of wealth you have access to. As you acknowledge, you have access to a huge amount of wealth that does not appear in your nominal income or your nominal net worth. Your real net worth includes your share of that huge amount of wealth. And the post you responded to with your comment about "poverty level" was talking about net worth, i.e., the actual wealth you have access to, not nominal income. > In the future, many of our needs will be taken care of How? By magic? No: by other people creating the wealth you make use of. You have access to all those wonderful benefits in your area because other people built those things. What about their needs? Who is "taking care of" those? Answer: nobody except themselves. In short, this vision you have, where you can just have all your needs taken care of, only works for some fraction of people. If everybody takes that approach, nobody's needs will be taken care of, because nobody will be creating any of the wealth required to do that.