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People aren't desperate in the West, not by a long shot. It's popular to complain in this particular way, but it just isn't borne out by facts. We are so rich

People aren't desperate in the West, not by a long shot. It's popular to complain in this particular way, but it just isn't borne out by facts. We are so rich that our poor are chronically fat. Even very poor people have very high standards of material living. Refrigerators, televisions, heat, etc. Many people in the world do not have these things still. There are people for whom lifespans are limited by things other than diseases of wealth (i.e., obesity). The basic problem at the core of your complaint, I think, is a too-uneven distribution of social status. The basic cause is is keeping up with the Joneses. You and I measure our social status relative to that of the other people we observe (both in person and via electronic media). It is entirely possible to be a person of very high social status who views himself as rich and privileged, but who nonetheless has a considerably lower material standard of living than even poor Americans. This could be a chief in a small-scale society, for instance. He can be king of his local mountain, but die early of easily preventable disease (There are other likely perks to his position that poor Americans won't usually get, though, like good mating opportunities and ample leisure time)

acuozzo 5y ago
> Even very poor people have very high standards of material living. True, but their standard of living is still worse than that of their parents which is what I believe OP is trying to convey. It's no longer possible for an assembly line worker to own a modest home; care for a stay-at-home-spouse; raise two children; go on a modest vacation once per year; save a little bit to deal with unexpected costs; and retire with a modest pension. This, more than anything else, is the fundamental cause of division in the US. It's what Michael Moore is highlighting in Roger & Me. It's the—now broken—social contract Gen X and Millennials were raised to trust. The ideological division we see today existed before the social contract was broken, but most people were too busy living their lives to care. I haven't looked too closely into this, but I'd bet that the total KKK membership count tracks pretty closely to the amount of economic stress experienced by the median American.
dymk 5y ago
> We are so rich that our poor are chronically fat Obesity overwhelmingly affects the very more than it affects the rich. They're also the who lose their legs to diabetes when they can't afford medical treatment. Basically, having access to calories does not mean that one is "rich" in any way, it's almost totally unrelated.

acuozzo 5y ago

> Even very poor people have very high standards of material living. True, but their standard of living is still worse than that of their parents which is what I believe OP is trying to convey. It's no longer possible for an assembly line worker to own a modest home; care for a stay-at-home-spouse; raise two children; go on a modest vacation once per year; save a little bit to deal with unexpected costs; and retire with a modest pension. This, more than anything else, is the fundamental cause of division in the US. It's what Michael Moore is highlighting in Roger & Me. It's the—now broken—social contract Gen X and Millennials were raised to trust. The ideological division we see today existed before the social contract was broken, but most people were too busy living their lives to care. I haven't looked too closely into this, but I'd bet that the total KKK membership count tracks pretty closely to the amount of economic stress experienced by the median American.

dymk 5y ago

> We are so rich that our poor are chronically fat Obesity overwhelmingly affects the very more than it affects the rich. They're also the who lose their legs to diabetes when they can't afford medical treatment. Basically, having access to calories does not mean that one is "rich" in any way, it's almost totally unrelated.