3 ms·
How much of a population has to meet a criteria for a generalization to become acceptable? I would say 2/3 is a nice measure. For sure, 2/3s of Americans live
by linuxftw 4y ago
How much of a population has to meet a criteria for a generalization to become acceptable? I would say 2/3 is a nice measure. For sure, 2/3s of Americans live far beyond their means. I also think that the word "average" is implied when talking about large groups, by default. "The Average American lives beyond their means" to most people has the same meaning as "Americans live beyond their means."
- neogodless 4y agoAccording to the LendingClub survey, 61% are living paycheck-to-paycheck, though that is not the same as "pretending to be rich when they are not" since many of them have much lower incomes than the $250k figure that the article focuses on. Where are you getting the figure that 2/3 of Americans pretend to be rich (when they are not)?
- linuxftw 4y agoI said living beyond their means, not necessarily pretending to be rich. They're just pretending not to be impoverished, because being impoverished is shameful in America.
- neogodless 4y agoOK, but that's different from the thread comment that started this. > Americans like to pretend they’re rich when they’re not. Arguably many on the lower end of the income scale aren't pretending not be impoverished. They are, they know it, and there's not much they can do about it. That's living paycheck-to-paycheck, not by choice, but by necessity. It's a very different animal to live beyond your means. It is pretending to have more income than you have, though whether it's for appearances or other misguided notions of what they "deserve" would require deeper insight into their internal motivations!