5 ms·

Does this seem suspect to anyone else? It's hard to believe an author trying to instill in you the idea that everything is fine, actually, when stuff is pretty

by caslon 4y ago

Does this seem suspect to anyone else? It's hard to believe an author trying to instill in you the idea that everything is fine, actually, when stuff is pretty obviously not actually fine. My neighbors are not well off. I am not well off. The people I know are mostly below or hovering around the federal poverty guideline. Far from making great sums, and it's been this way for a long time. Are we sure the author isn't just rich, and coming largely from rich parts of society?

paulpauper 4y ago
How would you know. did you ring the doorbell and as "hey, are you guys well off?" What does it mean to be well off anyway? Sometimes people who save a lot of money appear poorer than they are.
- caslon 4y ago
  Do you not... talk, to your neighbors?
  - epicureanideal 4y ago
    Do most people these days? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen my neighbors.
    - krageon 4y ago
      This reads as so outlandish it's close to satire. How can you not see your neighbours? Do you live in the middle of a huge field with nothing in it?
      - freeone3000 4y ago
        I know my neighbors exist -- I share a wall with them. There's thirty families on my block and I don't know the names of a single one. I think I've said "hi" to one once, when we happened to be on our balconies at the same time. But what ocassion would I have to talk to them?
barry-cotter 4y ago
> My neighbors are not well off. I am not well off. The people I know are mostly below or hovering around the federal poverty guideline. Far from making great sums, and it's been this way for a long time. Perhaps that is true of you and your neighbors but US unemployment is at a low not seen in over a decade. That’s what the Great Resignation is about. The problem that is likely to wallop the Democrats is inflation, not unemployment. Things are going at least ok for a lot of people. They’re going well for quite a few.
- Broken_Hippo 4y ago
  Perhaps that is true of you and your neighbors but US unemployment is at a low not seen in over a decade Employment doesn't give you a snapshot of how well things are doing, though. If you can't get a job that pays your rent, things aren't doing well even if you have low unemployment. I'll also mention that part of the low unemployment isn't because things are doing well, but because folks have died, we've had a pandemic, and a number of folks have dropped out of the workforce because of things like child care, remote schooling, and retirement (pushed forward by the pandemic). Employment doesn't mean things are going at least OK.
GravitasFailure 4y ago
The article is from 2019 and things were in pretty good shape then, though I do think the author's broader point about the concerns of journalists not really aligning with the concerns of everyone else does still hold true.
- Broken_Hippo 4y ago
  The article is from 2019 and things were in pretty good shape then... Were they, though? I mean, things have gotten worse since then - but that doesn't mean we were doing well then. Simply that things got worse.
  - GravitasFailure 4y ago
    They were. It would be trivial to point to a time in the past when things were better than 2019, naturally, but the economy was growing, unemployment was shrinking, labor force participation was increasing, inflation was low. Some portions of the economy were in better shape than others, as the article points out, but the overall picture was good and improving.
Animats 4y ago
> Does this seem suspect to anyone else? Yes. Things are not fine. The trouble with journalism is that there's too much punditry and too little reporting. Newspapers used to have large staffs of "beat reporters", who went out, gathered news, and sent it in. Today, most "news" begins as a press release. Check cnn.com. Everything above the fold today started as a press release or statement from someone, or is an opinion piece. Fox News is worse. Collecting local news is now more the job of local TV stations, because they need video.
- herendin 4y ago
  >The trouble with journalism is that there's too much punditry and too little reporting. That seems more like a symptom than a disease. Punditry is cheap, good journalism is very expensive.
  - feet 4y ago
    When the symptoms are focused around cost, maybe the disease is money and profit?
ravel-bar-foo 4y ago
Back in 2019 when this was written, the US was economically doing well. Unemployment was at a 15-year minimum (1), net compensation was increasing for the middle/lower classes at the fastest rate in 20 years (2), and productivity was up. The economic crash started in Jan/Feb 2020 upon Covid worries, and then just kept on going with supply and demand shocks. (1) https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate (2) https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html
- caslon 4y ago
  None of what you're saying implies things were good in 2019, though. It just implies things were getting better compared to the last two crashes we'd had, in theory, for some people. I think people have a right to feel angry, and I don't think the pandemic is the thing that caused it.
  - refurb 4y ago
    If things weren't good in 2019, then they've never been good. Seriously. In 20 years people will look back on the post-2008 economic frenzy like they look back on the Clinton years.
    - caslon 4y ago
      Have they ever been good? I come from a long lineage of people who had a parent die while they were still children. Sure doesn't seem like the good's been equitable or balanced.
      - ravel-bar-foo 4y ago
        The US Gini coefficient has been rising for 70 years, but life expectancies are high. So yes, better than ever for the median person, but also less equitable than ever.

by caslon 4y ago

paulpauper 4y ago

How would you know. did you ring the doorbell and as "hey, are you guys well off?" What does it mean to be well off anyway? Sometimes people who save a lot of money appear poorer than they are.

caslon 4y ago
Do you not... talk, to your neighbors?
- epicureanideal 4y ago
  Do most people these days? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen my neighbors.
  - krageon 4y ago
    This reads as so outlandish it's close to satire. How can you not see your neighbours? Do you live in the middle of a huge field with nothing in it?
    - freeone3000 4y ago
      I know my neighbors exist -- I share a wall with them. There's thirty families on my block and I don't know the names of a single one. I think I've said "hi" to one once, when we happened to be on our balconies at the same time. But what ocassion would I have to talk to them?

barry-cotter 4y ago

> My neighbors are not well off. I am not well off. The people I know are mostly below or hovering around the federal poverty guideline. Far from making great sums, and it's been this way for a long time. Perhaps that is true of you and your neighbors but US unemployment is at a low not seen in over a decade. That’s what the Great Resignation is about. The problem that is likely to wallop the Democrats is inflation, not unemployment. Things are going at least ok for a lot of people. They’re going well for quite a few.

Broken_Hippo 4y ago
Perhaps that is true of you and your neighbors but US unemployment is at a low not seen in over a decade Employment doesn't give you a snapshot of how well things are doing, though. If you can't get a job that pays your rent, things aren't doing well even if you have low unemployment. I'll also mention that part of the low unemployment isn't because things are doing well, but because folks have died, we've had a pandemic, and a number of folks have dropped out of the workforce because of things like child care, remote schooling, and retirement (pushed forward by the pandemic). Employment doesn't mean things are going at least OK.

GravitasFailure 4y ago

The article is from 2019 and things were in pretty good shape then, though I do think the author's broader point about the concerns of journalists not really aligning with the concerns of everyone else does still hold true.

Broken_Hippo 4y ago
The article is from 2019 and things were in pretty good shape then... Were they, though? I mean, things have gotten worse since then - but that doesn't mean we were doing well then. Simply that things got worse.
- GravitasFailure 4y ago
  They were. It would be trivial to point to a time in the past when things were better than 2019, naturally, but the economy was growing, unemployment was shrinking, labor force participation was increasing, inflation was low. Some portions of the economy were in better shape than others, as the article points out, but the overall picture was good and improving.

Animats 4y ago

> Does this seem suspect to anyone else? Yes. Things are not fine. The trouble with journalism is that there's too much punditry and too little reporting. Newspapers used to have large staffs of "beat reporters", who went out, gathered news, and sent it in. Today, most "news" begins as a press release. Check cnn.com. Everything above the fold today started as a press release or statement from someone, or is an opinion piece. Fox News is worse. Collecting local news is now more the job of local TV stations, because they need video.

herendin 4y ago
>The trouble with journalism is that there's too much punditry and too little reporting. That seems more like a symptom than a disease. Punditry is cheap, good journalism is very expensive.
- feet 4y ago
  When the symptoms are focused around cost, maybe the disease is money and profit?

ravel-bar-foo 4y ago

Back in 2019 when this was written, the US was economically doing well. Unemployment was at a 15-year minimum (1), net compensation was increasing for the middle/lower classes at the fastest rate in 20 years (2), and productivity was up. The economic crash started in Jan/Feb 2020 upon Covid worries, and then just kept on going with supply and demand shocks. (1) https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate (2) https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html

caslon 4y ago
None of what you're saying implies things were good in 2019, though. It just implies things were getting better compared to the last two crashes we'd had, in theory, for some people. I think people have a right to feel angry, and I don't think the pandemic is the thing that caused it.
- refurb 4y ago
  If things weren't good in 2019, then they've never been good. Seriously. In 20 years people will look back on the post-2008 economic frenzy like they look back on the Clinton years.
  - caslon 4y ago
    Have they ever been good? I come from a long lineage of people who had a parent die while they were still children. Sure doesn't seem like the good's been equitable or balanced.
    - ravel-bar-foo 4y ago
      The US Gini coefficient has been rising for 70 years, but life expectancies are high. So yes, better than ever for the median person, but also less equitable than ever.