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> We reached a point at which most of our problems are distribution problems. That's not true at all. The world's average household income is estimated to be a
by prottog 4y ago
> We reached a point at which most of our problems are distribution problems.
That's not true at all. The world's average household income is estimated to be about $10,000 a year, meaning that even if you magically solved the distribution problem, people would still only live off of $800 a month. A vast improvement for the global poor that live on a few bucks a day, but certainly not luxurious living.
I want everyone in the world to be able to live the life that the average Texan or Swiss does now; I want everyone to be able to feed their families, enjoy a comfortable house with enough room for a garden, go on a vacation or two a year, save for retirement, develop a hobby that might take time and money, and more. I want everyone to be able to live it up every now and then, if they wanted to. I want everyone to enjoy secure property rights and rule of law. I want everyone to be able to have as many children as would make them happy, and for those children to live even better lives. There is nowhere near enough wealth produced yet that this is possible for everybody on the planet. We are very, very far away from no longer having production problems and only having distribution problems.
- mynameisnull 4y agoAverage is not valid measure to use here as it's vulnerable to distribution skew.
- canadianfella 4y ago[dead]
- coeneedell 4y agoIt actually is a valid measure here because they’re using it to estimate total income.
- vagrantJin 4y agoThats exactly why its a bad idea to use averages in this particular case.
- coeneedell 4y agoAverage is total divided by number of people. Therefore total is average times number of people.
- nly 4y ago$ income values are totally and utterly meaningless without context, and so are their averages. $10K/yr is a fortune in Cambodia. Even within the US or another major Western nation you can earn 5x in a major metropolis what a hick in the country earns and they may still have a vastly better standard of living than you. Income is not a measure of real wealth or wellbeing. Period
- iflint 4y agoAgreed that context is extremely important. Income is an imperfect measure of buying power, since prices vary significantly based on geography, but it is still a measure, and in the context of globally traded commodities such as energy or fertilizer it is quite important. The price of oil or fertilizer is likely very similar (if not more expensive) in Cambodia compared to a place like the US.
- cute_boi 4y agoWell, $10 K/yr is only fortune in Cambodia because only few people live quality life and many people have to make compromises and sacrifices. Whenever we analyze the such case, we must consider whole group. Nobody would live in city if the quality life is poor compared other place like rural area. Yes, there are few exceptions like people like to spend money over extravagance stuff. But they represent minority. I would say Income does indicate a measure of real wealth or wellbeing.