10 ms·

> seeing a measurable decline of standard of living in the west is this really true? With the exception of the covid lockdown causing issues, i've found that i

by chii 3y ago

> seeing a measurable decline of standard of living in the west is this really true? With the exception of the covid lockdown causing issues, i've found that i've been able to acquire all my necessary material needs, and more. It is true that my purchasing power is being clawed away via inflation, but this is counteracted by wage increases and investment returns (on average).

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
America has far and away the highest poverty rate of the modern world[0], there's a very strong economic divide in America. I earn about $175K as a software engineer, which easily puts me into the top 1% of income earners in my generation. Just because life is good to me does not mean that I reflect the average lifestyle in America. 0: https://confrontingpoverty.org/poverty-facts-and-myths/americas-poor-are-worse-off-than-elsewhere/ https://confrontingpoverty.org/poverty-facts-and-myths/ameri...
- thunderbird120 3y ago
  > In this table, poverty is being measured as the percent of the population falling below one half of a particular country’s median household income. That is a measure of income inequality... not poverty. Here is a measure of inflation adjusted household income over time for to address the original point[1]. People are not getting poorer [1]https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N
  - LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
    > That is a measure of income inequality... not poverty. Same thing? What is a measure of poverty if not a measure of income inequality? The concept of poverty categorizes people who do not earn enough to live in society. How are these different?
    - chii 3y ago
      > The concept of poverty categorizes people who do not earn enough to live in society no, the concept of poverty is one where a person is dying due to a lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter. Everything else is not required, such as luxuries etc. It's just that as a country gets richer, what some people consider as basic necessities seems to expand - it has now become a basic necessity to have electricity, internet, transport - things that a hundred years ago, would've been considered the realms of the aristocracy. The distance to median income is not a measure of poverty, but a measure of how far you are from the typical person in said country - a relative measure. An absolute measure of poverty is caloric intake, access to water and shelter.
    - thunderbird120 3y ago
      Material poverty is an absolute measure, not a relative one. A country in which 100% of people earn exactly $1 a day is not somehow less poor than the United States

by chii 3y ago

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago

America has far and away the highest poverty rate of the modern world[0], there's a very strong economic divide in America. I earn about $175K as a software engineer, which easily puts me into the top 1% of income earners in my generation. Just because life is good to me does not mean that I reflect the average lifestyle in America. 0: https://confrontingpoverty.org/poverty-facts-and-myths/americas-poor-are-worse-off-than-elsewhere/ https://confrontingpoverty.org/poverty-facts-and-myths/ameri...

thunderbird120 3y ago
> In this table, poverty is being measured as the percent of the population falling below one half of a particular country’s median household income. That is a measure of income inequality... not poverty. Here is a measure of inflation adjusted household income over time for to address the original point[1]. People are not getting poorer [1]https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  > That is a measure of income inequality... not poverty. Same thing? What is a measure of poverty if not a measure of income inequality? The concept of poverty categorizes people who do not earn enough to live in society. How are these different?
  - chii 3y ago
    > The concept of poverty categorizes people who do not earn enough to live in society no, the concept of poverty is one where a person is dying due to a lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter. Everything else is not required, such as luxuries etc. It's just that as a country gets richer, what some people consider as basic necessities seems to expand - it has now become a basic necessity to have electricity, internet, transport - things that a hundred years ago, would've been considered the realms of the aristocracy. The distance to median income is not a measure of poverty, but a measure of how far you are from the typical person in said country - a relative measure. An absolute measure of poverty is caloric intake, access to water and shelter.
  - thunderbird120 3y ago
    Material poverty is an absolute measure, not a relative one. A country in which 100% of people earn exactly $1 a day is not somehow less poor than the United States