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Everything does not stem from wealth inequality. Almost-everything wrong in US culture stems from selfishness. Which would include things you talked about. But
by unnamed76ri 3y ago
Everything does not stem from wealth inequality. Almost-everything wrong in US culture stems from selfishness. Which would include things you talked about. But it also includes people making selfish choices that bring about the end of their marriages (affairs, career, addictions).
- FrustratedMonky 3y ago? So the wealth inequality right? How do you think the wealthy got wealthy without selfishness? You seem to be implying that it isn't the inequality, but that all those poor people should stop being selfish. If only those poor people would stop being selfish, the wealth inequality wouldn't be a problem. LOL.
- hirundo 3y agoWealth follows a Pareto distribution, and there are many Pareto distributions of things that are not caused by selfishness. https://www.thelangelfirm.com/debt-collection-defense-blog/2018/august/100-examples-of-the-80-20-rule/ https://www.thelangelfirm.com/debt-collection-defense-blog/2... If selfishness isn't a good general explanation for Pareto distributions, is there a reason that it's particularly explanatory for wealth distribution?
- wenebego 3y agoThey are choosing to further enrich themselves past what any single person can consume, instead of helping those around them, the definition of selfishness.
- hirundo 3y agoYou could get the same distribution if everyone is assigned a random amount of selfishness regardless of wealth, but some people are better at achieving their selfish goals than others, or just luckier. How could someone know that the result is primarily due to non-uniform selfishness? You could measure selfishness in small experimental scenarios and try to correlate it with the wealth of the subjects. Does that evidence exist?
- wenebego 3y agoI never claimed that.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- unnamed76ri 3y agoYou seem to be looking for an argument that I don’t care to be invited to.
- 2devnull 3y ago“How do you think the wealthy got wealthy” Most inherit it. Then lose it. That’s the typical path of wealth. Rarely, it’s amassed by someone who starts with little. Here these people, the ones who create rather than squander wealth, are called “selfish” often by the wealth squanderers, the children of abundance.
- jjtheblunt 3y agoSome things stem from wealth inequality.
- 2devnull 3y agoName one thing.
- jjtheblunt 3y agoIn the US, nutrition
- theduder99 3y agofood stamps can be used to buy nutritious food
- jjtheblunt 3y agoAgreed but food stamps are finitely available per unit time, whereas wealthy people could be considered availed of far far more food stamps per unit time.
- 2devnull 3y agoI should have included an /s but yes, nutrition is one of many things.
- jollofricepeas 3y agoWealth inequality means less well-paying jobs for the lower class. Specifically, less high paying manufacturing (labor) jobs. There’s lot of studies that show that marriage rates have decreased because of… - the decrease in union power - globalization (offshoring) - technological innovation Read them here: American Economic Institute - https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aeri.20180010 https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aeri.20180010 Brookings Institute - https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-marriage-gap-the-impa https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-marriage-gap-the-impa...
- uoaei 3y agoHaving travelled a fair bit, I can tell you that economic insecurity breeds a culture of selfishness, not the other way around. Where people are not economically precarious, there's almost no culture of trying to get one up on those around you. It's when you're scared of falling behind that you struggle so hard to keep yourself ahead. Wealth inequality is strongly correlated but ultimately not the root cause -- it is rather precarity that causes many of our social ills.