4 ms·

I think wealth inequality numbers can be misleading. I was on a contract in Stockholm for a bit. There, I worked with some support line people. Working on a su

I think wealth inequality numbers can be misleading. I was on a contract in Stockholm for a bit. There, I worked with some support line people. Working on a support line, they were able to rent a flat, afford to study at a university (debt free!), have access to medical system, party pretty much regularly and relatively good food. They would not be saving much after all this, but that probably was because they were young people and were not thinking much about saving anyway. Now, do tell me what does an entry job on a support phone line buy you in the US? One reason for wealth inequality numbers is high immigration in Scandinavia. For example, in Sweden, 20% of all residents are foreign born immigrants, compared to 14% in US.

alephnerd 3y ago
> Now, do tell me what does an entry job on a support phone line buy you in the US There's a reason call center jobs in the US have moved to the South and Midwest (think Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky). You can pay $3-4k a month in those areas and still afford an "American Dream" style life. The downside is it isn't "sexy" to live in Middle America and some people don't want to live there for ideological reasons.
- ethanbond 3y ago
  Out of curiosity, where do you live? "Sexiness" and "ideological" are just dismissive ways to frame two very legitimate reasons not to want to live in those parts of the country. "Sexiness" is access to various amenities, access to particular job opportunities, access to cultural diversity, and so on. These are legitimate things to want and go far beyond "sexiness," which sounds to me like an implication that people live in metropolises for the Instagram. "Ideological reasons" is again a dismissive way to describe, for example, not wanting to be discriminated against for preferring the wrong genitals or having the wrong skin color. I grew up in Arizona and had "a family friend" threaten to kidnap my brother and me as children to have us baptized against our will. I had friends who came out as gay and were literally thrown out of their house and immediately cut from all contact with 100% of their family and church support network. It is 100% legitimate to want the opportunities and liberties that coastal metropolises afford. "Sexy" and "ideological" are extremely dismissive of the facts on the ground. I only hear this sort of dismissiveness from people who have never lived in any of these areas, or who simply prefer their way of life.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    > Out of curiosity, where do you live? San Francisco. But I have lived in extremely conservative areas (think evangelical MAGA types) growing up. I am also a Brown PoC who always gets confused as either Arab or Hispanic. Yet I've never been accosted or dealt with negativity and I've been fairly successful in shutting down any hint of racism fairly quickly. I agree if you are LGBTQ+ it's going to suck, but at the end of the day, most people aren't. On top of that, the metropolitan areas in those regions are fairly liberal. You aren't as likely to face Gay hate in Nashville, Tulsa, or STL. They are all very blue leaning and fairly liberal. And trust me, the kind of racists and kooks you see in Missouri or Oklahoma can't hold a candle compared to those in Spokane, Bakersfield, or Medford.
  - FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
    A lot of places are neither SF nor MAGA. Consider St. Louis, for example.

alephnerd 3y ago

> Now, do tell me what does an entry job on a support phone line buy you in the US There's a reason call center jobs in the US have moved to the South and Midwest (think Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky). You can pay $3-4k a month in those areas and still afford an "American Dream" style life. The downside is it isn't "sexy" to live in Middle America and some people don't want to live there for ideological reasons.

ethanbond 3y ago
Out of curiosity, where do you live? "Sexiness" and "ideological" are just dismissive ways to frame two very legitimate reasons not to want to live in those parts of the country. "Sexiness" is access to various amenities, access to particular job opportunities, access to cultural diversity, and so on. These are legitimate things to want and go far beyond "sexiness," which sounds to me like an implication that people live in metropolises for the Instagram. "Ideological reasons" is again a dismissive way to describe, for example, not wanting to be discriminated against for preferring the wrong genitals or having the wrong skin color. I grew up in Arizona and had "a family friend" threaten to kidnap my brother and me as children to have us baptized against our will. I had friends who came out as gay and were literally thrown out of their house and immediately cut from all contact with 100% of their family and church support network. It is 100% legitimate to want the opportunities and liberties that coastal metropolises afford. "Sexy" and "ideological" are extremely dismissive of the facts on the ground. I only hear this sort of dismissiveness from people who have never lived in any of these areas, or who simply prefer their way of life.
- alephnerd 3y ago
  > Out of curiosity, where do you live? San Francisco. But I have lived in extremely conservative areas (think evangelical MAGA types) growing up. I am also a Brown PoC who always gets confused as either Arab or Hispanic. Yet I've never been accosted or dealt with negativity and I've been fairly successful in shutting down any hint of racism fairly quickly. I agree if you are LGBTQ+ it's going to suck, but at the end of the day, most people aren't. On top of that, the metropolitan areas in those regions are fairly liberal. You aren't as likely to face Gay hate in Nashville, Tulsa, or STL. They are all very blue leaning and fairly liberal. And trust me, the kind of racists and kooks you see in Missouri or Oklahoma can't hold a candle compared to those in Spokane, Bakersfield, or Medford.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
  A lot of places are neither SF nor MAGA. Consider St. Louis, for example.