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It always, always is relative. People compare themselves with neighbors/TV, not with themselves 50 years ago. Totally agree with you, don't know why so many do

It always, always is relative. People compare themselves with neighbors/TV, not with themselves 50 years ago. Totally agree with you, don't know why so many downvotes. But important point is wealth is never absolute, but comparative. And that's where inequality comes into play. Almost all revolutions happen because of inequality. I've met Silicon Valley multi-millionaires why cried they are poor and how those damn billionaires gentrifying them from their lovely neighborhoods. I'm against forced equalization of incomes, but on the long run that's what keeps the system stable. Unless you are Norway, of course, where people strongly believe equalization is good, and post everyone's compensation on public (well, taxes, but it's easy to get comp from taxes). UPDATE: so the metric we should look at is Gini index, not GDP or PPP.

ajross 2y ago
That explains jealousy, not "suffering" as the upthread commenter put it. No, this is 100% irrational. I mean, think about it: there have always been phenomenally wealthy people. If every billionaire in the US had their net worth cut by 50%, instantly, that would fix the "Gini index" you think we should be looking at. But would their lifestyles change? Would anyone but the billionaires even notice? If you stop a person on the street and ask "Is it fair that Bill Gates is worth $50B dollars?", they're going to say "no", right? That's way too much money. Except, of course, that Gates is worth twice that and the number is something that you argue should be "fair". No, it's not numbers. It's irrational delusion fed by fear and anger and click-chasing from everywhere across the media landscape. But. It's. Wrong. And someone needs to start telling people that. Because at this point our shared delusion is causing a trade war that is going to make all of us (literally, all of humanity) poorer.

ajross 2y ago

That explains jealousy, not "suffering" as the upthread commenter put it. No, this is 100% irrational. I mean, think about it: there have always been phenomenally wealthy people. If every billionaire in the US had their net worth cut by 50%, instantly, that would fix the "Gini index" you think we should be looking at. But would their lifestyles change? Would anyone but the billionaires even notice? If you stop a person on the street and ask "Is it fair that Bill Gates is worth $50B dollars?", they're going to say "no", right? That's way too much money. Except, of course, that Gates is worth twice that and the number is something that you argue should be "fair". No, it's not numbers. It's irrational delusion fed by fear and anger and click-chasing from everywhere across the media landscape. But. It's. Wrong. And someone needs to start telling people that. Because at this point our shared delusion is causing a trade war that is going to make all of us (literally, all of humanity) poorer.