5 ms·

Being born in the USA is only a stroke of luck after the fact of achieving a measure of success. There are so many types of walks of life experienced by tens of

by benched 14y ago

Being born in the USA is only a stroke of luck after the fact of achieving a measure of success. There are so many types of walks of life experienced by tens of millions in the USA that consist of suffering unimaginable to a person doing well. Poverty here is especially harsh because, spatially, you're so close to those occupying privileged positions and living their dreams, that it always seems as if it could be you, and it seems that way to those on both sides of the divide.

jacques_chester 14y ago
> Being born in the USA is only a stroke of luck after the fact of achieving a measure of success. I suspect that US-born tech entrepreneur "successes" would come close to outnumbering all other countries of origin put together. And being poor in the USA is still streets ahead of poverty in almost every country on earth. In the USA it often means an unpleasant life. Elsewhere it frequently means you die as an infant. It's pretty hard to become a tech CEO at 20 if you died when you were 5.
- chii 14y ago
  I think the parent post meant that the relative difference in wealth is way more apparent in the US (vs in a third world country where all your neighbours are poor like you would be). But yes, in absolute terms, i would rather the sort of poverty in the US than the sort of famine in parts of africa.
  - jcbrand 14y ago
    The ginii coefficient measures the inequality inside countries. Compared to most of the world, the US has indeed more inequality. But there are some places (i.e Brazil and South Africa) with much higher inequality, where the wealth of some and the poverty of others are much more juxtaposed and in your face. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GINIretouchedcolors.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GINIretouchedcolors.png
  - nandemo 14y ago
    That's an understatement. Being poor in the US (by the official US definition) is better than being poor almost anywhere else. This paper goes so far as to argue that, in many ways, the average poor American lives at the same level or better than an European middle class person: http://www.timbro.se/bokhandel/pdf/9175665646.pdf http://www.timbro.se/bokhandel/pdf/9175665646.pdf
    - Nursie 14y ago
      I prefer my reports on relative standards of living, particularly those concerned with welfare and the poor, not to come from libertarian think tanks. They tend to have just a hint of bias.
- Nursie 14y ago
  "And being poor in the USA is still streets ahead of poverty in almost every country on earth. " Except for being poor in most of Europe, which is quite a few countries. But it's true there is an entrepreneurial spirit in the US that isn't matched anywhere else that I know of. Note that I don't know much about places like Taiwan.
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    I said "most countries" and I meant it. There are, depending on the geopolitical weather in NYC, something like 200-ish countries. Maybe 30 or 40 of those are legitimately wealthy. The USA, the wider anglosphere, Japan and Western Europe.
- Terretta 14y ago
  > US-born tech entrepreneur "successes" would come close to outnumbering all other countries of origin put together If you include "tech" in the phrase, ok. But there are other fields of business than tech. There are fewer conglomerates in the rest of the world than the US, and more people needing to be served by independent businesses. With more entrepreneurial endeavors per capita, there is a higher ratio of entrepreneurs founding and operating them. I'd guess that as a ratio, I bump into more entrepreneurs on the streets in Douala, Cameroon, than I do in Dayton, Ohio. > streets ahead Ha -- http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/streets-ahead/ http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/streets-ahead/
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    > Ha I'm Australian, our English is more closely related to British English than the American dialect is.

by benched 14y ago

jacques_chester 14y ago

> Being born in the USA is only a stroke of luck after the fact of achieving a measure of success. I suspect that US-born tech entrepreneur "successes" would come close to outnumbering all other countries of origin put together. And being poor in the USA is still streets ahead of poverty in almost every country on earth. In the USA it often means an unpleasant life. Elsewhere it frequently means you die as an infant. It's pretty hard to become a tech CEO at 20 if you died when you were 5.

chii 14y ago
I think the parent post meant that the relative difference in wealth is way more apparent in the US (vs in a third world country where all your neighbours are poor like you would be). But yes, in absolute terms, i would rather the sort of poverty in the US than the sort of famine in parts of africa.
- jcbrand 14y ago
  The ginii coefficient measures the inequality inside countries. Compared to most of the world, the US has indeed more inequality. But there are some places (i.e Brazil and South Africa) with much higher inequality, where the wealth of some and the poverty of others are much more juxtaposed and in your face. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GINIretouchedcolors.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GINIretouchedcolors.png
- nandemo 14y ago
  That's an understatement. Being poor in the US (by the official US definition) is better than being poor almost anywhere else. This paper goes so far as to argue that, in many ways, the average poor American lives at the same level or better than an European middle class person: http://www.timbro.se/bokhandel/pdf/9175665646.pdf http://www.timbro.se/bokhandel/pdf/9175665646.pdf
  - Nursie 14y ago
    I prefer my reports on relative standards of living, particularly those concerned with welfare and the poor, not to come from libertarian think tanks. They tend to have just a hint of bias.
Nursie 14y ago
"And being poor in the USA is still streets ahead of poverty in almost every country on earth. " Except for being poor in most of Europe, which is quite a few countries. But it's true there is an entrepreneurial spirit in the US that isn't matched anywhere else that I know of. Note that I don't know much about places like Taiwan.
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  I said "most countries" and I meant it. There are, depending on the geopolitical weather in NYC, something like 200-ish countries. Maybe 30 or 40 of those are legitimately wealthy. The USA, the wider anglosphere, Japan and Western Europe.
Terretta 14y ago
> US-born tech entrepreneur "successes" would come close to outnumbering all other countries of origin put together If you include "tech" in the phrase, ok. But there are other fields of business than tech. There are fewer conglomerates in the rest of the world than the US, and more people needing to be served by independent businesses. With more entrepreneurial endeavors per capita, there is a higher ratio of entrepreneurs founding and operating them. I'd guess that as a ratio, I bump into more entrepreneurs on the streets in Douala, Cameroon, than I do in Dayton, Ohio. > streets ahead Ha -- http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/streets-ahead/ http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/streets-ahead/
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  > Ha I'm Australian, our English is more closely related to British English than the American dialect is.