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> The increasing wealth of society and the decreasing costs of food/shelter enable all these more frivolous demands. Where do you live? Real wages haven't chan
by zanny 14y ago
> The increasing wealth of society and the decreasing costs of food/shelter enable all these more frivolous demands.
Where do you live? Real wages haven't changed, spending power has dropped significantly, and inflation has multipled quite a few fold the costs of basic goods over the last 30 years. At least in the US.
The inflation adjusted wage hasn't gone up. Housing and food have gotten tremendously more expensive due to land scarcity and the dramatic inefficiencies of housing and food distribution. We have superfluous tech advantages because they are untapped resources, like silicon transistors and graphene, but until we have automated farms, or skyscraper farms with artificial lighting, or molecular fabrication to such a degree that printers could print proteins and aminos, it is a real problem.
- desas 14y agoLand scarcity? Where do you live? The EU population density is something like 4x the US, admittedly we don't have inhospitable desert wastelands but there's a lot of space still left.
- khuey 14y agoIn the Bay Area, presumably.
- eli_gottlieb 14y agoAmerica has laws that restrict you from building dense European-style or Asian-style apartment buildings, effectively forcing everyone into quarter-acre land plots in the suburbs. This is actually considered a major driver of inefficiency and waste in the American economy. http://www.amazon.com/The-Rent-Damn-High-ebook/dp/B0078XGJXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 http://www.amazon.com/The-Rent-Damn-High-ebook/dp/B0078XGJXO...