4 ms·

"Today, Mexico City is mind-blowingly different, boasting high-rise buildings, cleaner air, new roads and modern bridges. You still find pockets of poverty, but

by cnp 13y ago

"Today, Mexico City is mind-blowingly different, boasting high-rise buildings, cleaner air, new roads and modern bridges. You still find pockets of poverty, but when we visit now, we think, "Wow—most people here are middle-class. What a miracle." -- Bill and Melinda Gates

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vinceguidry 13y ago
They should visit the other 99%
- gaadd33 13y ago
  Do you have any links to the fact that 99% of Mexico City is poor? Most information I can find on the subject say households have a comparable level of expenses to the average household in Germany or Japan which would seem to be pretty middle class to me. I found some other statistics that said that the average salary in Mexico City is 32K/year which seems like it could easily be middle class there.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    I meant the other 99% of Mexico. From Wikipedia: From the late 1990s onwards, the majority of the population has been part of the growing middle class.[156] But from 2004 to 2008 the portion of the population who received less than half of the median income has risen from 17% to 21% and the absolute levels of poverty have risen considerably from 2006 to 2010, with a rise in persons living in extreme or moderate poverty rising from 35 to 46% (52 million persons).[95][157] This is also reflected by the fact that infant mortality in Mexico is three times higher than the average among OECD nations, and the literacy levels are in the median range of OECD nations. According to Goldman Sachs, by 2050 Mexico will have the 5th largest economy in the world.
    - bmmayer1 13y ago
      "The 99%" is an ultimately meaningless statistic that doesn't describe a real problem or imply a real solution...even in your follow up you acknowledge that "the 99% of Mexico" is actually the 21% (except not really because < half of median income is not definitionally poverty). So what does "99%" have to do with anything except slacktivism?
      - vinceguidry 13y ago
        I don't think you're quite reading those numbers right. > But from 2004 to 2008 the portion of the population who received less than half of the median income has risen from 17% to 21% and the absolute levels of poverty have risen considerably from 2006 to 2010, with a rise in persons living in extreme or moderate poverty rising from 35 to 46% (52 million persons). 21% receive less than half the median income. That means that 29% receive between half the median and the median, because the median is defined as the level where half the population makes more than and the other half makes less. This is a really ugly distribution. Yet the percentage of people living in extreme or moderate poverty is 46%. Since poverty is defined by income, what that means is that the median income level is somewhere around the moderate poverty level. This also implies that there's a 'light poverty' level whose income level is somewhere north of the median. These two figures add up to a lot of poor people.
    - Paradigma11 13y ago
      What is the definition of poverty in this context? It seems most likely to me that a large part of the population did not profit from the recent development as much but are still better off than before.
  - ddebernardy 13y ago
    But then you're comparing apples with oranges when discussing average household income. Median income seems like a better metric, since Latin American countries have a much broader income disparity than the two countries you mention. Parent was exaggerating of course when he mentioned 99% (and certainly doing a wink to the Occupy movement). Still, unless Mexico City massively changed since I last went there (2009), I can only agree with his assessment: you find a lot of run down areas when you leave downtown.

by cnp 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

vinceguidry 13y ago

They should visit the other 99%

gaadd33 13y ago
Do you have any links to the fact that 99% of Mexico City is poor? Most information I can find on the subject say households have a comparable level of expenses to the average household in Germany or Japan which would seem to be pretty middle class to me. I found some other statistics that said that the average salary in Mexico City is 32K/year which seems like it could easily be middle class there.
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  I meant the other 99% of Mexico. From Wikipedia: From the late 1990s onwards, the majority of the population has been part of the growing middle class.[156] But from 2004 to 2008 the portion of the population who received less than half of the median income has risen from 17% to 21% and the absolute levels of poverty have risen considerably from 2006 to 2010, with a rise in persons living in extreme or moderate poverty rising from 35 to 46% (52 million persons).[95][157] This is also reflected by the fact that infant mortality in Mexico is three times higher than the average among OECD nations, and the literacy levels are in the median range of OECD nations. According to Goldman Sachs, by 2050 Mexico will have the 5th largest economy in the world.
  - bmmayer1 13y ago
    "The 99%" is an ultimately meaningless statistic that doesn't describe a real problem or imply a real solution...even in your follow up you acknowledge that "the 99% of Mexico" is actually the 21% (except not really because < half of median income is not definitionally poverty). So what does "99%" have to do with anything except slacktivism?
    - vinceguidry 13y ago
      I don't think you're quite reading those numbers right. > But from 2004 to 2008 the portion of the population who received less than half of the median income has risen from 17% to 21% and the absolute levels of poverty have risen considerably from 2006 to 2010, with a rise in persons living in extreme or moderate poverty rising from 35 to 46% (52 million persons). 21% receive less than half the median income. That means that 29% receive between half the median and the median, because the median is defined as the level where half the population makes more than and the other half makes less. This is a really ugly distribution. Yet the percentage of people living in extreme or moderate poverty is 46%. Since poverty is defined by income, what that means is that the median income level is somewhere around the moderate poverty level. This also implies that there's a 'light poverty' level whose income level is somewhere north of the median. These two figures add up to a lot of poor people.
  - Paradigma11 13y ago
    What is the definition of poverty in this context? It seems most likely to me that a large part of the population did not profit from the recent development as much but are still better off than before.
- ddebernardy 13y ago
  But then you're comparing apples with oranges when discussing average household income. Median income seems like a better metric, since Latin American countries have a much broader income disparity than the two countries you mention. Parent was exaggerating of course when he mentioned 99% (and certainly doing a wink to the Occupy movement). Still, unless Mexico City massively changed since I last went there (2009), I can only agree with his assessment: you find a lot of run down areas when you leave downtown.