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Are we really this Myopic? Americans think that they deserve a certain standard of living. Why? Why do you deserve it? I don't see a good answer to this. For

by NTDF9 12y ago

Are we really this Myopic? Americans think that they deserve a certain standard of living. Why? Why do you deserve it? I don't see a good answer to this. For a country emphasizing competition and capitalism so much, I find it hilarious when Americans start complaining about being out-competed (by other countries or by college grads or by smarter people). The reality is that, in society, not everyone can get everything. The real issue is with glamorizing excessive profits. Also, we can't expect only the good parts of globalization. If we want $10 t-shirts made by a worker in Bangladesh, we had better be prepared to lose the job to them. They are doing it cheaper and better than entitled us. There's a solution! Tax the rich (and corporations) more and redistribute wealth in a fair way that creates more local opportunities, but we know where this discussion goes.

eli_gottlieb 12y ago
>Americans think that they deserve a certain standard of living. Why? Why do you deserve it? I don't see a good answer to this. Because they built a society that can provide it. To everyone. A good life for people is the goal. The terminal goal. You don't have to justify doing good for people; you have to justify making their lives worse.
- NTDF9 12y ago
  >> Because they built a society that can provide it. To everyone. That society was built on exploiting global resources and issues eg: selling weapons for wars, extracting oil, gold and diamonds from countries with uneducated leaders, manufacturing stuff from countries where living wage is lower aka making lives worse. Just think about it! When those other countries start becoming more and more educated and start turning things for their own good, this great American society is going to have to suffer. Let's say there are two people (American and Chinese) in this world and one t-shirt manufactured. The American was always able to afford it. Now the Chinese can afford it and can outbid the American. Doesn't the standard of living of the American drop? Yes.
  - eli_gottlieb 12y ago
    Economics doesn't work that way. The profit margins of the American capitalist may have been higher when the Chinese were poor, but actual total world productivity (the amount of stuff available to share around) has gone up as the Chinese have gotten richer. The development of the Third World is a positive-sum, ahaha, development.
    - NTDF9 12y ago
      Economics does work that. The amount of resources are limited by: a. Quantity of raw materials available for use b. Skill (labor and/or machines) to convert those raw materials into something useful. So while America had a lot of a and b, the rest of the world is having that now too. So America has lesser of a and b as a proportion of total a an b

by NTDF9 12y ago

eli_gottlieb 12y ago

>Americans think that they deserve a certain standard of living. Why? Why do you deserve it? I don't see a good answer to this. Because they built a society that can provide it. To everyone. A good life for people is the goal. The terminal goal. You don't have to justify doing good for people; you have to justify making their lives worse.

NTDF9 12y ago
>> Because they built a society that can provide it. To everyone. That society was built on exploiting global resources and issues eg: selling weapons for wars, extracting oil, gold and diamonds from countries with uneducated leaders, manufacturing stuff from countries where living wage is lower aka making lives worse. Just think about it! When those other countries start becoming more and more educated and start turning things for their own good, this great American society is going to have to suffer. Let's say there are two people (American and Chinese) in this world and one t-shirt manufactured. The American was always able to afford it. Now the Chinese can afford it and can outbid the American. Doesn't the standard of living of the American drop? Yes.
- eli_gottlieb 12y ago
  Economics doesn't work that way. The profit margins of the American capitalist may have been higher when the Chinese were poor, but actual total world productivity (the amount of stuff available to share around) has gone up as the Chinese have gotten richer. The development of the Third World is a positive-sum, ahaha, development.
  - NTDF9 12y ago
    Economics does work that. The amount of resources are limited by: a. Quantity of raw materials available for use b. Skill (labor and/or machines) to convert those raw materials into something useful. So while America had a lot of a and b, the rest of the world is having that now too. So America has lesser of a and b as a proportion of total a an b