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Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

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Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#91

Post by tennfown »

alimhaq wrote: post #21

It's shocking to me no one is talking about how Claude Fable is essentially a confirmation of the death of intellectual capital, and that it's happening now. Not 10 years from now, not 5 years from now, but literally right now. We used to romanticize stories of people born into lower socioeconomic conditions (say in the third world) and rising out of it through their intellect. That story, that ladder of social mobil…

> That story, that ladder of social mobility, is completely dead now.

This was the whole point. A secure, politically active middle class will be too obstructive to the new aristocracy.

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#92

Post by cindyllm »

josefritzishere wrote: post #76

The consolidation of wealth and power to an inflection point whereafter it seems the rest of us, the majority of humans, will be left to live in some kind of post-apocalyptic feudalism. The declining standard of living, the authoritarianism, even the naked stupidity are all endurable... but that lack of hope burns like Merbromin.

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#93

Post by swat535 »

Schiendelman wrote: post #14
adlpz wrote: post #6

Wealth concentration beyond a point which would have resulted in widespread revolution 150 years ago, but that is now being tolerated because we've grown accustomed to a level of comfort we don't want to risk losing.

If we've got a higher level of comfort, why does it matter?

Higher level of comfort in what sense?

Most people on the planet can't afford a home or start families. They can barely pay their rents to avoid ending on up the street.

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#94

Post by f38zf5vdt »

TonyStr wrote: post #73
adlpz wrote: post #6

Wealth concentration beyond a point which would have resulted in widespread revolution 150 years ago, but that is now being tolerated because we've grown accustomed to a level of comfort we don't want to risk losing.

I'm not so familiar with the revolutions of 1848, but it seems like most revolutions happen when a society is suffering from severe economic crisis as well as food shortage. It seems that the 1840s was referred to as "the Hungry Forties" due to severe food shortages. I don't think many people are willing to upend their lives to change a political system that isn't failing to deliver their personal basic needs. I'm al…

Many successful and failed revolutions happened without an economic crisis. For example, the American Revolution was led by an oligarchical class upset about taxation. The American Civil War is another example where a portion of states felt economically threatened and initiated conflict. The Glorious Revolution was almost completely ideological in nature, revolving around royalty and religion. It simply requires some powerful fraction of the country to believe they'd be better off under another ruling party, no one needs to starve for it to happen.

People who are experiencing unrest and idleness are easy to recruit -- and if you hang out with people ages of 18-30, you'll see there's no shortage of them.

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#96

Post by kamaal »

alimhaq wrote: post #21

It's shocking to me no one is talking about how Claude Fable is essentially a confirmation of the death of intellectual capital, and that it's happening now. Not 10 years from now, not 5 years from now, but literally right now. We used to romanticize stories of people born into lower socioeconomic conditions (say in the third world) and rising out of it through their intellect. That story, that ladder of social mobil…

>>We used to romanticize stories of people born into lower socioeconomic conditions (say in the third world) and rising out of it through their intellect.

Many people think the social mobility came through intellectual feats, but when you look at it carefully, it came through agency and ownership.

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#97

Post by Schiendelman »

swat535 wrote: post #93
Schiendelman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we've got a higher level of comfort, why does it matter?

Higher level of comfort in what sense? Most people on the planet can't afford a home or start families. They can barely pay their rents to avoid ending on up the street.

Do you believe that across the planet, that is worse or better than it was 20 years ago? 40 years ago?

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#98

Post by Schiendelman »

citadel_melon wrote: post #89
Schiendelman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we've got a higher level of comfort, why does it matter?

There are many more economic distortions that happen from having massive wealth inequality — too many to list in one comment — but the biggest one is that democracy isn’t possible with a certain level of wealth inequality. In such models where individuals in a market system can influence public/private institutions for their own interest (news organizations, private think tanks, lobbyists, public/private colleges, co…

I mean, this is measurable with the gini coefficient, yes. But if you generally handwave "people with lots of money", you don't have a story to tell, and then you don't convince nearly enough people of any one thing to accomplish it.

You have to pick a problem. Right now, quality of life basically keeps going up, so it's pretty hard to act on anything you might care about here.

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#99

Post by chadgpt3 »

Schiendelman wrote: post #97
swat535 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Higher level of comfort in what sense? Most people on the planet can't afford a home or start families. They can barely pay their rents to avoid ending on up the street.

Do you believe that across the planet, that is worse or better than it was 20 years ago? 40 years ago?

Do I have to believe it across the planet or just for me right now?

Re: Ask HN: What has been bothering you lately?

#100

Post by Schiendelman »

Herring wrote: post #87
Schiendelman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we've got a higher level of comfort, why does it matter?

I spend a lot of time here: https://data.worldhappiness.report/chart Housing/medical/college etc are outpacing incomes. Loneliness has skyrocketed. People are voting for fascism and starting wars. Americans like to pretend with their big houses and fancy iphones, but things are NOT ok. Also note on that chart: younger demographics in the US are reporting significantly lower life evaluations compared to older demograp…

I'm unconvinced that younger people have a harder time than the last couple of generations at the same ages, and would like to see evidence that this is not simply them overwhelming themselves with social media comparisons with others.

Yes, housing, medical, and college are outpacing incomes. Which item would you want to work on if you only got to pick ONE thing?

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