Welcome to the New Middle Ages
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Welcome to the New Middle Ages
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Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#2Whenever I point that inequality out to people of the third estate, more often than not I get the response that the rich just got their wealth from hard work and that I am a communist for suggesting that anything's wrong.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#3Whenever I point that inequality out to people of the third estate, more often than not I get the response that the rich just got their wealth from hard work and that I am a communist for suggesting that anything's wrong.
People with reasonable answers probably would rather not respond, but politely excuse themselves and give it all a miss.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#4Growth in inequality correlates very nicely with expansion of the money supply.
My theory is that when you print money, most of the new money finds its way into the pockets of the rich.
Even though we print new money to pay for government spending (via bonds) - eventually all that new money trickles up to people that own assets. And the people that own the most assets gain the most new money.
I think we should return to WWII to 1980 period where we paid for government programs via taxation, and not money printing. My hunch is that this is the only way to reduce income inequality.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#5Let’s simply return to the 1950s, in terms of tax policy.
The rich have won to the point of not being able to fail. The idea that poor people aren't working hard enough is the most toxic thought.
If you’re a software engineer making a few hundred k a year, this isn’t even talking about you. You have more in common with someone making $10 an hour than the executives that run your companies.
Go look at some photos or drive by a food bank right now. There’s more people waiting in line outside of a single Brooklyn food bank for 9 hours in the freezing cold than there are people with enough wealth to feed every hungry person in America permanently and still come out ahead in 5 years.
I’m sick of people with no compassion outside their own family. Society is not a zero sum game. Your life would be better in a thousand ways if we provided a real safety net.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#6Whenever I point that inequality out to people of the third estate, more often than not I get the response that the rich just got their wealth from hard work and that I am a communist for suggesting that anything's wrong.
People with reasonable answers probably would rather not respond, but politely excuse themselves and give it all a miss.
There's nothing polite about a brush-off. It indicates a lack of respect.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#7Can we not turn Hacker News into a cut-rate Reddit? The world has enough outlets for endless culture war.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#8Whenever I point that inequality out to people of the third estate, more often than not I get the response that the rich just got their wealth from hard work and that I am a communist for suggesting that anything's wrong.
People with reasonable answers probably would rather not respond, but politely excuse themselves and give it all a miss.
Why? It sounds like you're making the assumption that the parent's topic of conversation is already automatically toxic, and therefore impossible for reasonable people to want to discuss.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#9Can we not turn Hacker News into a cut-rate Reddit? The world has enough outlets for endless culture war.
I see mostly interesting thoughts so far, which I'll find almost nowhere else. There's comparatively little warring. Frankly, I think your kind of comment hurts HN more - it's essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Re: Welcome to the New Middle Ages
#10Are we at a consolidation point in terms of resource ownership and inequality? Or are we merely ascending a steep sine wave during chaotic times? I can't tell.
Things like Central Bank digital currency and authoritarian tech would suggest a solidifying of establishment power. But, then again, people are very pissed off about their lot in life - and the same tribal forces ensuring division could just as easily be what destroys this whole paradigm.