If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad? • Hacker News Board

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#131

Post by asdfman123 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:57 PM UTC

slopinthebag wrote: post #53

Very interesting article, and I can't help but compare with Canada. Canada has fallen from 5th in 2015 to 25th in 2025 on that same World Happiness Report, but if you break it down by age demographics, over 60 are still in the top 10, and under 25's are 71st . That is the largest demographic gap of every developed country. During that time, Canada's economy has been propped up by debt, high levels of immigration lead…

Boomers have ridden the wave of post-WWII success and now they're cashing in. Young people can't afford housing, sure, but even wealthier young people are affected by the spiritual rot beneath it.

The future used to look bright, and now it doesn't. It doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, employed, unemployed, engaged in politics, or politically apathetic -- you can still feel it.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#132

Post by mbgerring » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

Every time I read one of these it’s the same. No one ever even tries to look at quality of life measurements, or cost of living relative to income, or measurements of precarity (e.g. How secure is my job? How secure is my housing?).

What I think everyone in this country knows intuitively is that relative quality of life is constantly getting worse, there’s no indication that it will improve any time soon, and there are plenty of indications that it will continue to get worse.

How do you measure that in a way economists can understand? I don’t know. But I trust my own intuition, and the lived experience of myself and my peers, more than an excel spreadsheet of aggregate GDP.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#133

Post by 725686 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

xyzelement wrote: post #75

I feel like this is an easily answerable question, but I can see this because I grew up an atheist (and travel in those typically atheist/educated/professional circles) and have become much more aware/educated in/embracing of religion later in life myself. If you compare apples to apples - say my average atheist friend who is a director in a FAANG and also my religious friend who is also a director in the same FAANG.…

What has atheism anything to do with this?

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#134

Post by everdrive » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

anonu wrote: post #58

The earlier NYT article on the topic was interesting: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/opinion/economy-attitudes... It was succinctly put: the top 10% of earners - those making 250k or more - do 50% of the spending. If you're a company with a product or service, are you going to cater to the 90% or the affluent 10%? Clearly the latter - so as a result the bottom 90% of the country just feels like they're "keeping u…

I'd like to see a spending breakdown. I wonder just how much of that 50% of spending is stuff that the bottom 90% would actually be competing for -- eg: an expensive bathroom remodel, a luxury car, etc, vs something basic such as tennis shoes or groceries from the local market.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#135

Post by everdrive » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

xyzelement wrote: post #75

I feel like this is an easily answerable question, but I can see this because I grew up an atheist (and travel in those typically atheist/educated/professional circles) and have become much more aware/educated in/embracing of religion later in life myself. If you compare apples to apples - say my average atheist friend who is a director in a FAANG and also my religious friend who is also a director in the same FAANG.…

> say my average atheist friend who is a director in a FAANG

Not a lot of "average" going on here.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#136

Post by kenjackson » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

Taikonerd wrote: post #107

The article is smarter than the title makes it sound. He's not seriously proposing that being rich makes you happy. And he notes that there's a big drop around 2020 specifically , which long-term trends don't explain. Just to state the obvious: 2020 was the year of COVID, which played hell with peoples' social lives. And I think it's been pretty well-proven that happiness is largely driven by the strength and quality…

I agree the article is smarter than the title makes it seem. And honestly, much better than comments on HN. The articles keeps diving deeper and asking questions. The comments here take hold of a single theory, without even thinking about the counters that article mentions. This is probably the best example of read the article, and not the comments.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#137

Post by gypsy_boots » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #83

Important thing to know about Derek Thompson is that he has a very specific job in the culture. His job is to present compelling, interesting narratives about why the world is the way it is and what we should do about it that have one specific attribute. The attribute is that we must never actually do anything to address the real problem, which is that the lion's share of the wealth and resources are being claimed by…

> The attribute is that we must never actually do anything to address the real problem, which is that the lion's share of the wealth and resources are being claimed by a tiny group of people who use monopolies, coercive tactics, buying up politics and technology to hoard and protect their wealth and power.

Yes, thank you for saying this. Truly the "Steven Pinker" of these times. "There is actually something wrong with you if you're not loving this".

Although saying this on this platform, unfortunately, won't get much traction.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#138

Post by mbgerring » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

theowaway wrote: post #123

[flagged]

You’re going to get downvoted for this, but you’re right. Literally any international travel to an actual first world country will ruin America for you. This country is a backwater in terms of infrastructure, culture and quality of life.

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#139

Post by brandon272 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

thewebguyd wrote: post #28

rootusrootus wrote: post #3

When I see a sudden drop in 2020, my first reaction is "COVID." For a lot of people that was a pivotal moment with persistent consequences. My second guess would be politics. I have met few people in the last few years that do not seem unhappy as a direct result of our political battles. Families actually breaking up over it, etc. Now I will go read the article ;-)

I'm actually sure COVID is a big part of it. It causes neurological changes that affect behavior. Look at road safety data since 2020, it strongly supports that something is wrong. There's been a massive increase in high risk behaviors, an increase in road rage, and a spike in traffic fatalities since COVID. If COVID brain damage affects motor vehicle operation, it wouldn't be so far fetched to say it negatively effe…

>Covid causes a loss of grey matter affecting impulse control and emotional regulation.

It seems this statement is not fully supported by the data. While there have been mixed studies linking COVID with impacts on grey matter, we can't conclude that COVID infections have impacted grey matter to the degree that it has "affected impulse control and emotional regulation".

It seems more likely that collective stress increased since 2020 due to economic gyrations that have inordinately benefitted the wealthy while the poor and middle class suffer. Governments and society have been quick to dismiss those financial and economic stresses, including efforts to minimize the true realities and impacts of high inflation.

Telling people "you're not financially stressed, you're just brain damaged!" seems like further perpetuation of that gaslighting happening to people in society who are legitimately suffering due to structural disadvantages in the economy.

Not to mention the COVID-era destruction of social connections, third spaces, and lockdowns that promoted increased smartphone reliance/addiction, and increased alcohol consumption. (Schools closed, liquor stores open)

Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

#140

Post by tempaccount5050 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

725686 wrote: post #133

xyzelement wrote: post #75

I feel like this is an easily answerable question, but I can see this because I grew up an atheist (and travel in those typically atheist/educated/professional circles) and have become much more aware/educated in/embracing of religion later in life myself. If you compare apples to apples - say my average atheist friend who is a director in a FAANG and also my religious friend who is also a director in the same FAANG.…

What has atheism anything to do with this?

Absolutely nothing. Religious people just tend to think they have it all figured out because they've been well trained in following tradition and avoiding questioning the status quo.