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?

#201

Post by anovikov » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #113

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…

Happiness = Reality minus Expectation (and sadness is the negative values). For example, if you expected your country to have checks and balances and not empower people who tried to damage the democracy, the reality would sadden you. If you expected to be able to have 2 kids, afford healthcare, not worry about loss of income, live near family in a 2k+ sq ft home, and fly to Disneyworld and Hawaii for vacation, then c…

What the hell is wrong about avocados really? They are a cheap staple food.

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

#202

Post by xg15 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

mbgerring wrote: post #132

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 a…

Yeah, the "economist" view of a country's state always seems awfully reductionists: "Those few KPIs look good, so there can't possibly be a way in which things are bad. So the rest must be 'feelings'."

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

#203

Post by some_random » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

iso1631 wrote: post #182

some_random wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just objectively untrue. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-in...

Slightly exaggerated The top 10 individually have more wealth than Iceland, which is 83rd. The top 25 combined have a wealth of $3.2t, more than Belgium, which is 20th.

The wealth of the top 100 individuals is not the claim, the claim is that the rest of the nation is actually poor if you don't include them, which is total nonsense.

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

#204

Post by gpt5 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

kcb wrote: post #92

comrade1234 wrote: post #6

I feel like wealthy americans live like poor Europeans - they live far outside the city in crowded suburbs, no amenities walking distance so they have to drive everywhere, having to commute an hour to their job, eating bad manufactured food... I'm American but moved to Europe years ago. It may be even better being poor here because at least you might live in a village and you'll have healthcare and your government wo…

This reads a lot like "the way I choose to live is the best and everyone else is sad." Anyone in a dense suburb is getting all the fresh food they want from a choice of 6 different grocery stores. And it's silly to complain about suburbs being crowded in comparison to cities.

Especially since America is happier than most European countries [1]. And the ones that are happier are the Nordics and Ireland which are more suburban and less dense.

[1] https://data.worldhappiness.report/table

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

#205

Post by toephu2 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

abirch wrote: post #115

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 would add in social media. It's a huge cancer on happiness.

Yup, it's digital fentanyl.

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

#206

Post by strulovich » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

lbrito wrote: post #84

strulovich wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because research on this topic supports it. Happiness and wealth are correlated.

Only up to a certain point, no? I remember it was something around 100k USD, maybe 10ish years ago. This is pretty intuitive. Its nice not to have to worry about money, but what is the difference between having 1M NW and 100M? If you're a mentally normal person, it just more mental burden.

Recent research disproves the old limit which has grabbed headlines like that old half a glass of red wine is good for you paper.

And also. Up to a certain point is still a correlation. Getting a lot of downvotes by people not knowing what a correlation is.

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

#207

Post by xyzelement » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #189

BJones12 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the article's question is 'how did America get so sad' and the answer is 'because it lost Christianity' because Christianity makes people less sad.

Modern christianity in America is a primary contributor to my sadness.

Can you explain that?

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

#208

Post by bombcar » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

ljf wrote: post #31

jandrewrogers wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't a coherent argument; the latter does not support the former. The median American has a lot of money and disposable income compared to almost any other country.

Look at the US median and consider again how many times that figure your own salary is. And then ask your if that person on the median salary has a lot of disposable income? They might be richer than someone in a poorer country, but the median in the USA, is not rich _in_ the USA.

Rich is relative, it's always somewhere around "makes twice what I do" and poor is "makes half what I do" - and I'm, of course, solidly middle class.

This seems to be true if I'm flipping burgers at McDs or if I'm on a first-name basis with Warren Buffett.

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

#209

Post by stuxnet79 » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

jackcosgrove wrote: post #121

kdheiwns wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is in a weird situation where people have a lot of money in terms of the number and it converts well to other currencies. But it feels worthless within American borders. An American can get a very sad and bad sandwich for about $20 in a mid sized American city. They can get a full meal with fresh ingredients in most of the rest of the world for $10 (no tip either). Some places even under $5. An American can r…

That's not weird at all it's the difference in most cases between products and services produced by local labor vs products and services produced by more abundant, cheaper labor elsewhere. I don't complain about $20 meals because I think inequality is bad enough. The only thing in your list that could be cheaper without underpaying local workers are pharmaceuticals.

[dead]

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

#210

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Apr 23, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

mbgerring wrote: post #132

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 a…

> relative quality of life

Relative to what?