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America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

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221–230 of 238 posts

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#221

I believe Americans are naive to the bad deal they're currently sitting with. It is the most materially wealthy place on earth, yet with terrible distribution – this is not a technical problem, it is a cultural problem. My favorite example is to describe a suburb. A lot of people in the world do not know how dystopian an American suburb is: many residents do not know their neighbors, acquiring food requires driving a…

Police officers are screened in a way that intentionally prevents people with exceptionally low IQs from entering the field.

Source?

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in that age group” [1-19] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761

Sure, but 5.5 per 100,000 is still extremely rare, and even that number obscures a highly bimodal distribution that largely tracks race. In Massachusetts, the rate drops to 0.7 per 100,000, while in Mississippi and Louisiana it's over 8 per 100,000. From ages 1-19, that means the cumulative risk varies by about an order of magnitude even just at the state level before diving into specific cities or communities - ther…

> 5.5 per 100,000 is still extremely rare

About 20% of all deaths in that age range. Dying from any cause at that age is extremely rare.

> largely because of one demographic subset that is itself concentrated across a few small areas

eg the geographically adjacent and culturally/ethnically indistinguishable states of Mississippi, New Mexico, Alaska, Alabama, and Wyoming? https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#223
post #127
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read the list of materials that California knows cause cancer and birth defects. It lists things that people encounter every day. Alcoholic beverages, aloe leaf extract and aspirin are some of the most notable examples from the "A" section. https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list

Asbestos, leaded gasoline, lead based paint, etc were things encountered everyday in the past. This is how science progresses and how our life expectancy and active life expectancy go up.

At the risk of stating the obvious, California's law only requires property owners to declare the presence of hazardous substances, not to reduce or even identify them.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#224

I believe Americans are naive to the bad deal they're currently sitting with. It is the most materially wealthy place on earth, yet with terrible distribution – this is not a technical problem, it is a cultural problem. My favorite example is to describe a suburb. A lot of people in the world do not know how dystopian an American suburb is: many residents do not know their neighbors, acquiring food requires driving a…

But who are you to decide whether suburban Americans are living the right kind of life? Surely if they wanted to they could move to an apartment in a dense inner-city area. It would be cheaper than living in a large house in the suburbs and save them from spending more on heating, maintenance and cars. It would save them time as well, because they could be located close to their office. Despite all these downsides th…

You — like other reactive commenters — missed the point. You are welcome to like suburbs, I don’t care. But you would be a fool to believe that the current state is optimal and that an awareness of better designs would not impact the prospects of fulfilling those better designs. (You’d also be a fool to believe American suburbs are anywhere near the best neighborhoods in the world on any metric.)

Don’t be distracted by the shiny suburbs — pay attention to the ideas contained within the broader comment.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#225

I believe Americans are naive to the bad deal they're currently sitting with. It is the most materially wealthy place on earth, yet with terrible distribution – this is not a technical problem, it is a cultural problem. My favorite example is to describe a suburb. A lot of people in the world do not know how dystopian an American suburb is: many residents do not know their neighbors, acquiring food requires driving a…

Police officers are screened in a way that intentionally prevents people with exceptionally low IQs from entering the field.

It is the job given to low status men who cannot qualify for other jobs. Every society deals with its low status men in some form or another — in many US regions it is becoming a cop, in Russia it is being sent to war, historically it was being sent to the mines.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but 5.5 per 100,000 is still extremely rare, and even that number obscures a highly bimodal distribution that largely tracks race. In Massachusetts, the rate drops to 0.7 per 100,000, while in Mississippi and Louisiana it's over 8 per 100,000. From ages 1-19, that means the cumulative risk varies by about an order of magnitude even just at the state level before diving into specific cities or communities - ther…

> 5.5 per 100,000 is still extremely rare About 20% of all deaths in that age range. Dying from any cause at that age is extremely rare. > largely because of one demographic subset that is itself concentrated across a few small areas eg the geographically adjacent and culturally/ethnically indistinguishable states of Mississippi, New Mexico, Alaska, Alabama, and Wyoming? https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/fi…

Keep in mind, the data you just linked is all firearm deaths, not just firearm homicides, and that a majority of all firearm deaths in the USA (over 60%) are suicides, not homicides or accidents.

What you're seeing in Alaska and Wyoming and New Mexico is overwhelmingly suicides correlated with social isolation (Alaska, Wyoming), high rates of poverty (New Mexico), and SAD (Alaska), not an epidemic of violent shootings.

The correlation coefficient between gun ownership and firearm homicides at a state level is 0.22.

The correlation coefficient between gun ownership and firearm suicide at a state level 0.84.

Note that Illinois (Chicago) and Maryland (Baltimore) both have above-average firearm homicide with below average firearm ownership, while Idaho and Maine have above average firearm ownership and significantly below-average firearm homicide.

The drivers of homicide are overwhelmingly urban violence, poverty, and illicit markets, not the firearms themselves.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#227
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asbestos, leaded gasoline, lead based paint, etc were things encountered everyday in the past. This is how science progresses and how our life expectancy and active life expectancy go up.

At the risk of stating the obvious, California's law only requires property owners to declare the presence of hazardous substances, not to reduce or even identify them.

In that case, I withdraw my complaint and say that the whole think is just window dressing.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police officers are screened in a way that intentionally prevents people with exceptionally low IQs from entering the field.

It is the job given to low status men who cannot qualify for other jobs. Every society deals with its low status men in some form or another — in many US regions it is becoming a cop, in Russia it is being sent to war, historically it was being sent to the mines.

No? It's significantly harder to become a police officer than a truck driver or a skilled tradesperson, and, in particular, in most departments there's an actual higher ed requirement.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police officers are screened in a way that intentionally prevents people with exceptionally low IQs from entering the field.

It is the job given to low status men who cannot qualify for other jobs. Every society deals with its low status men in some form or another — in many US regions it is becoming a cop, in Russia it is being sent to war, historically it was being sent to the mines.

Is that really true? It's not super high status, for sure, but many police departments in the US require every officer to have a bachelors degree. And the pay is higher than average.

Re: America pays workers just 27% of what its wealth allows – the worst in the OECD

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 5.5 per 100,000 is still extremely rare About 20% of all deaths in that age range. Dying from any cause at that age is extremely rare. > largely because of one demographic subset that is itself concentrated across a few small areas eg the geographically adjacent and culturally/ethnically indistinguishable states of Mississippi, New Mexico, Alaska, Alabama, and Wyoming? https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/fi…

Keep in mind, the data you just linked is all firearm deaths, not just firearm homicides, and that a majority of all firearm deaths in the USA (over 60%) are suicides, not homicides or accidents. What you're seeing in Alaska and Wyoming and New Mexico is overwhelmingly suicides correlated with social isolation (Alaska, Wyoming), high rates of poverty (New Mexico), and SAD (Alaska), not an epidemic of violent shooting…

> Keep in mind, the data you just linked is all firearm deaths, not just firearm homicides

Yes. My earlier comment was "often from a gun"

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