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America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

ineteconomics.org

31–39 of 39 posts

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#31
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

I honestly can't tell if this is a joke comment or not. With the exception of the loan forgiveness idea, it sounds like a pretty obvious list of improvements. Genuine question - what about it makes you think it's particularly left-wing?

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can test your 30 year old cars feeling with numbers. Less than 10% of vehicles on the road in the US are 21 or more years old: https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-3/pdf/americans-aging-au...

You seem to confuse 'cars with old technology' with 'old cars', though I am not sure how "cars with '50s technology" could have led to that confusion. Anyway, these are not even close to being the same. I was talking about the fact that the new cars being sold had ancient technology. These were not "feelings". I mean, they were selling cars with rigid axles that would screech when turning corners. My dad (who worked…

I missed what point your anecdote was making. I think the adjective 'new' would have made it a lot clearer. And there was no verb in your original "sentence". I guess your point was that the US was like a developing country in 1981 because new cars were sold with 50s technology? Do you still fell like that is the situation today? I thought you were trying to say the US is/was like a developed nation because of the age of the cars on the road.

I don't have a feel for what the worldwide car technology situation was in 1981, I was a few years from being born.

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#33
post #29
post #9

I think that everybody have to understand that USA is very big country and it's extremely diverse, much more than countries in Europe. USA seems to have spots of extreme wealthy like Silicon Valley and most of the West Coast and extreme poverty like Detroit. With very small (in comparison to European countries) support for people in needs it's very easy to fall under poverty line only because of some accident.

Diversity is the main "excuse" I hear when speaking about the inequality problems in the US. USA is in no way more diverse than Europe. Are you saying that a guy from Lisboa and a guy from Prague (who, by the way, don't speak the same language) are more similar than a guy from LA and another from Columbus? The root of the inequality in the USA is political, not the diversity.

Are Lisboa (Lisbon?) and Prague in the same country? The charitable (and common too) way to read "more than countries in Europe" in this context is that it's more diverse than any country in Europe, not than any two countries in Europe.

Talking about anything across the USA is as insightful as talking about anything across the whole Europe, the point you have just supported. Do we cry about Europe turning into a developing nation because Moldova is not quite as developed as Monaco?

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#34
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

Yep. Jordan Peterson has discussed how important IQ is in the modern economy and how both the left and the right are in denial about it. While the left thinks anyone can be anything, the right thinks lazy people just need to work harder. Both are wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjs2gPa5sD0 Difficult problem.

Thanks, I loved the video, so I submitted it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14173566

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#35
post #31
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

I honestly can't tell if this is a joke comment or not. With the exception of the loan forgiveness idea, it sounds like a pretty obvious list of improvements. Genuine question - what about it makes you think it's particularly left-wing?

The problem you are experiencing is an interesting one. It turns out conservatives understand liberals but think they are misguided. Liberals, on the other hand, do not understand conservatives and, therefore, think they are evil.

A liberal has written and spoken extensively on this phenomena:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#36
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

Yep. Jordan Peterson has discussed how important IQ is in the modern economy and how both the left and the right are in denial about it. While the left thinks anyone can be anything, the right thinks lazy people just need to work harder. Both are wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjs2gPa5sD0 Difficult problem.

Agreeing with my sibling comment - absolutely fascinating video, thanks. Watched the whole original lecture.

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#37
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly can't tell if this is a joke comment or not. With the exception of the loan forgiveness idea, it sounds like a pretty obvious list of improvements. Genuine question - what about it makes you think it's particularly left-wing?

The problem you are experiencing is an interesting one. It turns out conservatives understand liberals but think they are misguided. Liberals, on the other hand, do not understand conservatives and, therefore, think they are evil. A liberal has written and spoken extensively on this phenomena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt

I suppose I was more interested in what specifically in the quoted text was supposed to embody left-wing ideology. Discounting the aforementioned loan forgiveness idea, which does smell pretty left-wing, what exactly is it? Isn't everyone in favour of better education? Fixing infrastructure? I couldn't hear the dog whistle.

And FWIW I wouldn't really identify either way (maybe fiscal conservative, social liberal) but yes, hearing someone react viscerally and negatively to the suggestion we improve education did make me wonder if the OP was simply malicious, or was perhaps making some kind of joke. Hence the (serious) question.

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#38
post #31
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

I honestly can't tell if this is a joke comment or not. With the exception of the loan forgiveness idea, it sounds like a pretty obvious list of improvements. Genuine question - what about it makes you think it's particularly left-wing?

[deleted]

Re: America is regressing into a developing nation for most people

#39
post #8

> We’ve been digging ourselves into a hole for over forty years, but Temin says that we know how to stop digging. If we spent more on domestic rather than military activities, then the middle class would not vanish as quickly. The effects of technological change and globalization could be altered by political actions. We could restore and expand education, shifting resources from policies like mass incarceration to i…

Yep. Jordan Peterson has discussed how important IQ is in the modern economy and how both the left and the right are in denial about it. While the left thinks anyone can be anything, the right thinks lazy people just need to work harder. Both are wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjs2gPa5sD0 Difficult problem.

So what's the "right" answer? The high IQ crowd yucks it up, while the proles live in caves somewhere?
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