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This is a teenager

pudding.cool

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Re: This is a teenager

#621

Post by sangnoir »

parentheses wrote: post #609
sangnoir wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have found the US to be the easiest place to make it (and by far) of any other that I have been to, but they rather remove any ounce of responsibility from their own citizens I'm willing to bet - dollars to donuts - that there were (and are) American investors in your country of origin, and every other one you've been to. Sometimes being an outsider confers clarity / skills / experience necessary to exploit oppor…

While you may be right, I feel the dynamic is more about the fact that most expats tend to be more educated than the average. If someone willingly moved to a country where limited opportunity exists, that may not apply to them since they're better equipped for it. This is especially true if you consider Indians or Chinese in America. Those populations have an even more acute education lead. So many people want to com…

> While you may be right, I feel the dynamic is more about the fact that most expats tend to be more educated than the average

That's my point exactly! It's not that all Americans are particularly entitled, lazy, uncreative, or risk-averse. I specifically chose American investors in their country of origin as a counterpoint to the implication that Americanness infers lack of grit/drive, doubly so when Americans can succeed the countries OP left.

Voluntary migrants (that includes expats) are a self-selected, self-motivated bunch. OP is did not contrasting themself to the appropriate percentile of Americans.

Re: This is a teenager

#622

Post by gnaritas99 »

KTibow wrote: post #414
anon291 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Better public transit benefits everyone. Better urban design favoring walkable neighborhoods benefits everyone. Better zoning allowing neighborhood shops at street level benefits everyone. Sure, as someone who is raising a family in a city, I completely agree. But the reason why stores leave is invariably safety issues.

The point isn't necessarily that stores need to spring up nearby, the point is that it needs to be easier to access stores (eg by making it easier to get transportation).

[dead]

Re: This is a teenager

#623

Post by anon291 »

KTibow wrote: post #414
anon291 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Better public transit benefits everyone. Better urban design favoring walkable neighborhoods benefits everyone. Better zoning allowing neighborhood shops at street level benefits everyone. Sure, as someone who is raising a family in a city, I completely agree. But the reason why stores leave is invariably safety issues.

The point isn't necessarily that stores need to spring up nearby, the point is that it needs to be easier to access stores (eg by making it easier to get transportation).

Well in my experience the rich and poor rely on public transit in mostly similar numbers, so I don't really see what transit in particular has to do with it.

Re: This is a teenager

#625

Post by anon291 »

Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #452
anon291 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately a solid number of these things would rely on the moral equivalent of slavery. > Reduce the burden of poverty. For instance, the poorer you are the further you have to travel to the grocery store. The people who often don't have the means to easily travel for food have to travel for food. No one wants to work in these neighborhoods because they are invariably awful. At some point the risk of an employee…

>Our current economic system has consistently lifted large numbers of people out of poverty historically, and is still doing it today. Debatable. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2316730121 >We should at least give it a go for seven more generations. Are you being sarcastic? Underclasses and the declining classes are both on the verge of revolt. Seven generations of status quo won’t occur. That’s a fantasy of so…

Depends on what you consider a generation, but we've had more than seven generations in American history at this point with a mostly similar economic system that has produced massive growth. I say keep doing it.

Re: This is a teenager

#626

Post by autoexec »

petesergeant wrote: post #570
Ozzie_osman wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a very, very big difference.

It is, although it disproportionately affects people who are poor but not broke. If you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid, if you’re old there’s Medicare, 4% by some form of military healthcare, many people covered by their employers, and so on. 90% of Americans are insured. As a Britisher, obviously I’m in favour of universal healthcare, and I think the US system would benefit from it. But let’s not pretend it’s perf…

> f you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid

Which you still might not qualify for, and may not get even if you do qualify for it (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-ol...)

> 90% of Americans are insured.

Which doesn't prevent nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care because of the expense they're still subjected to. (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-car...) Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy.

Re: This is a teenager

#627

Post by anon291 »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #445
anon291 wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Canada also have horrific city planning, so when I say people need to travel far I mean they need to spend up to 3 hours in some major (major for us) cities just to get groceries. I can't imagine anyone in a major US city spending 3 hours. Maybe rurally, but even the so-called 'food deserts' in a big city like LA ... it's just a few miles. At the end of the day, look... my mother taught in inner-city public schools…

> At the end of the day, look... my mother taught in inner-city public schools. I know the problems these kids have. > I feel these policies end up failing because the policy makers are from whole families (And are likely extremely socially conservative in their own life) and can't imagine anything so debased. I feel like you don't know any better than these policy makers you are dismissing.

I'm not a policy maker nor claim to be one.

Re: This is a teenager

#628

Post by komali2 »

parentheses wrote: post #604
l0c0b0x wrote: post #519

I was Alex (my name is not Alex). Graduated high school in 97, but with a 2.1 GPA (yeah, pretty bad). Went to community college while working part time, living in a 'separated' household (mom/dad did the splits), supported both my parents both emotionally and financially (as much as I could) through their transition and new living arrangements. We were all immigrants, and still learning the ropes in this wonderful co…

I agree. I find it hilarious when Americans complain about America. Most have no clue how good they have it.

Why is it funny to want to make our country better? Do you believe it's impossible for America to more wisely spend its wealth? Do you believe Americans have it as good as is possible, considering how rich the nation is? I find this silly, because I can simply point at our education and healthcare outcomes to find two readily improvable conditions. Or, our child hunger rates.

Re: This is a teenager

#629

Post by donatj »

Probably an unimportant detail, but the "weights today" are strangely low and seemingly unrepresentative of the general US population. A VERY strangely high percentage between 90lbs and 120lbs, and very few over 200lbs.

Re: This is a teenager

#630

Post by Glyptodon »

jaza wrote: post #512
Glyptodon wrote: post #495

One thing I've been curious about but can never tell from the no/some/4yr+ income breakdown they always do is how trades like mechanics, electricians, welders, and plumbers actually do. Which box are they in? Do they make no degree multi-modal, or even more skewed to poverty than we think?

Don't know about the US, but in Australia at least, mechanics / electricians / welders / plumbers / etc ("tradies" as we call them) generally do quite well financially. Income often above the average for a university graduate. Often more job security. And often significant tax breaks due to being self-employed. Also, income aside, I don't think that tradies belong in the broad "no college education" group, as almost…

In the US it's never clear which box they get included in, at least to me. But apprenticeship + cert would I think generally be no college.
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