Earlier quoted context omitted.
The average inflation-adjusted hourly wage in the US has fallen over the past 50 years. No: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
What I said is correct. Inflation-adjusted hourly wages are down. You posted a link that people are working more hours per year, so their yearly inflation-adjusted income is up. So you're really posting the second negative here, thanks. As I said, tge average hourly median wage is below what it was 50 years ago. From the same federal reports you linked. Plus, we can see from here, that not only are people paid less p…
If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
961–970 of 1001 posts
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#962I do feel this trend in my life. I have a job which I'm grateful for but nothing feels satisfying anymore, and I feel like it is much harder to connect to people or form deep relationships, especially in this field, unless you already have a clique in your workplace. On top of that, AI is generally a demotivating entity to the majority of people. Despite all the hype of Altman and whonots, I feel like people just don…
Children would change that, instantly. I wasn't a father until late in life and then all of a sudden, everything is easy. The moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, every moment has meaning and purpose. Nothing, no meal, no evening, no dollar is wasted. As my children grow - the only question is how long do I have until I have grandchildren. After that - how long until I no longer have skin in the game? I do f…
I'm not even on step 0 for that. Dating is f*ked for ordinary young men in 2026
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#963Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Which would make someone less sad by default, no? I certainly sort of wish I thought I had it all figured out - I'd be way happier! That's also an extreme oversimplification of religion which describes only a very small number of individuals of most if not all faiths. The vast majority are not hardliners, and understand the larger component of religion is community and shared purpose.
> Which would make someone less sad by default, no?
Ignorance is bliss. Is ignorance therefore good?
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#964Earlier quoted context omitted.
America's wealth is not a pie that gets divvied up. For example, Musk created the wealth he has. It wasn't distributed to him from others. > 90% of Americans are not rich. Compared to 250 years ago, about 99% of Americans are rich.
> For example, Musk created the wealth he has. It wasn't distributed to him from others. The jokes write themselves
Show us one! I'm ready for a laugh.
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#965Earlier quoted context omitted.
>This can be good, you know No, it's not. Non-factual, non-evidence based worldview is part of the problem humanity has right now in the post-fact era. >The idea is that everyone will be good if they are afraid of judgement day I reject the notion that people can be good just because they are afraid of some powerful entity judging them. People are good because it's the right and rational thing to do. If they aren't g…
> right and rational Even you seem to agree that there is a notion of a "right" thing. A "Rational" action can totally depend on what you want to achieve. And also considering the fact that "rationality" is not equally distributed among the people, it follows that there need to be some kind of gospel that needs to be followed so that everyone will do things that are collectively beneficial... >It's not the job of sci…
Science exposes reality. If people aren't fit to deal with reality, and need imaginary entities that they need to worship for it to make sense, then these people need to work on themselves first and foremost, instead of screaming that the painted door on the wall that science removed traps them in a room. Their worldview was error prone to begin with.
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#966Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would it make you feel better to learn that that's not really true. Its just that you don't know anything about public policy and are moderately economically successful so you are isolated from the problems that your political beliefs were/are causing. And when this expressed itself in politics instead of learning why others were unhappy, you instead just call them names and declare them all "shitheels". So all you h…
When did you first meet CamperBob2 and learn all this information about them? Or are you just strawmanning for effect? It does come across as a comment not in line with: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
It does, however, come across as a comment fully in line with https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_hit_dog_will_holler .
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#967Earlier quoted context omitted.
Riots in the streets because you have to wear a piece of cloth on your mouth and stand slightly farther away from people? I don't know how people are so delusional to think lockdown was a lockdown. Did we... did we have the same COVID? I went to work every day, in person, at a restaurant. I served people every day, in person, at said restaurant. I went shopping at the grocery store. I went to the park, to the mall. T…
part of the issue with Covid is that it was highly state dependent so everyone is talking past each other and accusing people of gaslighting and memory holing stuff. if you lived in Texas, many people would agree with your assessment. I lived in Massachusetts and I can tell you that was not at all my experience. All communal venues including the beach???? were shut down. there was extreme social pressure to never ste…
> If you lived in a primarily liberal culture, the authoritarianism, virtue signaling and hypocrisy were completely insane.
Perhaps so, but in 2020-2023, it appears that the harsh imposition of Massachusetts was not in vain when compared to states like Texas, for example.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/covid19.html
Sure, correlation does not imply causation, but correlations do imply associations.
> Its extremely disingenuous
It is also extremely privileged and entitled. More Americans died from Covid in a few years than the sum of US solider deaths in all US wars combined from 1776-2026.
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#968The top 10% of American families own close to 70% of america's wealth. So if "America" is rich. Those are the folks who are rich. 90% of Americans are not rich.
America's wealth is not a pie that gets divvied up. For example, Musk created the wealth he has. It wasn't distributed to him from others. > 90% of Americans are not rich. Compared to 250 years ago, about 99% of Americans are rich.
This collection of people, well actually, more like the 1% set the tax rules. Compare the tax rules from 1970s, to today, and you will definitely see that wealth is a zero sum game.
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#969Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if COVID revealed to Americans how toxic their individualistic culture is. For a long time it kind of seemed like individualism was working well for you but COVID was the first crisis since WW2 where the country was asked to pull in the same direction together and it really just fell apart. I'd be miderable too if I learned my entire worldview, and that of my countrymen, was dangerously wrong and there's no…
Lockdown, not "Covid". And that Covid lockdown was a little taste of the extreme form of top down collectivism. (Covid was around both before and after the lockdowns.) The USA got off lockdown lightly in the main. Continental Europe, Canada and Australia all went nuts with it. Especially the Northern Territory and State of Victoria.
People will complain that the government did too little or too much, but the key is that people will always complain.
Re: If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
#970Earlier quoted context omitted.
> appreciation for the willingness of French workers to stand up for themselves I wonder if you still have that view when your car is one of the hundreds that typically get set on fire during protests. Rioting and the government caving for a minority out of fear of violence is the most undemocratic possible and does not fit in 21th century society. I’m happy to grow up north of France where minorities don’t torch the…
Rioting is undemocratic… Yeah, I guess we ARE hard-working sheep and get what we deserve…
Yes, it is? When the majority wants something different than you, forcing the government to your will by violence, is not a very democratic process.