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

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

#991

Post by anamax »

abustamam wrote: post #943
amluto wrote: post #778

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, a house is always affordable to someone It’s actually not true that a house is affordable to the person living in it. First, plenty of people own houses, paid-off even, but have little else in the way of income or assets, and, other than not wanting to move, they might be much better off if the home magically turned into cash. Second, taxes. In the US, in HCOL markets, selling your house may involve large amo…

My in-laws bought a house in the East Bay area in 2000 for about $400k. Worth about $1.5m (according to zillow and similar homes in the neighborhood that have recently sold). Fully paid off now, and they're retired. If they were to sell it, they'd have to pay taxes on 1.1m of "profit." sure they can write off renovations and deduct $500k but that's still a lot of taxes to pay! So yeah, they wouldn't be able to sell a…

The first $500k is federal tax-free. The rest is taxed at long-term capital gains rates.

IIRC, California taxes that $1.1M as ordinary income.

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

#992

Post by bigtex88 »

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #128
xyzelement wrote: post #75

I feel like this is an easily answerable question, but I can see this because I grew up an atheist (and travel in those typically atheist/educated/professional circles) and have become much more aware/educated in/embracing of religion later in life myself. If you compare apples to apples - say my average atheist friend who is a director in a FAANG and also my religious friend who is also a director in the same FAANG.…

"America has undergone a VERY rapid secularization" And yet we elected Jesus.

What?

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

#993

Post by bigtex88 »

WalterBright wrote: post #978
mbfg wrote: post #968

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> you will definitely see that wealth is a zero sum game. I'm not seeing it. Maybe you could flesh it out a bit?

You can go fuck yourself with your bullshit here.

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

#994

Post by bigtex88 »

partiallypro wrote: post #80
david927 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Around 76% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. - 71% of adults say that their monthly debt payments prevent them from saving. When we say America, we can't just mean the 20% who are ok. It has to mean the 70% who aren't. America is not rich. It used to be. It is not now.

America is very very rich, the average person is much wealthier than the average European. 76% of Americans do not live paycheck to paycheck. That is a self reported stat and not reliable. It's a media sensationalist headline grabber which virtually every economist ignores. People don't like saying America is rich because it defies their beliefs, but the actual stats don't lie. Every American I know that has moved to…

Then why are Euros happier overall?

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

#995

Post by marcus_holmes »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #924
marcus_holmes wrote: post #775

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Before you had 8-9 hours a day of serious social activity This is a major difference between US and Euro workplaces that I have noticed. In the USA, there is plenty of time for chat with colleagues, and everyone stays at work longer. In Euro workplaces it tends to be more focused on work and then everyone goes home at 5. The most extreme example I've worked in was in Dublin, where there was an explicit "you are giv…

> The most extreme example I've worked in was in Dublin, where there was an explicit "you are given 8 hours of work, and 8 hours to do it in. If you need to stay longer than that then you must be incompetent", and the entire office, everyone, emptied into the pub at 5pm. All the socialising and "cooler chat" happened over pints of Guiness in the pub. The folks with kids would have one or two and then go home, or not…

I've only worked at this one place in Ireland, so there was definitely a tendency to say "the Irish" when I actually only knew "this one workplace in Ireland". Thanks for the clarification :) From now I'll preface it with "it's not the norm, but I worked at this one place in Ireland where...".

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

#996

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #995
disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #924

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The most extreme example I've worked in was in Dublin, where there was an explicit "you are given 8 hours of work, and 8 hours to do it in. If you need to stay longer than that then you must be incompetent", and the entire office, everyone, emptied into the pub at 5pm. All the socialising and "cooler chat" happened over pints of Guiness in the pub. The folks with kids would have one or two and then go home, or not…

I've only worked at this one place in Ireland, so there was definitely a tendency to say "the Irish" when I actually only knew "this one workplace in Ireland". Thanks for the clarification :) From now I'll preface it with "it's not the norm, but I worked at this one place in Ireland where...".

> I've only worked at this one place in Ireland, so there was definitely a tendency to say "the Irish" when I actually only knew "this one workplace in Ireland".

To be fair, this does happen a lot if there are visitors to the office. I can certainly believe everyone going out in that case. Alternatively, if the team is pretty young and single this would definitely happen. When I worked at FB there was a big drinking culture (not just in Ireland), so again I'd believe it of there.

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

#997

Post by plumbees »

The friction in everyday interactions feels higher than it used to be. I'm noticing a common thread: a lack of emphasis on training. I see the gap shows up everywhere. The result is increased friction for everything in life and it's happening regardless of the industry.

I've seen baggers in grocery stores, place cans and bottles of water on top of bread. When I visit the doctor I have to constantly advocate that I want to see the document they are making me sign in writing as they typically won't share the document with me at all unless I sign. And just over all lack of empathy and understanding of what services are being provided, all due to the lack of training.

This forces everyday interactions to have an additional layer of distrust and having to pay attention to things that would have normally been taken care of in the past.

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

#998

Post by account42 »

sokoloff wrote: post #676
mcphage wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, it was government mandates that played hell with peoples' social lives. What did the government mandate about your social life?

Closing restaurants, bars, and movie theaters had a negative effect on social lives as a direct result of government mandates.

Much worse than that in Germany - they literally had rules for gathering with your family with complex charts to determine with you you are allowed to meet (with single adults living on their own getting the worst of it). Utter insanity, all of it.

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

#1000

Post by mymythisisthis »

james_marks wrote: post #694
bontaq wrote: post #409

My mom said, "whatever we built isn't working anymore," and I think that captures most of the sentiment. It's also funny to see the "the economy is roaring!" "incomes are up!". Great, have they increased by as much as inflation? Can I afford a home? Work has if anything gotten worse in general. Remote's gone. Pay's less. ADHD maximum AI use required. Nobody can take a break. Pressure's on. 1.5 trillion more to the mi…

At almost 50, I feel like there has been a cultural shift since I was a kid. It isn’t enough to be middle class, to have the proverbial white picket fence. The reach now is for glamor and wealth, which is by definition out of reach for the majority. If that’s the ideal you compare your own life to, you will be unhappy. And the debt, etc you take on to mimic it will make you even more unhappy. The shift was already ha…

I think for me the big difference is in airline travel, it's become ubiquitous for vacationing. At the same time everything in N. America has become a cookie cutter suburb or exurb and drab. Houses have also become bigger, as well as cars. It's a big shift in culture that happened.
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