Inequality Without Class
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Inequality Without Class
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Re: Inequality Without Class
#2The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped.
There is no reason to believe that one person being insanely well off makes someone else worse off. Inequality is an interesting indicator but gets far more airplay than it is worth.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#3The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
> I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires.
It would be nice if those were the only two options.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#4The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
> focus needs to be on absolute living standards
Living standards of who, exactly?
Are you talking about aggregate GDP regardless of how it's distributed?
Is it okay if the top 5 deciles do better, while the bottom decile does worse?
> a 10x Musk and no homeless people
That doesn't seem to be how it works, as the population of unsheltered people appears to be positively correlated with the population of billionaires.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#5The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
> focus needs to be on absolute living standards Living standards of who, exactly? Are you talking about aggregate GDP regardless of how it's distributed? Is it okay if the top 5 deciles do better, while the bottom decile does worse? > a 10x Musk and no homeless people That doesn't seem to be how it works, as the population of unsheltered people appears to be positively correlated with the population of billionaires.
> Living standards of who, exactly?
Everyone. There isn't some group we should wish ill on in the abstract. The best way forward is one where everyone is better off. That is how the big leaps forward tend to work - the wealthy get insanely more wealthy, the middle gets more wealthy and the lower end of the wealth spectrum stays where it is but shrinks as a relative share of society [0]. I'd rather that than one of the big equalisation pushes like what we saw in Russia or China last century.
The problem with the excessive focus on inequality is it is an easy way to lead people away from approaches where everyone wins.
[0] Due to mental health and rare people with unusual personal preferences, the poorest person in society will always have basically nothing. I don't think that is theoretically possible to improve on. And the mechanical reason why I think "reducing inequality" is a really bad idea - the only reliable way to do that is drag people towards being impoverished.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#6The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
> I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. It would be nice if those were the only two options.
It isn’t very charitable if you to purposefully misread an obvious rhetorical device. It made perfect sense to me.
One POV is you’re proving the point: people feel much more strongly about exacting vengeance against antagonist celebrities than helping people generally. They’ll of course say the opposite in worthless Internet comments.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#7[dead]
Re: Inequality Without Class
#8The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
> focus needs to be on absolute living standards Living standards of who, exactly? Are you talking about aggregate GDP regardless of how it's distributed? Is it okay if the top 5 deciles do better, while the bottom decile does worse? > a 10x Musk and no homeless people That doesn't seem to be how it works, as the population of unsheltered people appears to be positively correlated with the population of billionaires.
As a percentage of the population? Or does total population growth account for this?
(Genuinely asking; I know very little about this and would like to become more familiar with what people know about it.)
Re: Inequality Without Class
#9The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
You don't get to be Musk level without reaching your hands deep into the pockets of other people and taking it for yourself. All you have to do is look at the propaganda surrounding "PPP loans" versus the money given out to stretch people's paychecks during the pandemic. Most businesses weren't affected in any substantial way, but governments still gave away trillions, and the companies got to keep the money. Meanwhile, we're supposed to hate ole Jimbob because he's poor, his hours were cut, and he received a $1200 check.
Re: Inequality Without Class
#10The focus on inequality is a massive mistake. The focus needs to be on absolute living standards. I would rather live in a world with a 10x Musk and no homeless people than a more equal world like the current one but with no billionaires. In point fact, I don't see how that second world is better for anyone. Literally nobody is better off in that scenario even if inequality has dropped. There is no reason to believe…
Sometimes it’s crab mentality that gets people thinking it’s better everyone be equal but less better off on average so long as there aren’t egregious examples of people getting on really, really well.