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I’m kind of shaking my head at the people in this thread with their flux capacitor set to November 5, 1955 when the rest of the planet had been bombed to rubble and the United States was 50% of the global economy. That’s not current conditions in 2021. Today, there is an enormous disparity between the top and the bottom. The mediocre median person is less economically successful than their parents. It’s how we ended up with Trumpkin MAGA hats and Meal Team Six with their AR-15 paramilitary antics. Socioeconomic class mobility is worse in the United States than in famously immobile places like the UK.
I had white collar professional parents. I’m a 6’2” white male who lucked out with genetics for health and intelligence. I couldn’t miss. That’s not the outcome of a 100 IQ millennial with non-college educated parents. We live in the land of social Darwinism. The rest of the first world with more homogeneous populations understands that and takes steps to make the quality of life better for that 100 IQ millennial. The United States is now carved up into factions and it’s politically impossible to move at all towards a more normal first world social democracy. It’s the Ronnie tribal “welfare queen” rhetoric where the 100 IQ white person resents the black person or brown person getting social benefits only white people should receive. In South Africa, it used to be called apartheid. It’s not long term sustainable.
I’m kind of shaking my head at the people in this thread with their flux capacitor set to November 5, 1955 when the rest of the planet had been bombed to rubble and the United States was 50% of the global economy. That’s not current conditions in 2021. Today, there is an enormous disparity between the top and the bottom. The mediocre median person is less economically successful than their parents. It’s how we ended up with Trumpkin MAGA hats and Meal Team Six with their AR-15 paramilitary antics. Socioeconomic class mobility is worse in the United States than in famously immobile places like the UK.
I had white collar professional parents. I’m a 6’2” white male who lucked out with genetics for health and intelligence. I couldn’t miss. That’s not the outcome of a 100 IQ millennial with non-college educated parents. We live in the land of social Darwinism. The rest of the first world with more homogeneous populations understands that and takes steps to make the quality of life better for that 100 IQ millennial. The United States is now carved up into factions and it’s politically impossible to move at all towards a more normal first world social democracy. It’s the Ronnie tribal “welfare queen” rhetoric where the 100 IQ white person resents the black person or brown person getting social benefits only white people should receive. In South Africa, it used to be called apartheid. It’s not long term sustainable.
My problem with the USA is that it sells itself as capitalist when it really isn't, so I'd rather live somewhere that's more honest about it's economic system.
I don’t care about what is being sold as what...only which country is better for me and my family from now through 150+ years into the future.
I’ve still yet to hear a convincing argument about what I’m missing in my middle class American existence....
I don’t care about what is being sold as what...only which country is better for me and my family from now through 150+ years into the future.
I’ve still yet to hear a convincing argument about what I’m missing in my middle class American existence....
In all fairness, your mind isn’t open to such an argument. And the debate isn’t about how well you are doing personally but whether this is truly the best country anymore in terms of upward mobility and quality of life for its citizens. Of course there are people who are doing well here. Heck there are people doing well in North Korea and China too, it doesn’t mean they’re great places to live, and one would be foolish to use their quality of life as a metric to determine quality of life there as a whole. Your thinking seems to be based on “As long as me and mine are doing well, this is the best country in the world” while the rest of us are not using such a myopic metric.
As long as your personal quality of life is the standard you’re using for greatness, of course no argument will convince you otherwise.
I’m kind of shaking my head at the people in this thread with their flux capacitor set to November 5, 1955 when the rest of the planet had been bombed to rubble and the United States was 50% of the global economy.
Ayup. The US found itself flanked by two giant anti-tank ditches while the rest of the world erupted into war. A position that the US rode fairly competently into ca. the Reagan era, completely failing to realize that it wasn't due to a specific US gene for competence or some crazy superior system of government. (The Cold War helped.) But that's not a conversation a lot of US patriots are ready for.
The Brits in 1938 were on top of the world, too. World-stretching empire, expanding comfortable middle-class, the lower classes kept mostly in check and out of sight. They'd been Top Dog for generations and were, I'm sure, completely confident of the next 150+ years.
The family described, with a large house, etc etc and a supposedly modest income would, here, more than likely be in the cash economy. Buying things like designer handbags is a good way to get rid of cash as the tax department cannot trace them too easily. My friend had a designer store and the partners of plumbers would come in with literally thousands in cash to get rid of.
I live in one of the lowest cost major metro in the U.S., that many consider very undesirable, and the family living like what the poster described, is either fictitious, living up to their eyeballs in debt, or have some type of financial assistance in some form or fashion. Whether the make their money in a cash economy or not. Even as a single person you still have to live a fairly modest lifestyle at that income level even in a low cost area.
I live in one of the lowest cost major metro in the U.S., that many consider very undesirable, and the family living like what the poster described, is either fictitious, living up to their eyeballs in debt, or have some type of financial assistance in some form or fashion. Whether the make their money in a cash economy or not. Even as a single person you still have to live a fairly modest lifestyle at that income level even in a low cost area.
It doesn’t take a huge income to cover a $900 mortgage and a few car payments — especially for those that live for today and not tomorrow.
BTW — why does the subject of “desirable areas” come up when talking about making it in America. Carving out a life in BFE parts of America is not “bad”. Granted, I understand many of the people on a forum like this are often those that have relocated or are looking to move somewhere — thus possible bias.
In all fairness, your mind isn’t open to such an argument. And the debate isn’t about how well you are doing personally but whether this is truly the best country anymore in terms of upward mobility and quality of life for its citizens. Of course there are people who are doing well here. Heck there are people doing well in North Korea and China too, it doesn’t mean they’re great places to live, and one would be foolish to use their quality of life as a metric to determine quality of life there as a whole. Your thinking seems to be based on “As long as me and mine are doing well, this is the best country in the world” while the rest of us are not using such a myopic metric.
As long as your personal quality of life is the standard you’re using for greatness, of course no argument will convince you otherwise.
I’m kind of shaking my head at the people in this thread with their flux capacitor set to November 5, 1955 when the rest of the planet had been bombed to rubble and the United States was 50% of the global economy. That’s not current conditions in 2021. Today, there is an enormous disparity between the top and the bottom. The mediocre median person is less economically successful than their parents. It’s how we ended up with Trumpkin MAGA hats and Meal Team Six with their AR-15 paramilitary antics. Socioeconomic class mobility is worse in the United States than in famously immobile places like the UK.
I had white collar professional parents. I’m a 6’2” white male who lucked out with genetics for health and intelligence. I couldn’t miss. That’s not the outcome of a 100 IQ millennial with non-college educated parents. We live in the land of social Darwinism. The rest of the first world with more homogeneous populations understands that and takes steps to make the quality of life better for that 100 IQ millennial. The United States is now carved up into factions and it’s politically impossible to move at all towards a more normal first world social democracy. It’s the Ronnie tribal “welfare queen” rhetoric where the 100 IQ white person resents the black person or brown person getting social benefits only white people should receive. In South Africa, it used to be called apartheid. It’s not long term sustainable.
It is social Darwinism, but maybe not how you put it. There are intelligent 6'2" people dime a dozen and many of them unemployed. OTOH, there are plenty '100 IQ millennials' making very good money and prospering. It is quite often about who you know, not what you know. There's a general trend in one direction, but it's not a rule by any stretch of imagination. Most jobs, the way our economy is structured, do not require advanced skills acquired during the education years. I know many very PhDs whose jobs could be performed by trained monkeys. Not that they couldn't do more complex stuff. It's just that it's not needed.
Ditto on 1955 economy though. It is easy to compete when you are the only person around.
There are intelligent 6'2" people dime a dozen and many of them unemployed. .
I really don't understand the 6'2 reference. I am 6'4 and have never thought it gave me an edge in any way. Maybe a few headaches from forgetting to duck. That's about it.
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