Comment by fluoridation
6 hours ago
Yes, I dispute it. Firstly because it's literally not true by the numbers you're basing it off of, as the mean real family income grew by 40ish% between 1973 and 2023; and secondly because it's a very carefully-worded statement that lends itself to confusion by placing together things that are not necessarily related, like the graph comparing the number of pirates with the global temperature of the Earth. Yes, the data being presented is true (well, in your case it's not, but let's pretend you've rephrased it such that it is), but the manner in which it's being presented is communicating something other than the data.
Nicely done subtly shifting the conversation from wealth to income. I guess it shouldn't matter that the bottom 90% of Americans have seen their share of wealth decrease since that started being measured in 1989. The median worker should be thrilled as long as their real wages have increased. Who cares if inflation numbers fail to account properly for more nuanced changes to cost of living such as rising education costs being more impactful due to higher college enrollment rates? Who needs to accumulate wealth when your income is growing at almost 1% per year?
>Nicely done subtly shifting the conversation from wealth to income.
I don't see the data on absolute wealth in your link, so I went with what I had.
>I guess it shouldn't matter that the bottom 90% of Americans have seen their share of wealth decrease since that started being measured in 1989. The median worker should be thrilled as long as their real wages have increased.
Well... yes? I mean, should I care that there's a multibillionaire I don't know somewhere in the country amassing an obscene fortune, if I'm living a little more comfortably every year? Most everyone is living better, isn't that fine?
>Who cares if inflation numbers fail to account properly for more nuanced changes to cost of living
How is that my fault? It's the data you used. Why are you using it if you think it has flaws?
The conversation started with the question of who captures the wealth generated from this new tech. I pointed to numbers that show the ultra-wealthy have captured almost all the new wealth generated in the last 50 years.
The page I linked also having income numbers does not mean I agree they are a good analog for were this value is captured. I don't believe income increasing at slightly under 1% a year actually indicates that "Most everyone is living better" today for the reasons mentioned above. You're free to offer counter evidence and I don't know why you're acting like you were limited to only referencing the source I provided.
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