You are assuming a gaussian distribution bell...Originally Posted by Loki
A paradox of plenty – hunger in America
After all, a bedrock belief in America held that this is the land of unlimited opportunities where every citizen has an equal chance to succeed and become rich. That requires an assumption that the system is fair. How many Americans still believe that?
Freedom - When people learn to embrace criticism about politicians, since politicians are just employees like you and me.
So what? Does it make us "exceptional" that our GDP is higher, too?
Does it matter that median or average includes some of the wealthiest people in the world? Does it matter how we define "income".....when people like Warren Buffet makes gains by dividends, interest, and capital gains (not salary) but pays a lower % of his millions in taxes than his secretary who works for thousands?
Does it matter than some folks who work two or three jobs can't afford a dentist, let alone comprehensive medical care, and end up on subsidy--or bankrupt? Oh, they can appeal to a charity, go to a free clinic set up in a sports arena, and stop their whining. Maybe if they join the right church, the congregation can pony up for their kidney transplant. We are benevolent, after all, in the right circles.
No, none of this matters. Probably not, if we're compared to say, Haiti. Like the author implied.....even our poor are better off than most. See how that works? We send more charity funds and helpful people to other countries. We are superior in nation building, in other nations. Making them in our own image. In our own country, everyone has BOOTSTRAPS and should damn well use them!
This is how we should define being Exceptional! Taking care of everyone else, ignoring our own. Just a bunch of whiner lazy asses, the enemy is among us, sitting on their sofa and eating KFC. We have terms for that---entitlements, welfare, protectionism, nationalism. Bad, bad, tsk.
No, wait! The enemy is outside us, those damn imm'grunts. They want to come here, the Land of Opportunity and Liberty, and suck us like a leech, suck us dry! Damn pinko commies and sssocialists. Oh, don't forget the muslims, the terrorists. They're out to destroy us!
*Thank you for visiting, please return your seat back to its locked and upright position, a customs and duty tax form is available at the gate, be sure to visit The Galleria and Duty Free Shop, and Please, come again!*
Go Go USA #1!
Does it matter that you don't know what a median is?
Fuck you, Loki. Of course I do. I also know about leaf and stem plots, gaussian bells, bell curves, T standards and Wagner's premise.
Does this make you feel better about American Exceptionalism?
I always have to chuckle when I see those claims about a higher standard of living in the US.
Congratulations America
Can you tell me how anything you said was relevant to my response?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...%29_per_capita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...%29_per_capita
The fact that the Netherlands has the same nominal GDP per capita while having a GDP per capita in PPP that is 20% lower suggests that your prices are 20% higher.
Loki, your head has been stuck up the ivory tower number ass too long. You used a wikifist?
Your argument: your evidence isn't perfect, therefore I will ignore it. Instead I will say something that has absolutely no evidence supporting it, and pretend my argument is superior because the evidence isn't flawed (because it doesn't exist).
Are you honestly denying that the median American is better off than the median person in just about every other country in terms of income?
Hope is the denial of reality
NO! Median is middle, not average. I've been saying the OP author is a gas bag.
My "argument" is that America is not exceptional just because we had an exceptional history. Our poorest don't compare to the world's poorest. Duh. My opinion is that we can do better. For ourselves AND for others.
Loki, you're the one who took this off topic into your superior knowledge of history, by telling me how wrong I was. Then you moved to numbers and statistics, ignoring that all those things only paint a partial picture of the world as it exists. I understand that's part of your real life context (being in a post-grad program, teaching others in theory, immersed in stats)....
but HERE you can't just spout numbers or theories and tell others how stupid they are. Our country, all nations, are changing fast every day. That is what's exceptional, and America doesn't have a monopoly on that. We are just another cog in the machinery as the machinations get more connected and complicated.
Remember when Loki used to use that CIA worldfacts site as his source, not realizing how outdated the information was?
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
Corrected: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income
Our nominal is even higher now, as the Doller is about 1$=1CHF now.
But isn't one of the reason behind the lower cost of living simply that there is a bigger amount of cheap labour in the US?The cost of living in the US is actually lower than in most of Europe.I really wish you people stopped making ridiculous claims about America's position in the world when you clearly have no idea about any country other than the US.
Also in most comparisons the work time isn't included. Free time is also an important factor of quality of live. I started to calculate any hour that I miss (for example waiting in a queue) with the amount of money I would earn in the same time. The results are very interesting.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
The cost of LIVING, or the cost of living healthy and (or but) illiterate (and miserable
)??
I forget, how much does an education cost you, in the US? Or, you know, basic things like quality healthcare?
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Oooooh, now that'd get the attention of someone who had to pay for their own education, or the parents of the person who didn't. In other words, you're still talking to unaffected persons.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
We pay a high cost for living here. Productivity is high, but when you figure in how many hours worked.....bah.
We also have to pay for healthcare out of income, and higher education, as minx suggests.
Put it all together and we've got a great looking stats picture, but millions of tired/overworked/broke/stupid/sick people.
Go Go USA #1!
Hey, any property owner is an affected person. Now we have no slaves or slave labor, but we're all indentured. They called it the Ownership Society. See how exceptional we are?
Productivity calculations are very misleading. They don't take into account utilization of available manpower.We pay a high cost for living here. Productivity is high, but when you figure in how many hours worked.....bah.
We also have to pay for healthcare out of income, and higher education, as minx suggests.
Put it all together and we've got a great looking stats picture, but millions of tired/overworked/broke/stupid/sick people.
Go Go USA #1!
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
You mean the bean counters might be misleading us? Nooooo....
Hey Jim, our productivity is up!
Really, we've had the same output as other quarters.
Yeah, because we laid off a couple of people, but they're still cranking it out real fast, they don't want to be next!
ha, cool, same production with less manpower! That's a profit, right?
Sure thing, it's pure profit. Let's go get a beer and toast our business savvy.
The realization will dawn when nobody can afford their shit.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
They won't care by then. The profiteers will have their billions in Swiss bank accounts, or in the Cayman Islands. They'll have taken quantity over quality, profits over prudence. Bankruptcy won't matter, even law suits won't matter. They are immune, they took the American Way and hired out all the labor, including their conscience. They paid attorneys and accountants to be their proxy. Sound familiar?
What's really funny is they don't own the banks they stashed their profits in.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
Reciprocity won't matter either. The Swiss can divulge all they want, but it won't mean a prosecution. If they're really snarky they diversified and have some funds in US banks. Ready to cajole a senator on the baking, I mean banking committee. Kinda like the Donald, the wealthiest, most repeatedly bankrupt businessman of all....then he got his own reality tv show and now he's a pop idol. But IMO he's still bankrupt in character. With really bad hair.
Yeah, I'm talking more along the lines of the profiteers losing undeclared deposits when the banks holding them determine the U.S. ain't rescuing these losers.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
The reality though is that even Dutch people in a low paid job only need one job to sustain their lifestyle. Hell, I don't even need a full job and still I live in comfort, with very little restraints on my impulse buying.
Congratulations America
As long as Loki doesn't get really sick, he can probably claim the same.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
Maybe, but he always loves to throw in his 'medians' as if they proof anything about they way people actually live.
Congratulations America
Loki is a compulsive gambler?
I think Loki still lives off his parents.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
Maybe one day he will understand that it doesn't matter much if you make $100,000 a year if you still can't pay the bills.
Congratulations America
Well I actually think the median is quite good for a single number statistics. But it doesn't tell anything about the low level workers. It actually tells you more about the middle-class. It could easily be possible that 45% of the population are working-poor and the rest is well paid, the median will still be quite good as it's only the 50%/50% boarder that counts.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Jesus Dread, when did you lose your soul? The first three or four paragraphs are just absolutely absurd. Stopped there assuming the rest of the article is equally ridiculous.
Not an excuse, but a very reliable indicator.
That's what blows me away. What happened to Dread over the last few years anyway? Did he get beat up by a homeless person he was trying to give a taco to or what?
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