Thatâs a solid one. I discussed some formal and semi-formal definitions in another topic, and could get into more detailed discussions about the value of time versus money or Maslowâs pyramid, but yours is what itâs about at the base of things.
Thatâs where Maslowâs pyramid comes in on a societal level. We all benefit when everyoneâs basic needs are taken care of.
In art class the teacher made a big deal about the negative space, the background in balance with the forground. Contrasts between light and dark. It made a lot of sense to me at the time that a full aesthetic appreciation of a thing, look past the thing itself, and consider other stuff thatâs not the thing being labeled.
Seems like economists Iâve heard most from, have paid very little attention to the âbadsâ that accompany âgoodsâ. The abuse that contrasts with services. The way addiction is managed and titrated and carefully dosed in every package.
Itâs weird how all the commercials I see on TV seem to be accomodating covid 19 by insinuating, âwe know how hard things are, but arent you glad you can still buy our product in a cardboard box?â.
Anyway, the title of this thread is a misnomer, I think. Itâs not wealth that people are all that confused about, itâs want/demand that is whatâs being manipulated in some very opaque ways.
They do pay attention, but mask it in the term âexternalitiesâ â especially when theyâre talking about the negative outcomes.
The other group that comes to mind, is insurance companies. Actuarials have a pretty robust language for talking about their bads. Not sure what it would look like, though, for the externalities to be included on the balance sheet in a robust accountable way.
Something that puzzles me lot still, is how and why the infrastructure even exists for individuals to own as much wealth as a country. The guardian economy is not nearly as obvious as, say silicon valley or the oil industry.
Something Iâd like to see discussed, is limiting how much money can be amassed by one person, in a similar way to arms control treaties. But with offshore banking and shell companies, there would be a lot of loopholes to sew shut.
Youâve just described even the âblue collar working classâ of the 1950s-1970s.
What you havenât described is the vast majority of people in the U.S. AT THIS MOMENT who consider themselves âmiddle classâ but even before covid couldnât afford a $500 emergency. Now? Maybe the 0.1%.
Correct, if you live in the US, in the present, and donât have enough savings or credit to cover a $500 financial emergency then you are certainly not wealthy. You should probably also not consider yourself middle class, although that term is almost completely meaningless. If I did not have $500 to cover an emergency as a result of not earning enough to soundly get to that point I would consider myself poor.
That defines the modern middle class. Thatâs the middle two quartiles of the country that cannot cover a $500 emergency expense. Itâs not difficult to define the middle class, unless it is rhetorically inconvenientâŚ
Small quibble: that defines the middle class, but itâs the bottom THREE quartiles that canât afford a $500 emergency expense.
Or at least, thatâs how it was before the pandemic. Now?
> â Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.â
John Steinbeck
What I cant figure out is how â3/4â of the US population of 300 million donât have $500 saved for an emergency and yet apple alone sells 100 million iphones per year in the US.
Credit cards
Donât forget: lots of poor people have refrigerators, too!
True. Did not consider that.
A fridge and a $800 phone are two entirely different animals.
And you can get a very good smartphone for under $400. Less desirable for less- almost no one pays for their phone outright anyway. Your provider bills you monthly.
On the android subpage:
â Bargain hunters striving to spend even less can also find a very good option in the Moto G Power, which lasts the whole day on a charge, but costs just $249.â
I hear people who arenât wealthy buy thousands of dollars worth of food and housing in a year too. Unbelievable!
Here in Canada, CDN$65 a month gets you an iPhone SE, 20GB data a month and unlimited texts and local calling with the right provider. Iâm sure there are similar deals in the US, since Canada has notoriously high prices.
Keep in mind that âeconomists youâve heard most fromâ tends to be a highly selective subset of the economics field.
Theorists that challenge the status quo are given very little exposure. Itâs a structural problem with how the discipline of economics is funded and publicised rather than a failing of economics per se.
My point is that there is poor and then there is I canât manage my money and now Iâm fucked poor. I have been both kinds of poor. I have much more empathy for the former than for the latter.
definitely plans in that range.
people where i work â and we all earn about $15/hr â often have old second hand iphones, phones with broken screens, younger people are on parents plans, etc.
some donât have internet at home ( totally rely on their phoneâs network and wi-fi when then can get it ), or have several housemates to share the bills. netflix sorts of things are shared with close friends or housemates
the rent is too !%$ high, and so is healthcare.
nobodyâs a welfare queen living high on the latest iphones and widescreen tvs. ( iâm sure you can find some, granted. but it usually is people with massive credit card debt, predatory rates, and tiny incomes â a situation the banks, and law, never shouldâve allowed in the first place. )
