Comment: Re:The Value of Money (Score 1) 1186
Not entirely true. I believe the study was to show that people are more worried about relative wealth than absolute wealth, not the purchasing power of money.
The problem with your argument is when you say "having a million dollars today isn't enough to be considered rich anymore". Anyone that looks objectively at the matter will be able to realize that a millionaire today has a much better quality of life than the millionaire of 20, 30 years ago. Technology allows ever cheaper devices that are supposed to increase productivity. This is wealth, and that is available to everyone, rich or poor. New drugs and medicines are much cheaper now and available to anyone, rich or poor. Taking that into account, I'd say that the wealth gap is (and historically, has always been) narrowing, not widening.
The fact is that people need to feel rich. That's what the study demonstrates. This is what is bad.
Let me tell you a little about Brazil. I am from Brazil, and I can tell you that the basic cost of living here is amazingly low. According to latest reports, the average income in Brazil is slightly below R$1000,00 (+/- U$450,00). If you're single, that money is enough to pay your food, housing, public transportation... you can even pay a health plan (which Brazilians shouldn't, the health system here is far from perfect but much better than you see on the news) and have some entertainment, and still save money.
The issue here: people don't. Go to a favela and you see people with expensive cell phones that takes them a year to pay. Satellite Dishes abound. Large TVs paid using store credit and a 8% monthly interest rate. Today you can even find people with a home computer and internet access, to which they pay a monthly flat fee.
What is strange is that, thinking about it this way, even the poorer got some wealth. What they don't have is status. They look at their home and compare with middle class and think they are bad. A boy living in a favela trying to impress a girl will feel frustrated by not being able to take her out in a fancy car or to the hottest place in town. This is what the study in the article talks about. Relative wealth. This along with lack of moral, repressive police and bad basic education is what is leading people to live criminal lives, not the wealth gap.
That said, I do think that the author of the article is right when he says that differences in relative wealth may lead to conflicting classes, as I do believe that there are correlations between crime rates and disparates in wealth.
Ps.: As for Grandma, tell her to come live in Brazil. She will like the weather, and her pension should be more than enough to live considerably better than in the States.
The problem with your argument is when you say "having a million dollars today isn't enough to be considered rich anymore". Anyone that looks objectively at the matter will be able to realize that a millionaire today has a much better quality of life than the millionaire of 20, 30 years ago. Technology allows ever cheaper devices that are supposed to increase productivity. This is wealth, and that is available to everyone, rich or poor. New drugs and medicines are much cheaper now and available to anyone, rich or poor. Taking that into account, I'd say that the wealth gap is (and historically, has always been) narrowing, not widening.
The fact is that people need to feel rich. That's what the study demonstrates. This is what is bad.
Let me tell you a little about Brazil. I am from Brazil, and I can tell you that the basic cost of living here is amazingly low. According to latest reports, the average income in Brazil is slightly below R$1000,00 (+/- U$450,00). If you're single, that money is enough to pay your food, housing, public transportation... you can even pay a health plan (which Brazilians shouldn't, the health system here is far from perfect but much better than you see on the news) and have some entertainment, and still save money.
The issue here: people don't. Go to a favela and you see people with expensive cell phones that takes them a year to pay. Satellite Dishes abound. Large TVs paid using store credit and a 8% monthly interest rate. Today you can even find people with a home computer and internet access, to which they pay a monthly flat fee.
What is strange is that, thinking about it this way, even the poorer got some wealth. What they don't have is status. They look at their home and compare with middle class and think they are bad. A boy living in a favela trying to impress a girl will feel frustrated by not being able to take her out in a fancy car or to the hottest place in town. This is what the study in the article talks about. Relative wealth. This along with lack of moral, repressive police and bad basic education is what is leading people to live criminal lives, not the wealth gap.
That said, I do think that the author of the article is right when he says that differences in relative wealth may lead to conflicting classes, as I do believe that there are correlations between crime rates and disparates in wealth.
Ps.: As for Grandma, tell her to come live in Brazil. She will like the weather, and her pension should be more than enough to live considerably better than in the States.