Media outlets often claim Americans are wealthier than Europeans, but it's not true. Average wealth looks high but is skewed by extreme inequality. US median wealth is quite low. This is the real data
Taking the median vs the mean to measure wealth is correct because the wealth of the US elite is so astronomical. Not to mention, on the other end, there are too many medical bankruptcies since the US is the only developed nation with no universal healthcare
Someone once said to me: “The United States is a 3rd world country dressed up as a 1st world country.”
Exactly. Most people in the USA are broke. Unless you live there, you can't know how desperate almost everyone is!
The USA is a 3rd world nation with small pockets of the richest people you’ve ever seen. I know two well qualified teachers that do uber part time to make ends meet. I doubt they've even paid their student loans.
The poor are "lazy" but they work 2 or 3 jobs! They can't make ends meet much less get ahead.
"The wealth that's extracted from Imperialism goes into the coffers of the select few, whereas the costs of empire are paid out of the common treasure of the people."
The ancient world recognized the barbarian by his lawlessness and his raw, unrefined brutality. The modern West, however, has perfected a far more sinister specimen: the tech-driven, institutional barbarian. This is the actor who sits in a pristine television studio or an air-conditioned legislative office, speaks fluent human-rights jargon, and then signs off on the weapons, the funding, and the diplomatic cover required to vaporize entire families in their homes.
There is a distinct, chilling barbarism in looking at a child pulled from the rubble of a bombed apartment complex and asking for their political credentials before deciding whether to mourn them. G.K. Chesterton accurately diagnosed this form of intellectual rot when he observed:
‘The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone.’
In the modern pro-life imagination, the virtue of protecting innocence has gone completely insane. It has been detached from reality, turned into a domestic political token to be traded for votes, while being utterly denied to the most vulnerable human beings on earth. They will fight to the point of fanaticism to protect a microscopic cell they cannot see, but will actively justify the blinding, burning, and crushing of a child they can see in high-definition on their phones every single day.
Americans were never wealthy … better off than many others around the world but… we had the propagandized illusion that we were all “wealthy”… many Americans still believe other people around the world live in mud huts while more and more Americans are living in tents
Using medians is also flawed in the same direction. A better metric is to use MODAL wealth, broken up into deciles. This reveals that the bottom 10-20% (depending on how you count) of Americans actually have a negative net worth. And it shows where most people actually are—revealing the true skew masked by median figures.
This man is a great teacher. I highly respect his ability to make complex concepts easier to understand without sounding condescending to those of us who just don't get it. I remember studying economics in college, it simply went over my head because it did not make sense to me in the real world. I literally bombed the course. But he makes it make sense. I'm not too sure if I could explain as succinctly as he does, but can definitely wrap my brain around how ill-advised we are about the so-called "richest" country in the world. Thanks, Ben.
Honestly, I feel so bad for the working class in America. People not having access to healthcare, education, housing, or decent food. Whilst being told from birth they live in 'land of the free' and that they can all be rich if they just work hard enough.
It is interesting to note that when analyzing financial data to invest (revenues, EBITDA, etc) analysts use median, instead when analyzing us economy against other country they use averages...
Taking the median vs the mean to measure wealth is correct because the wealth of the US elite is so astronomical. Not to mention, on the other end, there are too many medical bankruptcies since the US is the only developed nation with no universal healthcare
Someone once said to me: “The United States is a 3rd world country dressed up as a 1st world country.”
Exactly. Most people in the USA are broke. Unless you live there, you can't know how desperate almost everyone is!
The USA is a 3rd world nation with small pockets of the richest people you’ve ever seen. I know two well qualified teachers that do uber part time to make ends meet. I doubt they've even paid their student loans.
The poor are "lazy" but they work 2 or 3 jobs! They can't make ends meet much less get ahead.
The people with 99 donuts convinced the people with 1 donut that the people with 0 donuts are the greedy ones trying to steal donuts
Ppl with six teeth support ppl with six yachts..
***
Why Do People Defend Billionaires/Oligarchs?
youtube.com/watch?v=HuliwwbI3p4
"The wealth that's extracted from Imperialism goes into the coffers of the select few, whereas the costs of empire are paid out of the common treasure of the people."
The “Civilized” Barbarian
The ancient world recognized the barbarian by his lawlessness and his raw, unrefined brutality. The modern West, however, has perfected a far more sinister specimen: the tech-driven, institutional barbarian. This is the actor who sits in a pristine television studio or an air-conditioned legislative office, speaks fluent human-rights jargon, and then signs off on the weapons, the funding, and the diplomatic cover required to vaporize entire families in their homes.
There is a distinct, chilling barbarism in looking at a child pulled from the rubble of a bombed apartment complex and asking for their political credentials before deciding whether to mourn them. G.K. Chesterton accurately diagnosed this form of intellectual rot when he observed:
‘The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone.’
In the modern pro-life imagination, the virtue of protecting innocence has gone completely insane. It has been detached from reality, turned into a domestic political token to be traded for votes, while being utterly denied to the most vulnerable human beings on earth. They will fight to the point of fanaticism to protect a microscopic cell they cannot see, but will actively justify the blinding, burning, and crushing of a child they can see in high-definition on their phones every single day.
Americans were never wealthy … better off than many others around the world but… we had the propagandized illusion that we were all “wealthy”… many Americans still believe other people around the world live in mud huts while more and more Americans are living in tents
China blew my mind. I was there just before covid. High speed trains, excellent and cheap transport infrastructure, solar and technology.
Using medians is also flawed in the same direction. A better metric is to use MODAL wealth, broken up into deciles. This reveals that the bottom 10-20% (depending on how you count) of Americans actually have a negative net worth. And it shows where most people actually are—revealing the true skew masked by median figures.
3rd world with technology
I never miss what Ben Norton has to share. He is one of the few. Honestly
For the title alone, I thank you, Ben.
This class blind myth must be dispelled before any new revolutionary unity between American workers and workers internationally can forged.
Ben Norton, brilliant. Sharing. Saving.
Richard Wolff would give you an A
This man is a great teacher. I highly respect his ability to make complex concepts easier to understand without sounding condescending to those of us who just don't get it. I remember studying economics in college, it simply went over my head because it did not make sense to me in the real world. I literally bombed the course. But he makes it make sense. I'm not too sure if I could explain as succinctly as he does, but can definitely wrap my brain around how ill-advised we are about the so-called "richest" country in the world. Thanks, Ben.
Honestly, I feel so bad for the working class in America. People not having access to healthcare, education, housing, or decent food. Whilst being told from birth they live in 'land of the free' and that they can all be rich if they just work hard enough.
It is interesting to note that when analyzing financial data to invest (revenues, EBITDA, etc) analysts use median, instead when analyzing us economy against other country they use averages...
US Wealth Gap Reaches Highest Level in 100 Years:
newsbreak.com/share/4785282254264-us-wealth-gap-reaches-highest-level-in-100-years
Why Are Rich People So Mean? | WIRED https://share.google/yhyb9tz3fVcUTzYMi
Check out “Rich Asshole Syndrome.” It's a real study.