Nothing that you said contradicted anything that I said. We are agreeing.
MnemonicBump
As an American, I can assure you, there absolutely was a deliberate and systemic call to eradicate Native Americans. They were (and often still are) completely dehumanized (there was a period of time in America where bounty hunters could be paid for "Genuine Indian Scalps". It's also still happening, it just seems like nobody cares anymore.
Take the border for example. It's the biggest thing that nobody will shut up about. The border. Border. Border. Border. But what do they fail to mention every single time? Who's home are they building that wall through? Who's land is that?
The Spanish were appalled by some of Columbus's actions, sure, but withing 50 years that cranked that dial up! Or did you think all of those missions and plantations built themselves
I have BIG problems with organized religion. But I fucking draw that line at "reeducation camps". Wtf
This is true about almost every vice. That's why Prohibition didn't work. Almost as soon as alcohol was banned, people started making very adulterated products, people died, organized crime became a thing. It's the same idea with cannabis, sex work, other drugs, etc. The result of prohibition is almost always people getting hurt.
Thats a very propertarian view of a non-propertarian issue. You have what you use. What you don't, you don't. If you leave your house vacant for too long a period of time, then somebody might take up residence. But if people don't just move into your home while you're on vacation now, why would they in a hypothetical system where the concept of property is radically different and presumably everybody has a home? Unless you're talking about second homes? Because that's a non starter. Nobody needs more than one home.
Same, dude. Same.
I don't think anybody's disputing that. That's kind of the whole point of the post, right? Everybody here gets that.
What everybody here DOESN'T get is that this kind of poverty is also present right here in the USA. I've encountered quite a few people who seem to believe that if you live in the U.S. AT ALL, then you're automatically lumped into that 10%, when that isn't actually the case.
I find it HIGHLY unlikely that I will ever buy a house. The amount of money needed for a down payment, inspection, closing, etc. just seems astronomical to me. There's no way I'm buying a house, let alone getting 130k worth of equity out of it.
In terms of wages, I AM slightly above that 10% line, but that's like literally within the last month, so I'm not really sure what you're point is. I swear you must work in tech. Tech bros seem to be allergic to the idea that they aren't the lowest of the low
I know what net worth means. That's why I said "sitting on 130k. The threshold is 130k. The mean net worth is something like 15k globally. And I'm a 34 year old man. I make 48k/yr and that's the most I've ever made. No savings. Just cashed out all 5k of my 401k to pay rent for a couple of months. I'm just an average dude who grew up in Southern California on food stamps and state healthcare. I just couldn't afford college, so a "career" isn't really an option for me.
Yes, like I said, "around 50%" in the U.S. I'm just saying the phrase, "Chances are you're in that 10%" is highly reductive and ignorant considering that half of Americans are not, in fact, passing that threshold.
Okaaaay, but I've never had a new car, have zero savings, and despite making more money than I ever have in my entire life, I still don't even clear $50k before taxes. But I guess if it's not that hard to achieve I'll just go ahead and grab these boot straps here and- oops! They broke.
My last HR rep looked like Ms. Frizzle