In response to Juanita Ng.
Easy fix. Just don’t water livestock. Fixed in one year!
09:37 PM - May 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
2/2
Skills you have, and stuff you like to do? Ok. But pick carefully.
Stuff people said while you were young? Dangerous. Even if meant well.
Choose your identity verbs, then do them. You can pick, and you CAN change!
Skills you have, and stuff you like to do? Ok. But pick carefully.
Stuff people said while you were young? Dangerous. Even if meant well.
Choose your identity verbs, then do them. You can pick, and you CAN change!
08:12 AM - May 21, 2023
In response to Ola.
Cars. The ugly one has a breakaway base and is designed to fall away from the roadway.
Also, we refuse to invest in beauty. We’ve turned into a least-cost commodity society.
Also, we refuse to invest in beauty. We’ve turned into a least-cost commodity society.
08:05 AM - May 21, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
In unrelated news, I had to walk TWO BLOCKS to find a parking spot fir the farmers market today. Surely there were closer spots, but who cruises to save a block of exercise?
Usually I bike, so this is at least unusual for me.
Usually I bike, so this is at least unusual for me.
02:58 PM - May 13, 2023
(Edited)
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
How would politics differ if “right” and “left” terms were swapped?
Does the implicit alignment of right-handed( the majority) with “right” moral behavior with the “right” party bias our politics?
Does the implicit alignment of right-handed( the majority) with “right” moral behavior with the “right” party bias our politics?
09:40 AM - May 13, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
- traffic light on the near side of intersections means cars stop where they can see the lights and crossings remain clear
- drivers are attuned to cyclists and walkers. They give way and accommodate.
- actually, everybody accommodates. Sometimes spacing is tight, but speeds tend to be slow
- drivers are attuned to cyclists and walkers. They give way and accommodate.
- actually, everybody accommodates. Sometimes spacing is tight, but speeds tend to be slow
05:31 AM - May 12, 2023
In response to Cheryl Conway.
Makes you wonder what’s up with Hawaii and Delaware.
04:15 PM - May 10, 2023
In response to Tristan Snell.
- opening the door to the wrong car that looks like yours
- kicking a ball into the wrong neighbor’s yard
- kicking a ball into the wrong neighbor’s yard
11:50 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
And the starting wealth and ending wealth of those with loans and degrees.
A middle-class minority student becoming a doctor but with $300K in school debt and a big mortgage will not catch up to a trust-fund baby equally skilled but with a house and edu fully paid w/ income going into investments.
A middle-class minority student becoming a doctor but with $300K in school debt and a big mortgage will not catch up to a trust-fund baby equally skilled but with a house and edu fully paid w/ income going into investments.
08:10 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
For wealth, mean is $690K while median is just $97K. 25%, disproportionately minority, have less than $10K.
Anybody running the race sees the age factor for income and conflates that with feelings of wealth, but the reality is that generational wealth means that many are far ahead at birth!
Anybody running the race sees the age factor for income and conflates that with feelings of wealth, but the reality is that generational wealth means that many are far ahead at birth!
07:30 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
And back to "meritocracy", clearly it DOES pay to play the game properly.
But these notions of income all draw attention away from the larger issue of wealth.
But these notions of income all draw attention away from the larger issue of wealth.
07:25 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
Usually what we hear is "average salary is $70K" or average, mean, and median being used interchangeably for the innumerate.
Mean is probably almost 50% higher than median, skewed significantly by the few but high income at the top and large low income group at the bottom.
Mean is probably almost 50% higher than median, skewed significantly by the few but high income at the top and large low income group at the bottom.
07:24 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
I think that income number is low, compared to what I typically see, but the bias you state is real. Really discussions of income are better had based on median, IMO.
Trickle-down economics, well, just doesn't.
Trickle-down economics, well, just doesn't.
07:03 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
Odd. How do y'all kill yourselves off? Industrial incidents? Car crashes? Deadly vermin?
06:55 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
If we can move from "disaffected youth" to "voting youth", I think the right wing will be much reduced in influence.
Hopelessness by the young seems to actually be a goal of the right!
Hopelessness by the young seems to actually be a goal of the right!
06:53 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
The US struggles in several areas, especially Safety and Work Life balance. On the other hand, GDP seems to overlap many other factors, from housing to health, so wealth IS important.
The thing about the US is that we're wealthy, but we act like we're poor and struggling from a social perspective.
The thing about the US is that we're wealthy, but we act like we're poor and struggling from a social perspective.
06:52 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
Ah, but dis/misinformation and "othering" are powerful tools to limit interaction and discourse. Emotions drive decisions, and in-group thinking effectively suppresses the influx of ideas.
Hence the recent defunding of edu and book-bans. Plus social roll-backs. Going exactly the wrong way!
Hence the recent defunding of edu and book-bans. Plus social roll-backs. Going exactly the wrong way!
06:42 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
This index says meritocracy, US/Australian style, works pretty well. But the social democracies do better still.
Leveraging the powerful engines of capitalism and meritocracy while balancing shared infra w/redistribution seems to be effective!
https://en.wikipedia.org/w...
Leveraging the powerful engines of capitalism and meritocracy while balancing shared infra w/redistribution seems to be effective!
https://en.wikipedia.org/w...
06:40 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
Happiness doesn't much come from income, or size of house, or value of car, yet this is how we see it.
Catering to the baser aspects of human nature aligns well with capitalism and GDP, and individualist politics, but not so much with overall life satisfaction. And mostly, we don't even know this!
Catering to the baser aspects of human nature aligns well with capitalism and GDP, and individualist politics, but not so much with overall life satisfaction. And mostly, we don't even know this!
06:32 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
Perhaps the first step is updating our basic goals. In the US, we're repeatedly told that GDP and stock market numbers are "important", and that unemployment needs to remain at target.
We only talk about happiness and any notion of quality of life at the fringes, individually, not as gov't goals.
We only talk about happiness and any notion of quality of life at the fringes, individually, not as gov't goals.
06:29 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
US right-wing politics very much promote US exceptionalism, which means specifically NOT looking abroad to learn ANYTHING.
Besides healthcare, education, and jobs we've touch upon, there is the whole carceral complex and policing/incarceration bias as well.
And, of course, cars as a religion.
Besides healthcare, education, and jobs we've touch upon, there is the whole carceral complex and policing/incarceration bias as well.
And, of course, cars as a religion.
06:27 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
Scandinavian countries are perhaps the best examples.
Fairly high marginal tax rates, much shared infrastructure, few winner-take-all opportunities.
Fairly high marginal tax rates, much shared infrastructure, few winner-take-all opportunities.
06:21 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
Ergodicity is not a simple concept, but the crux is that movement between categories is equal-opportunity, which also means the median and the mean are the same.
So, rich can become poor, and poor can become rich, with equal probability. And the few wealthy don't skew avg income far beyond median.
So, rich can become poor, and poor can become rich, with equal probability. And the few wealthy don't skew avg income far beyond median.
06:20 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
I heard a great quote, which I've not been able to properly attribute (and thus paraphrased): "What the world needs is fewer grand designs, and more simple feedback loops."
Gotta map outcomes back to inputs, nudging toward ergodicity, with some trial-and-error adjusting as we go.
Gotta map outcomes back to inputs, nudging toward ergodicity, with some trial-and-error adjusting as we go.
06:13 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
Marginal tax rates, corporate taxes, inheritance taxes, and other forms of redistribution factor in as well.
We do not have an ergodic society. If you want to pigeon-hole my position, this is it: we need wealth to be ergodic, and thus need to create feedback loops that promote ergodicity.
We do not have an ergodic society. If you want to pigeon-hole my position, this is it: we need wealth to be ergodic, and thus need to create feedback loops that promote ergodicity.
06:10 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Jess Martin.
It's one of several major issues, as merit is mostly within the working/middle-class world. Wealth inequality is huge on a generational timeframe, certainly. The whole structure of job-centric healthcare and target unemployment, low minimum wages, and employer-centric laws contribute as well.
06:08 AM - Apr 22, 2023
In response to Fietser Pete - Peter Som de Cerff.
With social supports for families, probably the net incentive for killing yourself at work to get ahead would drop, to the disadvantage of investors and corporations. Productivity could drop, and hours worked, but given that value of productivity hasn't much accrued to labor, this is fine too.
06:04 AM - Apr 22, 2023
