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Life Expectancy Study: It's Not Just What You Make, It's Where You Live (npr.org)

An anonymous reader shares a report on NPR.org: Poor people who reside in expensive, well-educated cities such as San Francisco tend to live longer than low-income people in less affluent places, according to a study of more than a billion Social Security and tax records. The study, published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, bolsters what was already well-known -- the poor tend to have shorter lifespans than those with more money. But it also says that among low-income people, big disparities exist in life expectancy from place to place, said Raj Chetty, professor of economics at Stanford University. "There are some places where the poor are doing quite well, gaining just as much in terms of life span as the rich, but there are other places where they're actually going in the other direction, where the poor are living shorter lives today than they did in the past," Chetty said, in an interview with NPR.The New York Times' take on the same study: New York is a city with some of the worst income inequality in the country. But when it comes to inequality of life spans, it's one of the best. Impoverished New Yorkers tend to live far longer than their counterparts in other American cities, according to a detailed new research of Social Security and earnings records published Monday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. They still die sooner than their richer neighbors, but the city's life-expectancy gap was smaller in 2014 than nearly everywhere else, and it has shrunk since 2001 even as gaps grew nationwide. That trend may appear surprising. New York is one of the country's most unequal and expensive cities, where the poor struggle to find affordable housing and the money and time to take care of themselves.

87 comments

  1. inequality: a false measuring stick by fche · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I refuse to take seriously any topic where inequality of life circumstances is held up as some sort of moral evil. Imposed equality needs to be limited to very few domains, like equality -before the law-, to the extent even that is possible. But to use inequality as a cudgel against different people living longer or better than others ... hell no, go away. Free people aren't equal. Equal people aren't free.

    1. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's absolutely no mention of "moral evil" in either articles. It's simply an observation that can help us determine why that is and to try to keep the public healthy. There's no, "Income inequality causes different health outcomes, QED communism"

    2. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Inequality vs freedom is a bathtub curve. If a place is forcibly equal or too unequal, it's a tyranny (North Korea, oligarch states). There is a sweet-spot for inequality that does not create social imbalances. With all the crap going on in NYC, we can be sure to say that it's not in that sweet spot.

    3. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by danbob999 · · Score: 3

      RTFA. No such thing as "moral evil". It's still a valid and interesting scientific subject.

    4. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take your bias somewhere else, please. Ayn Rand misses you.

    5. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      That's what you think, but if you'd live in an area with a Gini index close to 1 you would suddenly opt for some form of resource reallocation on the basis of fairness criteria. In reality people only disagree about the extent of transfers and how to accomplish them, not about the fact that inequality is not always tolerable.

      It is only through ignorance that people like you can have a voice and are voted up.

    6. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      RTFA. No such thing as "moral evil".

      There are /.ers who consider RTFA to be a "moral evil".

      Sometimes, it seems to me that folks don't even bother to read the summary . . . or even read the post that they are responding to.

      You must be nude here.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    7. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by fche · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Let me highlight one in the second TFA's excerpt:

      worst income inequality.

      Words like "best" / "worst" are a moral evaluation. They could have used "highest", "lowest" instead, if they didn't want to drag normative morality into it.
      To the NYT's credit, the punchline of their story backs away from inequality as the evil:

      With regard to health, "I think maybe income inequality should not be our primary villain," said Dr. Ashish Jha, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. "We should really be thinking about how do we build up the public health infrastructure."

    8. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by ewibble · · Score: 1

      Nobody is saying we should impose equality on everybody, (straw-man anyone?) But there is a spectrum here, ranging from everybody is equal, no matter how skilled or lazy they are, right through to the rich get to set the laws, put their money in tax havens, get all the resources, and the poor are just left to die.

      I am personally for a system, of fairness, where there is a reasonable chance if you work hard, you have a chance to succeed. Of course it can't be totally fair because that would be impossible to enforce, but it can be fairer than it is now.

      I see the system, that is currently in the US as far to much side of, if you are rich you get what you want. Political influence can openly be bought. The wealthy do move their money around to pay less tax as a portion of their wealth.

      Slaves are not free or equal.

      As for health their have been studies that show the more equal a society is (probably to a point) the healthier, happier they are, even the rich are sightly better off.

      https://www.google.co.nz/url?s...

    9. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem to realize on some level, despite obvious right-wing brainwashing, that selfishness is evil.

      There's no such thing as free people, other than a single person living alone on an island somewhere. The right-wing lunatics don't understand that we're all in this together. A lot of money was spent to make our ignorant Conservatives into raging, antisocial wingnuts who will vote for malicious politicians.

    10. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by skam240 · · Score: 1

      Well for starters, nothing in these articles is suggesting "impossed equality". I dont see any mention of the government seizing large flats in New Yrok and particianing them up and giving them to poor people or some other nonsnse.

      Furthermore, equality versus inequality can most certainly be put in good / bad catagories. Are the conditions in some third world nations where there are a small number of wealthy while the vast majority of the rest of the population lives in poverty "good"? No and the vast majority of people would in fact likely say that these conditions are in fact "bad". Outside of the morality issues which you seem to have a problem with these conditions are also bad from am economic stand point. Massives wealthy inequality generates far less wealth then more equal socieities as poor people dont have disposable income for additional goods and services beyond the absolute basics.

      Finally, when income inequality gets bad enough most of the rest of society's forms of equitableness go right out the window. If a private wealthy individual kicks you off your property in just about any afluent country your odds of getting a fair trail are good. In a country with wide spread poverty a simple bribe to a judge or to the government worker tasked with implementing the court's decision and your rights are gone. Judges and bureaucrats don't make very much and are thus more easily bribed and government overwatch is minimal as the government can't afford much because its tax base is so small.

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    11. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by PPH · · Score: 1

      that selfishness is evil

      I can tolerate some wealth redistribution. But what are we expected to do about life expectancy? Take some wealthy people out into the town square and shoot them?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    12. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by PPH · · Score: 1

      As for health their have been studies that show the more equal a society is (probably to a point) the healthier, happier they are, even the rich are sightly better off.

      But this study demonstrates otherwise. They took NYC as an example of great income disparity with a resulting smaller (and shrinking) gap in life expectancy disparity. I read that as; It's not income, it's something else.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    13. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Words like "best" / "worst" are a moral evaluation.

      So article phrases like "get the best mileage out of your car" or "this has proven be by far the worst CPU in out test" are actually hidden moral appeals? I had no idea! :-p

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    14. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      You define "free" by the standard of laissez-faire capitalism, that people who live in a system closer to this ideal are more "free." Even if they work skilled jobs and can hardly support themselves while a small ownership class reaps ludicrous, astronomical wealth for sitting around and owning things. That's certainly an evil outcome IMO.

      This system is a lot like a paperclip maximizer. I found an interesting discussion on that very analogy here:

      https://news.ycombinator.com/i...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    15. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      rich get to set the laws, put their money in tax havens, get all the resources, and the poor are just left to die.

      Because we have so many dead poor people these days!

      I am personally for a system, of fairness, where there is a reasonable chance if you work hard, you have a chance to succeed.

      We call that opportunity. You have a right to have the opportunity to succeed, but equality requires a equal opportunity to fail. Which is where you have problems. If you remove the failure part, you're necessarily affecting the ability to succeed. Which is where people like you fail to grasp to cause / effect of your ideals.

      You can't have the chance to be an Olympic Athlete in a world that has only participation trophies.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    16. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Yes, "worst fuel economy" strongly implies something beyond "lowest mileage".

    17. Re:inequality: a false measuring stick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I refuse to take seriously any topic where inequality of life circumstances is held up as some sort of moral evil. Imposed equality needs to be limited to very few domains, like equality -before the law-, to the extent even that is possible. But to use inequality as a cudgel against different people living longer or better than others ... hell no, go away. Free people aren't equal. Equal people aren't free.

      No, you get away. Seriously, gtfo of America with that BS seditious libertarian doublethink. All men are created equal. FFS, you forgot that line?

  2. No wonder here by I4ko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wealth pays for good health care system with good hospitals and trained physicians. Also more hospitals are located in the well doing areas. If the poor walks in to the ER, first they have the ability to reach the hospital on foot, and second they also benefit from the same higher quality materials and equipment, and not the least from the experience of the doctors, which is going to be not surprisingly better. So they do have a better chance of receiving good quality health care that is set up for the wealthy people, and they have much better change of actually reaching that healthcare than in the middle of nowhere town, where the closes hospital is the large animal vet in the next town 10 miles over. Also, the article speaks about poor people. Not those that are homeless, not those that are in poverty. Just poor people, and in New York or San Fran you are poor making 40 - 50k annually, which is actually not bad compared to the below the poverty line homeless living on the corner.

    1. Re:No wonder here by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      Wealth pays for good health care system with good hospitals and trained physicians.

      Not to mention that doctors (and most people) prefer to work in safe neighborhoods.

    2. Re:No wonder here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      done kissing up to the rich yet?

      not insightful.

      just more "be thankful for the rich" drivel, the same drivel that gave us the failed economic theory of reaganomics.

    3. Re:No wonder here by I4ko · · Score: 1

      Not at all. Just saying that being poor in an affluent area may still mean that you are actually rich in a poor area.

  3. Studies in the blind spots of academia by danbert8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Allow me to summarize their findings. Poor people are more likely to be obese and obese people have a shorter life expectancy*.

    *Except in dense urban areas where walking and public transit are more common than driving and parking.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    1. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      They adjust for obesity and sedentary lifestyle. The same fatass couch potato lives longer in NY than elsewhere.

      And a lot are getting sidetracked on disparity or unequal or wealth or whatever, when the point of this story was it cuts across economic lines and seems location-based.

      Now we do know the more a doctor performs a procedure, the statistically better their outcomes. So maybe NY doctors are extra skilled at treating diabetes or doing angioplasty, from sheer numbers.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 1

      Not a new idea, from Hippocrates approximately 2400 years ago, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

    3. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Close, but you over-generalized.

      I didn't see anything in the study that indicates walking or public transportation has anything to do with it

      But they do mention that access to healthcare is important (Who knew?). If you've ever lived in a rural location you would know that the doctors and hospitals are (at best) second-rate. Think bottom of the class from Caribbean med schools.

      They also use Tampa, Florida as an example of someplace with a big disparity. No kidding; Tampa is flooded with retirees who have already lived a long time and have access to excellent healthcare. Any wonder why they die at an older age?

    4. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      False summary. Poverty precedes choice-making, and consequently the causal relationship actually works the other way around.

    5. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by Coisiche · · Score: 1

      It's been suggested that results from being poor in the first place. It's not a level playing field. Fantastic if you get a good start, not so good if you don't; and that is completely beyond your control.

    6. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      If you've ever lived in a rural location you would know that the doctors and hospitals are (at best) second-rate

      I haven't had any problems with the skill levels of the doctors - just the distances to them. Growing up I lived about 20-miles from the nearest town (and I don't say "town" to mean a large city - I mean for 20 miles it was mostly just forested undeveloped land). My grandparents lived about a quarter mile away. Definitely poor. They had a few acres of land but mostly used that to subsistence farm. They both got a little cash from social security but other than that my grandfather just had about 3 acres of land that he planted and he also kept some livestock (pigs and chickens mostly). That's basically how they survived.

      As they got older and had health issues we had several instances where we'd have to call an ambulance out. It generally was 30-45 minutes before it arrived (and both eventually died waiting on one to arrive). Both of them died in their mid-70's. Certainly not young, but not anymore than average either.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    7. Re:Studies in the blind spots of academia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be honest, you probably don't realize there is a gap in quality. It's not that obvious to the layperson, but if you were to move and go to a new doctor, you'd probably be astounded, especially if you are treating a chronic condition.
      To be fair, there are plenty of urban doc's who don't keep up and coast on old knowledge, but they seem to be more common in rural areas. There is less competition and more aversion to upsetting the only doc in town.

  4. ok...soo...the grant $ goes to: by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    Maine or Idaho. sorry NY and CA.

  5. it's the deep-fried mac'n'cheese by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    Might as well blame it on the South being the Krispy Kreme belt.
    But then Yankees will never experience the bliss of injecting lard and sugar directly into their aortas, so overall it's a wash.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:it's the deep-fried mac'n'cheese by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Might as well blame it on the South being the Krispy Kreme belt.
      But then Yankees will never experience ...

      Its called Dunkin Donuts.

      It came way before your cheap knock-off.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    2. Re:it's the deep-fried mac'n'cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We had Krispy Kreme in the northern-midwest too, but they went out of business once the novelty wore off, and we realized they were mostly made of air.

    3. Re:it's the deep-fried mac'n'cheese by Zak3056 · · Score: 1

      Its called Dunkin Donuts.
      It came way before your cheap knock-off.

      Speaking as a transplanted Yankee (NYC) living deep in the heart of the Krispy Kreme belt (Knoxville, TN) and believes that Dunkin is the ultimate expression of the donut (unless the sign is on at Krispy Kreme... when those things are warm and the sugar is still semi-liquid, they are like crack. Once they warm up, I find them fairly inedible) I have to point out that the Krispy Kreme is, in fact, about 15 years older than the Dunkin Donut. :(

      --
      What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
    4. Re:it's the deep-fried mac'n'cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      more importantly, who has the better coffee?

  6. No shit, Sherlock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course poor people in wealthy cities live longer. They're still poor, but they get better health care and better food from charities, because wealthy people give more to charity. Wealthy cities also tend to be blue, which means more programs for the poor.

  7. More stupid leftist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IQ = human peacock feathers. People in smarter parts of the world have higher IQs and lower incidents of genetic abnormalities, and hence live longer AND are richer (because they aren't stupid).

    IQ is the best predictor of genetic load (errors in the DNA replication process). It is what makes humans so special compared to other animals, and why we came to dominate this earth.

    Yes, this is why Asians live the longest, followed by Northern Europeans, then Southern European/Arabs, and blacks at the bottom. Caucasian Asians are a more complex story, i.e. India, but Brahmin caste people there live a long time.

    How can anyone be dumb enough to believe this 1960s bullshit in this day and age?

  8. Public transit helps the poor by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It is very expensive to be poor. The minimum cash on hand threshold to avoid falling into the abyss is quite low when there is public transit. If you have money for bus fare, you could go to work and work for one day and start coming back up. Friends and family can scrape together enough to get you a bus fare.

    When there is no public transit, the threshold is a few hundred dollars. One fender bender, one blown tire or busted alternator is all it takes for a poor person without public transit to fall off. Can't get to work, can't earn the money needed to fix the car. They would depend on the kindness and help from near and dear to get past that kind of emergency.

    Most poor people would rather have a dependable transportation system to their work place and affordable child care than dole. Poverty rates can be halved just by providing/subsidizing transportation and child care.

    Urban area unemployment rate is over 33% approaches even 50%. That means even in those blighted areas 50 to 66% of the people actually go to work. Somehow, despite all the hardships, despite seeing the drug dealers and pimps rolling in dough, people line up to work for minimum wage in a burger joint. Shows how much poverty could be alleviated if we make it possible for them to work.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  9. Re:Public transit helps the poor by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Urban area unemployment rate is over 33% approaches even 50%.

    Let me guess... you believe that 92 million Americans are still unemployed?

  10. So is yours! by s.petry · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Nice rant for mod points, but that's where the niceties end.

    Free people aren't equal. Equal people aren't free.

    I have no clue what planet or country you live in, but here in the USofA we are not free. You can't own a house and land, you pay rent to the Government and a Bank. You can't own a business, in fact good luck with all the regulations and paperwork required even if you are doing 1 person contracting. Work in the city? Well, some rich person is going to make sure that the majority of your income goes to them in rent. Don't like it, don't live in the city and spend 4 hours a day commuting. And even if you "buy" a house in the sticks you are only rending the land from the Government. Have doubts, refuse to make your tax payments and call me so I can laugh at you. You sure as hell can't buy land in the city, because property value is intentionally over inflated to keep people like you and me out. You can't drive the car you bought until you pay the State annual fees to drive, and depending on where you live pay for the proper testing on your car, and pay for the right amount of insurance, and of course you can only drive as fast as the Government tells you you can drive.

    You are not free to work, free to eat what you want, free to hunt, and you are no longer free to practice your religion.

    I emphatically state that it IS a moral evil to have people like Gates and the Koch brothers with billions and billions of dollars, who use their money as bribery to influence the system to further enrich themselves. Meanwhile we have people that can't afford basic clothing and food, and mentally ill people on the streets with no support system what so ever.

    We have no equality because people like you not only ignore the morality of certain people who abuse the system, but attempt to claim that does not happen or have influence if it does.

    See Socrates the story of the Artisan. Nothing new here except the people who spout the same tired bullshit. .

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:So is yours! by fche · · Score: 1

      "We have no equality because people like you not only ignore the morality of certain people who abuse the system"

      We all agree that abusing the system (breaking the law, bribing lawmakers) is wrong.

      "but attempt to claim that does not happen or have influence if it does."

      I don't know how much it happens or how much influence it has. I suspect this is not the place to convince us.

      But I must disagree with your "We don't have equality because ..." bit. Putative abuse of the laws is not why we don't have "equality". We don't have "equality" in the colloquial economic/etc. sense because people are inequal in countless ways, as are their environments. And that is a good thing.

    2. Re:So is yours! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1, Insightful

      TBH I am not sure what planet any of your observations are from. We spend hundreds of billions on poor as it is. Are some still falling through the narrowing cracks? Fine. Use your freedom of speech to agitate for more.

      You also regurgitate 1984 Newspeak phrases like the freedom to borrow from a bank (or BE a bank and offer loans) is not freedom. Also, concerns over the rich buying influence wouldn't be as much of an issue if almost unrestricted economic control weren't an assumed power of Congress.

      You introduce that power to government, you (re)introduce many of the problems the founding fathers were trying to nullify -- the divine right of kings to muck about with (other peoples') wealth for their own benefit.

      Does it surprise you all the shits you hate through history make a beeline to try to control it? If so, why?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    3. Re: So is yours! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Inequalities exist. Recognizing and being empathetic about those inequalities (good or bad) is what being human is all about.

    4. Re:So is yours! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      You can drive your car on your road all you want and never pay the state a penny on the car after the original purchase taxes. Drive on the government's roads, you pay for it.

      Property taxes are excessive because they fund much more than the proper functions to protect your property. That does not mean that some low level of taxation is not proper, nor that if you refuse to pay for services rendered the government shouldn't seize whatever is necessary to cover the value you've stolen.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    5. Re: So is yours! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      inequalities exist. Being human has nothing to do with being forced to do things, because others want to spend your money for you. Empathy is emotion and just like acting when I am angry, I don't necessarily have to act when I am being Empathetic. Sometimes the BEST thing to do for a person is nothing. Which goes against just about every liberal tenant there is.

      Yes, life is a struggle, and we all need help at some time or another. And sometimes, when we want help, we shouldn't be getting any, because the struggle is what makes life worth living.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:So is yours! by WrongMonkey · · Score: 1

      It varies from state to state, but most jurisdictions will not evict you from your primary residence for failure to pay properties taxes. Evictions are expensive; its much easier put a lien on it and collect at the time of sale.

    7. Re:So is yours! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      You can't own a house and land, you pay rent to the Government and a Bank. You can't own a business, in fact good luck with all the regulations and paperwork required even if you are doing 1 person contracting.

      You make payments on a loan to a bank. Not everyone does.

      As for the government, you appear to be confusing ownership with sovereignity. Sovereigns have supreme authority, while owners have a generally recognized claim which society and the legal system recognizes to an object, creative work, idea, organization, or expression.

      You sure as hell can't buy land in the city, because property value is intentionally over inflated to keep people like you and me out.

      In the city I live in, with a population of around 400,000, you can still find houses for around $100,000. That should be affordable for a median-income household. They will be smaller, older houses, and will probably need some DIY in the first decade, but they do exist.

      You can't drive the car you bought until you pay the State annual fees to drive.

      Sure you can. Drive the car on your property and you don't require a driver license, insurance, or tags.

    8. Re:So is yours! by skam240 · · Score: 1

      You imply that the above post's author is advocating more government when they are not. Moveover you make simplistic arguements like the only way to combat poverty is by spending more money. Please reread and notice that roughly half the things they bring up are due to government.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    9. Re:So is yours! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      TBH I am not sure what planet any of your observations are from. We spend hundreds of billions on poor as it is. Are some still falling through the narrowing cracks? Fine. Use your freedom of speech to agitate for more.

      Maybe you should stop doing the drugs, because you have a real problem with false dichotomy. Does the money we spend on the poor prevent people from using their money to buy political influence for further gains? I never said we don't spend money, I said we don't have freedom and we don't have equality.

      You also regurgitate 1984 Newspeak phrases like the freedom to borrow from a bank (or BE a bank and offer loans) is not freedom. Also, concerns over the rich buying influence wouldn't be as much of an issue if almost unrestricted economic control weren't an assumed power of Congress.

      I never said anything about loans, I said the game was rigged and most people could never own a home or land. Maybe those hallucinogens are impacting your ability to read as well as compare.

      You introduce that power to government, you (re)introduce many of the problems the founding fathers were trying to nullify -- the divine right of kings to muck about with (other peoples') wealth for their own benefit.

      Does it surprise you all the shits you hate through history make a beeline to try to control it? If so, why?

      I never did any such thing, but no we don't. The wealthy have the ability _today_ to muck with everyone else' money. Who the fuck do you think lobbies for lower taxes for them and more taxes for everyone else? Who do you think lobbies for, and gets laws passed, to protect them from financial damage? Who do you think lobbies to prevent themselves from being prosecuted criminally for things like bribery, collusion, blackmail, espionage, etc.. etc...? Wholly fuck, if you can't afford to pay for insurance because you are poor you now have to pay a fine and can't get welfare. That has become the fucking law!

      If you want to talk about equality, then talk equality. At least the old monarchies used to every few years wipe out everyone's debt and redistrict land. That type of issue was something that the US was not supposed to need because we were "free". I gave examples of how we are not free, and how the field has been tilted to favor the few. Perhaps when you stop taking the drugs and sober up you can formulate an intelligent response.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    10. Re:So is yours! by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      I have no clue what planet or country you live in, but here in the USofA we are not free. You can't own a house and land, you pay rent to the Government and a Bank. And even if you "buy" a house in the sticks you are only renting the land from the Government. Have doubts, refuse to make your tax payments and call me so I can laugh at you.

      How would you define free? Being on a island in the middle of nowhere with no government? I'm pretty darn free. I don't pay rent to the government or the banks for the land I own. I do pay a small amount of property taxes but it's less than what it would cost to send my kids to a private school and a heck of a lot less than what it would cost to hire someone to protect my land from marauders. If I wanted to grow my own food and live off the land I could and by having no income I would be eligible for enough government benefits to more than pay for my property taxes if I wanted to go that route. So, yes, it is possible in the USA to be completely free or as completely free as possibly while living near other people. The other option would be to move to a warzone where property rights don't exist and whoever has the biggest guns owns the land but then you're a slave to all the people that you have to pay to protect your property from thieves.

    11. Re:So is yours! by EdgeCreeper · · Score: 2

      I cannot agree with this if this is used as an excuse to have people in poverty. If someone is okay to have someone in poverty because, for instance if they don't have work, then it shows that you don't think that someone is worth anything except for what you can get out of them. A rapist doesn't give any value to their victims lives, just what they can get from them. Which puts one who doesn't care about the economic welfare of other people in the same boat as rapists. This includes people saying 'it is okay for people to be very unequal economically because people are unequal' as a way to excuse terrible living conditions for the less well off, because they see no value in their lives, otherwise they wouldn't be pushing that view.

    12. Re:So is yours! by fche · · Score: 2

      "if this is used as an excuse to have people in poverty. "

      It's not (regardless of "have" means). It's that comparing rich-vs-poor is not relevant to the task of helping the poor get out of poverty. If you want to help X, help them because of the value of X, not because there exists some Y who is >>> X.

    13. Re:So is yours! by EdgeCreeper · · Score: 3

      If you want to help X, help them because of the value of X, not because there exists some Y who is >>> X.

      I agree with that.

      However inequality in practice has been called the most important problem.

      Here is a quote from wikipedia:

      2013 Economics Nobel prize winner Robert J. Shiller said that rising inequality in the United States and elsewhere is the most important problem.[108] Increasing inequality harms economic growth.[109] High and persistent unemployment, in which inequality increases, has a negative effect on subsequent long-run economic growth. Unemployment can harm growth not only because it is a waste of resources, but also because it generates redistributive pressures and subsequent distortions, drives people to poverty, constrains liquidity limiting labor mobility, and erodes self-esteem promoting social dislocation, unrest and conflict. Policies aiming at controlling unemployment and in particular at reducing its inequality-associated effects support economic growth.[6]

      The effects of inequality are massive and effect almost every facet of life. It would be hard to find a bigger problem than inequality.

      The other part of my post was due to comments I have seen regularly that state that 'If someone doesn't have a job then I shouldn't have to give a penny to them. They can die because of evolution, they are unfit to live' type posts. Your post seemed like one of those because saying inequality is good is a prerequisite for such views and it may be a veiled attempt at excusing terrible conditions for the poor. Those comments may well not be aimed at your previous post, unless you are actually espousing those views. Not saying you are.

      If anyone has any problems with a Wikipedia link, then I would like to remind them that the article has plenty of references which are a click away.

    14. Re:So is yours! by fche · · Score: 1

      "However inequality in practice has been called the most important problem."

      And it has been called a giant red herring too. Right here.

      "The effects of inequality are massive and effect almost every facet of life. It would be hard to find a bigger problem than inequality."

      See, that's all 100% wrong. The problem is not inequality (Y minus X). The problem is that X is too small (for many people's taste). Now one can dream up all kinds of reasons why X may be too small. But to blame Y automatically ... "hard to find a bigger problem" ... no way!

  11. Send the poor to NYC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The message is - send the poor to NYC. They take better care of them.
    Just don't take MY MONEY for it.
    I donate to the charities that I prefer and NYC is not one of them.

  12. Re:Public transit helps the poor by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

    Urban area unemployment rate is over 33% approaches even 50%. That means even in those blighted areas 50 to 66% of the people actually go to work.

    Egads, is that what you think? The popularly quoted government statistic for unemployment rate only considers people who (claim they) are actively looking for a job.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  13. WTF? by s.petry · · Score: 1

    It is really our belief that if something is not illegal it must be morally good, or that if it is illegal it must be morally bad? That is what you just said in a round about way twice.

    *waiting*

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Belief? No. Law? Yes.

  14. Re:Public transit helps the poor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Would you care to demonstrate why that's incorrect? I think it includes retired people, but as far as I can tell it's factual. Don't post that fantasy drivel that's the "official" unemployment rate. It's propaganda at best. Chocolate rations are up to 20 grams, sure. The economy blows so hard right now that social security disability seems to be becoming the unofficial universal basic income. Woe to anybody who can't claim disability.

  15. Yeah right by shaitand · · Score: 2

    There is a very simple answer to a large skew in New York's favor.

    "according to a study of more than a billion Social Security and tax records"

    "That trend may appear surprising. New York is one of the country's most unequal and expensive cities, where the poor struggle to find affordable housing and the money and time to take care of themselves."

    That wouldn't get most of the poor in NYC. The poor who fail in that struggle neither pay social security nor taxes.

    1. Re:Yeah right by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Also, healthy and well off (but old) New Yorkers move to Florida, where the study found there is a big difference in life expectancy between well off and not so well off residents. Duh.

    2. Re:Yeah right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The poor who fail in that struggle neither pay social security nor taxes.

      Correct - but there are records of them not requiring to pay. Try NOT filing your taxes or paying for social security with any earned income - including jury duty. Let us know how that works out.

    3. Re:Yeah right by shaitand · · Score: 1

      I take it you are someone who never has actually had nothing. There are millions of homeless whose health statistics aren't on this report in New York. Somehow I suspect when you include the actual poorest people in New York in the report vs the rest of the country, especially more rural locations, you'll find those health disparity stats stark looking a lot more bleak.

  16. Choosing to be poor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are some places like in California where being poor or even homeless is a life choice and the people aren't self-selecting for mental illness or other tragedies that force poverty or homelessness on them. This would raise the life expectancy of the whole group.

    1. Re:Choosing to be poor by Nehmo · · Score: 1

      There are some places like in California where being poor or even homeless is a life choice and the people aren't self-selecting for mental illness or other tragedies that force poverty or homelessness on them. This would raise the life expectancy of the whole group.

      Nonsense. Maybe being homeless is a choice, considering even more undesirable alternatives, but people don't want to be poor. They may be stupid or have some "voluntary" behavior that causes them to be poor, but that's not the same as choosing to be so. (I don't understand your self-selecting clause, btw.)

      --
      (||) Nehmo (||)
    2. Re:Choosing to be poor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand your self-selecting clause

      If the people were poor and homeless because of mental or physical disease, they will have a shorter life expectancy. If otherwise able people are choosing a street-bum or artist life because it's "hip" then they skew the trend. And I'm sorry, but some people really do want to be poor. It's a badge of honor in some circles.

  17. Re:Public transit helps the poor by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

    Would you care to demonstrate why that's incorrect? I think it includes retired people, but as far as I can tell it's factual.

    The 92 million figure includes the elderly and students. The earliest mention of the 92 million figure was January 2014. So no changes in that figure for the last two years? Unemployment not getting better or worse?

    It's propaganda at best.

    So is the 92 million figure straight out of the right wing echo chamber. A false fact repeated a million times doesn't make it true.

  18. Proving my point by s.petry · · Score: 2

    Preempting my *waiting* because your last paragraph is grating. It simply states exactly what I said was the problem. In your general view, unequal is good. You said it twice, so you must believe it to be true. It is completely unfair, so is unfair also good? Should we codify this unfairness so that certain people always have everything they want and never need to work, and other people perpetually work for no gain?

    The summary of Socrates's story of the Artisan is this: When the artisan makes a masterpiece in the Republic should he be allowed to be showered in coins so that he should never want or need again? Socrates argues that the Republic needs to protect against this, because the person will become a detriment to the Republic. Not only does it ensure that they never need to be productive in their craft again, but it will provide the means for them to meddle in the affairs of everyone around them.

    We see exactly the latter when we find out how much money certain political figures make for attending a dinner and giving a short speech. Sorry, but there is nothing a politician can say in an hour worth $250,000,000.00 US. If they were giving out cures for cancers in that hour, sure. There is nothing legal that people can get by paying these extraordinary "speaking fees". This is exactly what Socrates discussed in action, and the fact that it is not strictly illegal does not make it morally good. In fact, it does the exact opposite.

    The fact that you ignore the dialogue and go right to "unequal is good" demonstrates that you are immorally defunct yourself. It could be caused by ignorance and be curable, but could also be the behavior of a sociopath.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Proving my point by fche · · Score: 1

      "In your general view, unequal is good."

      Let me clarify - the freedom to be unequal is good.

      "[inequality] is completely unfair, so is unfair also good?"

      What do you mean by "unfair", other than a sneaky synonym of "unequal", thus begging the question?

      "Sorry, but there is nothing a politician can say in an hour worth $250,000,000.00 US"

      Your opinion is irrelevant - those paying disagree.

  19. No kidding by tsotha · · Score: 2

    Once again proving income inequality is a purely political problem. It shouldn't come as a big surprise you'd much rather be poor in NYC, with its relatively robust safety net paid by wealthy people, than in some rural Appalachian town where everybody around you was also poor.

  20. Re:Public transit helps the poor by tomhath · · Score: 1

    Every urban area in the US already has public transportation. That is not an issue.

  21. So... by BoberFett · · Score: 1

    So trickle down DOES work!

  22. Actually true by Etherwalk · · Score: 2

    Yes, "worst fuel economy" strongly implies something beyond "lowest mileage".

    True. "Worst" is a charged word with an implicit normative value judgment.

    "lowest" is a word of measurement that denotes being at one end of a measurement. There is not necessarily normative judgment implicit in it, although people may hear a normative judgment in it depending on what it is measuring.

    If I note you are the child with the worst height, I am being cruel; if I note you are the child who is shortest, I am being factual.

    1. Re:Actually true by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0

      Best and worst imply a subjective judgement. It is you who is reading a morality-based judgement into it.

    2. Re:Actually true by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      The way I see it, these words can imply a not-so-subjective judgement if all people agree on preferences for the metric in question. Such as CPU performance (the higher the better) or power consumption (the lower the better).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Actually true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, "worst fuel economy" strongly implies something beyond "lowest mileage".

      True. "Worst" is a charged word with an implicit normative value judgment.

      "lowest" is a word of measurement that denotes being at one end of a measurement. There is not necessarily normative judgment implicit in it, although people may hear a normative judgment in it depending on what it is measuring.

      If I note you are the child with the worst height, I am being cruel; if I note you are the child who is shortest, I am being factual.

      You're cruel in the example because there is another person involved, not because of anything implicit to the word "worst".

  23. Re:Public transit helps the poor by dywolf · · Score: 1

    bwhahahahahahaha.
    bless your heart.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  24. Re:Public transit helps the poor by Andtalath · · Score: 1

    It's generally more interesting talking about how many are currently looking for jobs.

  25. Rural white people by moeinvt · · Score: 1

    A recent study published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." also revealed that the death rate of middle-aged, non-Hispanic white people is increasing while all other groups continue to see a decline in mortality rates.

    http://www.pnas.org/content/11...

    Rural white people don't need to be lectured by elitist liberal academics and BLM activists about how "privileged" they are.

  26. 2x loser by Nehmo · · Score: 1

    I'm poor and I live in a poor zip code. I'm gonna die!

    --
    (||) Nehmo (||)
  27. Re:Public transit helps the poor by dywolf · · Score: 1

    retired people and children are not unemployed.
    you're only unemployed if you want to work, eligible to work, and not working.

    children are too young to work.
    the retired are done working.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.