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Half the World Is Now Middle Class Or Wealthier, Says Brookings Institution (brookings.edu)
schwit1 shares a report from the Brookings Institution: Something of enormous global significance is happening almost without notice. For the first time since agriculture-based civilization began 10,000 years ago, the majority of humankind is no longer poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty. By our calculations, as of this month, just over 50 percent of the world's population, or some 3.8 billion people, live in households with enough discretionary expenditure to be considered "middle class" or "rich." About the same number of people are living in households that are poor or vulnerable to poverty. So September 2018 marks a global tipping point. After this, for the first time ever, the poor and vulnerable will no longer be a majority in the world. Barring some unfortunate global economic setback, this marks the start of a new era of a middle-class majority.
In most countries, there is a clear relationship between the fate of the middle class and the happiness of the population. According to the Gallup World Poll, new entrants into the middle class are noticeably happier than those stuck in poverty or in vulnerable households. Conversely, individuals in countries where the middle class is shrinking report greater degrees of personal stress. The middle class also puts pressure on governments to perform better. They look to their governments to provide affordable housing, education, and universal health care. They rely on public safety nets to help them in sickness, unemployment or old age. But they resist efforts of governments to impose taxes to pay the bills. This complicates the politics of middle-class societies, so they range from autocratic to liberal democracies. Many advanced and middle-income countries today are struggling to find a set of politics that can satisfy a broad middle-class majority. The tipping point in the world today offers opportunities for business but complications for policymakers.
In most countries, there is a clear relationship between the fate of the middle class and the happiness of the population. According to the Gallup World Poll, new entrants into the middle class are noticeably happier than those stuck in poverty or in vulnerable households. Conversely, individuals in countries where the middle class is shrinking report greater degrees of personal stress. The middle class also puts pressure on governments to perform better. They look to their governments to provide affordable housing, education, and universal health care. They rely on public safety nets to help them in sickness, unemployment or old age. But they resist efforts of governments to impose taxes to pay the bills. This complicates the politics of middle-class societies, so they range from autocratic to liberal democracies. Many advanced and middle-income countries today are struggling to find a set of politics that can satisfy a broad middle-class majority. The tipping point in the world today offers opportunities for business but complications for policymakers.
Apparently, human society has a tendency to concentrate resources and influence following a power law distribution, and there's not much that can be done about that.
What matters is how steep is the curve. There will always be some with way more resources than they can use; but there should be mechanisms to bring part of those concentrated resources back to those who created them.
If people in the long tail don't have enough resources to have at least an acceptable standard of living, unrest appears, and they will revolt and coordinate long enough to remove those at the peak; a position which then will be occupied by a new batch of privileged.
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
Actually, the percentage is higher, but it also includes a shockingly high percentage of people in the upper-middle class. Most people are inept at handling their own finances, and that's partially to blame on our education system. We don't teach our young how to live on their own...it should be a requirement for HS graduation.
https://www.investopedia.com/a...
Just another day in Paradise
...If it's medical: I live in a first world country. I will not go into debt over medical issues....
Good for you. I live in America. My family is bankrupt due to efforts at keeping a child alive and healthy. Whenever I meet somebody new that learns of my situation, more often than not they start ranting this or that about Trump. They miss the fact that 8 years ago Obama made a few changes that caused the cost of my insurance to nearly double each year. It might have been a wonderful system for lots of people, but I was in some loophole or other and when healthcare costs grew past 50% of household expenses, retirement funds were gone, etc it was a pretty fast spiral into poverty.
I honestly don't care who likes which politicians. They are all lying scum when you look at what they do rather than what they say. The middle class is a sheep to be shorn for their own gain to those in power, nothing more.
Eh, I've traveled Europe fairly extensively and I've never actually met a European who has any problems with Americans in person. As far as I can tell, they only exist on the Internet. As such, I have to assume they just never leave their homes. Maybe if the internet trolls who constantly bash Americans actually went outside and saw the world they'd be a bit less insufferable.