this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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I think it's worth noting that being counted among the "rich people" (defined by the article as the world's top 10% by income or wealth) starts at a number a lot lower than most Americans (or Westerners in general) might realize: $122,100/year measured by income, or $771,300 measured by net worth. (Source: World Inequality Report 2022, page 9.) In fact, even that second figure might be (vastly) overstated, because another paper I found claims that it only takes $138,346 net worth to be in the top 10%, and $1,146,685 gets you into the top 1%! (Source: Credit Suisse Research Institute Global Wealth Report 2022, page 22.)
In other words, a Hell of a lot of those global rich people are Americans who are deluding themselves to think they're middle-class and not part of the problem. We're not talking about just Musk and Bezos and shit; we're talking about you and me. Literally, in fact: at least according to the Credit Suisse definition, I myself am one of the rich people @[email protected] wants to eat!
I also think you overestimate how many western people are rich by this standard. For example, nobody I know would be part of the 10% here by that income, and I live in Norway.
And really, you really don't need more than that to live a good and luxurious life. In fact I think you don't even need to be anywhere close to that, even. Especially if you implement some actual rent controls, lower incomes are plenty fine.
Sorry, I guess I subconsciously decided to err high when discussing somebody else's wealth/success out of politeness, but I now realize this context is the exception!
As an American, I don't think I'm underestimating how many Americans are rich by this standard, however. Heck, even most of us who don't meet it still live the same kind of suburban, car-centric lifestyle as if we did. The people around you might not be the problem, but the people around me sure as fuck are!
100% agreed. I don't want to absolve myself of my culpability as part of the problem (or undermine my thesis that most Americans don't realize how much of a part of the problem they are, for that matter), but I have to admit that I try to live an abnormally frugal (and therefore possibly lower-carbon) lifestyle, and I'm very satisfied with it. I own a single-family house, but it's a relatively-small one in a streetcar suburb. I own too many cars (mostly old project cars), but I put very few miles on them because my wife and I both bicycle for almost all commuting and errands. My family lives comfortably on spending that's not too far above the federal poverty level, which means we do a lot of cooking instead of eating out and get a lot of our durable goods used instead of new. (Side note: it's crazy what some of the folks around here throw out: I've got a giant, 8' tall, solid-wood, built-in hutch in my dining room that I found on the side of the road! Luckily, I own a utility trailer -- which was also given to me for free -- or I'd have never gotten it home.) Finally, although my income is typically quite a bit higher -- we aim for a very high savings rate -- it's never been so high as to come anywhere near the "global 10% income" I cited earlier.
Anyway, point is: although I'm desperately trying not to be so naive as to think I'm the exception to my own claim about who's part of the problem, I do think I have a perspective that gives me a better understanding than most about what lifestyle changes are needed to solve it and how they're not as hard as people think.
Have you not seen like, housing projects? High rises? Run down old apartments? Everybody who doesn't have the kind of money you do doesn't live like they do anyway. Like, in terms of transportation, I spend my whole work day driving people around who don't really have the money to spend on a cab but have the money to spend on a car even less.
That doesn't mean they manage to pretend they're rich anyway, it means they make sacrifices you've probably never once in your life had to think about.
When they do splurge to make themselves briefly comfortable, it's at the cost of more sacrifices that you don't have to deal with anymore if you ever did. And then they get to deal with people rolling their eyes about how financially irresponsible they are.
Meanwhile the same people who make six figures are literally relying on people who make minimum wage in order to make their own lives convenient. And yet somehow that's supposed to end up with everyone magically living like you?
You live in a fantasy world. Not everybody has the time or the money to prioritize spending several hours cooking. Not everybody is left with enough energy by the end of their minimum wage no benefit grind of a day that you expect them to tolerate in order to sustain your hunger for little conveniences like places to go buy fresh food to cook for your family.
Still, many might be surprised at how many people they know or encounter who are rich by this standard. In a globally wealthy country, in the areas generally wealthy, you’re going to find “rich” people all over the place.
Well, maybe, I guess it isn't really surprising to me. I certainly do think many in the upper middle class are consuming far beyond what is reasonable, from cars, to massive homes, to vacation homes, to just the sheer amount of stuff they buy and throw out. It's unnecessary, and not needed for a good and still luxurious life.
This graph seems to suggest the average income for Norwegians is around US$110k. That's pretty close to the global top 10% threshold of US$122k.
I'm unsure if that data is accurate, but if it is, I'm assuming you don't live in a capital/major city where things tend to cost more and hence average jobs get paid slightly more? The contrast between city and rural salaries / cost of living is pretty stark where I am.
Uh, no, the median yearly income is 572k NOK (51k USD), the mean is 631k NOK (57k USD).
https://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/lonn-og-arbeidskraftkostnader/artikler/hva-er-vanlig-lonn-i-norge
Also I live in the capital, the rent's high :<
Yeah this uses average and a different type of calculation called the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA 2008). They're also the data the study in the article uses for its basis. From the graph info:
No idea how much that affects things, but it's the official government numbers basically standardised across countries to try to factor in access to infrastructure, etc. Definitely not perfect because it still has tp be an estimate, but still at least based on the same official source.
Unless they genuinely fucked up, which is still possible.
But basically, most everyone you know is likely in the global top 15%-20% even if none of you look individually rich, because you all have access to a high standard of living.
A $122,100/year is well above the median income of any country. For the US median income is $46,625/year. So more then half of Americans are not part of the richest 10%. That is even more true for Europe, where incomes tend to be lower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income
While true, $46,625 is still the top 32%. Which suggests that the average American will still have to make some lifestyle cuts. Even though they're already exploited hard by their ruling class.
$30k, the entry level salary for US restaurant workers, is the 50% mark. So basically, every full-time working US adult is in the top 50% richest globally by income. Their exorbitant medical and student debts make that not feel anything like how being rich is portrayed, even if they are technically richer when measured by income alone.
You know things are fucked when most of the richest people in the world are struggling to put a roof over their head and pay for essentials.
Americans are cash rich but poor everything-else.
It's worth noting that Americans also must spend that income in a similarly-inflated market, so it doesn't much matter what their salary would be worth in, say, Uganda. I think any such comparison of global wealth runs into these sorts of issues.
Someone earning in the global top 10% may not be able to afford a house locally. Someone earning in the top 30% may not be able to afford rent and food at the same time in their locale. It makes the percentile meaningless.
Yep, this is after all adjustments using the United Nations SNA 2008. It's not perfect, but it's the closest we have for accounting for those differences.
There were two possible definitions to go by: income or net worth. Look how low the net worth figure is (especially the one from the Credit Suisse study).
Keep in mind that even a $1M net worth -- more than either the Credit Suisse or World Inequality Report measure -- is considered on the low side in terms of retirement savings by age 65. (At a 4% safe withdrawal rate, it only gets you $40k/year to live on.)
Page 25 has a breakdown of median wealth. For the US it is $93,271, however for Western Europe it is higher then that to be fair.
The person you're reacting to mentions net worth. Owning a total of 138k is like a quarter of a house here
A lot of people have debt on their home, if they own it. There are also a lot of Americans among the people with the lowest net worth in the world. That is mainly student debt and they do not live bad lifes, but the thing is that median net worth of adults in the US is still $93,271 according to the same study. So litterally half of Americans are not part of the global 10% in terms of net worth either.
You do realize that saying "Somewhat over half aren't", means that a very large number of people ARE, right?
Absolutly, I am just trying to put some numbers to it.
would you say you're marbled or lean? For recipe purposes.
More marbled than I'd prefer to admit. 😞
It's ok, marbled is in these days.
So your saying I'm both a class traitor and powerless? Fuckin fantastic.
Kinda sounds like you're rich. I'm definitely not.
Wanna help? I can probably make an amount of money that you barely sneeze at go absurdly far.
You mean my two massive SUVs I drive everywhere, energy inefficient McMansion, and 50,000 toys I buy my children is causing climate change!? But China!!
Soy you could be solid middle class and be really good at saving, or a lower middle class that has saved for retirement and a paid off home and easily fall into the “net worth” category of “rich.”
I too am one of the rich people 😓
If you're on >$100k you're middle class.
Just because you've spunked it all away on a giant mortgage and payments on a $70k car, you can always just downsize that away, move to a dump and live like a king.
King of the dump, but still a king.
As a poor person living on disability in America, I absolutely agree. If you're making $100k, you're fucking rich, and if you're making half that I'm still gonna be keeping and eye on you.
I'd bloody love to be earning half that 😂 at least I know now that I'm not in the 1%.
Bring out the guillotine I guess!
I don't believe I stuttered... Please slather yourself in a fine wine reduction and wait for me by a nice bottle of Chianti.
😳