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by lm284695 hours ago |
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upvoteby matthest2 hours ago|
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The study doesn't say it went into the 1%'s pockets. It says it went to 2 places:

1) The salaries of corporate employees 2) Shareholders and capital owners

Regarding number 2: "Shareholders" would include anyone who owns any stock at all, including a lot of middle class people with a simple S&P 500 ETF in their portfolio.

And the increase in productivity allowed more people to become capital owners, AKA entrepreneurs. The explosion in software entrepreneurs, for example.

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upvoteby lm284692 hours ago|
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Then why are wealth inequalities exploding? Why are we just about to witness the first trillionaire?

Because no matter what fairy tales you want to believe in your $20 "invested" in palantir won't make you a "shareholder" lmao

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upvoteby matthest2 hours ago|
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Wealth inequality is increasing, but the wealth isn't all flowing into the 1%'s pockets.

Lots of middle class people have graduated into upper-middle class: https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-middle-clas...

Wealth inequality is still a problem. But it's not just the people at the very top benefitting.

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upvoteby lm284691 hours ago|
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I don't think you understand what the 1% is, it's not your neighbour who has a nice house, a swimming pool and a ferrari...

https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/9...

https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020...

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CvQar/full.png

https://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1415721490539/Wealth_line-chart...

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upvoteby matthest1 hours ago|
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Definitionally the 1% is people making ~$800k+ a year.

Upper-middle class is people making ~$200k/year.

A lot of people have moved from middle class to upper middle class over the last decade. Both those categories are outside the 1%.

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upvoteby pc8651 minutes ago|
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A good indicator that someone is simply being dogmatic and not arguing in good faith (e.g. actually trying to understand someone's POV, and being open to being proven wrong in their assumptions) is when it takes them 5-20 minutes to reply until a particularly good point is made and then they disappear into the ether.
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upvoteby kitten_mittens_1 hours ago|
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When did upper middle class start meaning upper class? Something like 90% of Americans identify as middle class now.
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upvoteby pc8644 minutes ago|
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That's why someone's self-described position means nothing. Something like 80-85% of drivers describe themselves as "above average" at driving, too.

The upper limit and the median of the household income quintiles as of 2022 are:[0]

  Lowest: $ 30,000 / $ 16,120
  Second: $ 58,020 / $ 43,850
  Middle: $ 94,000 / $ 74,730
  Fourth: $153,000 / $119,900
     Top:        - / $277,300
I think getting into the weeds on whether $80k or $100k or $120k/yr is a middle class sort of misses the point, but at least with my eyes it is hard to argue you're middle class if you're making more than about $150k at the most.

Even the GP, which I directionally agree with, says "upper-middle class is people making ~$200k/yr" but you're deep into the top quintile by that point, probably top 10%. I don't know what percentile I consider "upper middle" but it's definitely lower than top 10%.

[0] https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/household-income-quin...

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