does it seem that all talks on inequities always boil down to

[bonzo925]

some type of injustice being perpetrated? I mean if someone isn't given something they should be getting, steps should be taken to change that, but it seems that people these days are looking at various inequities and using it as prima-facie evidence of some type of hate being done to someone. I mean do we want everyone, for instance, to get a perfect SAT score? Obviously not, because the demand for perfect SAT scorers would atrophy. I also see a fundamental dishonesty in the computation of these statistics because people don't bother to control for various things. More often than not, once you control for them, the inequities go away.

This is all not to say that inequality is a good thing because it certainly isn't (latin america being an example). But to look at inequality at face value and not look at the fine print is a misdiagnosis of things going on.

[RKP5637]

1. Look at the distribution of wealth curves! n/t

[hill2016]

5. the median US household income is in the top 1% of the world

far too much wealth is concentrated in the US.

How can we flatten the wealth curve to distribute more of America's wealth globally?

[Wounded Bear]

6. Actually, it's kind of easy...

we've done it before.

1. Raise taxe rates on top tax brackets, I'd like to see them add a couple of brackets back at the top, BTW.

2. Change tax policy to encourage re-investment within the United States and discourage off-shoring of capital for tax avoidance. Wealthy and high-income earners will do this rather than pay the higher rates.

3. End the BS breaks to risky investments like hedge funds and 'creative' investing schemes in general. Treat investment earnings just like regular earnings.

and 4. In the 'not gonna happen' category, rein in religious tax breaks, especially for those orgs whose purpose is rather demonstrably nothing more than a scam to make their leaders rich.

[RKP5637]

8. Agree, but I think, maybe, the only way to do this would be uniform wages across the globe. Also,

we need to control capitalism. It used to be controlled by high taxes on ridiculously high income, but they wormed their way into the political system, lowered taxes, and then propagandized the rest to foolishly believer they do not work hard and low taxes on extreme wealth is great.

It's a really fucked up financial system across the globe. Then, all of the outsourcing was done. It's a horrible system. And it fosters competition rather than cooperation ... many taught from youth to try to fuck over everyone around them, claw to the top, and it's just great. The current system will eventually sink humanity.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Enjoy your stay...

If you really think the 'problem' is in how we measure things, you've completely missed the point, and are in opposition to everything progessive and liberal.

[bonzo925]

3. ok maybe i'm not being explicit enough

but my point is this - when it comes to "gaps", no one wants to know the "why". For instance, the gender wage gap mostly goes away when controlling for certain things (and this video is from a feminist)

I've also read statistics that when you control for aptitude, all racial income gaps also go away.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Not gonna win any friends linking to AEI crap here...

just saying

[enlightenment]

7. Theoretically, it is possible to

control for almost anything, and when you make a statement like "More often than not, once you control for them, the inequities go away" what you're really saying is that you're not interested in anything but the theory.

And theory usually fails when applied to reality - if it didn't, economists would have died of starvation a long, long time ago. As it is, they just come up with new theories.