“We live in a troubled time.” “The world has never been more unstable”“The U.S. economy is the strongest it’s been in years”“Europe is facing an existential crisis”
Generalizations that label or stereotype people really bother me. But I’m quite aware that they are often “generally” true. Thanks for another good article.
Great article. Despite the relentless media negativity about life in general, the U.S. economy is going like a blast furnace. Enough with the "families are struggling" clickbait, it's unmooring people from reality.
It's always interesting to see people who don't have to worry about how they're covering their bills and food from week-to-week lecture those of us who do as to how great the economy is. Again, you want another reason why Trump won, here it is. If you can go to a restaurant and not think about the prices, please stop telling those of us who have to live within a budget that we can't believe our lying eyes.
You ought to read the piece rather than just react. The statement is statistically true. That is not debatable or subjective. It is also true as I said that statistics are generalizations that absolutely do not apply to countless people and experiences.
I read the piece. "Statistically true" is a nice hedge, but it ignores reality. A fit athlete with cancer can be called, "mostly healthy" and that's also statistically true.
But statistics are nearly meaningless in the real world. "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes" was initially a joke. Now it's used as a way of denying reality. The perception by the vast majority of the American public is that the economy is terrible. Perception is reality. Moreover, reality is reality, and the working class has watched *everything* become more expensive. Sure, the Dow is over 44,000. That's all but meaningless to rank-and-file Americans who are looking at the shrinking value of their dollar when they go to Kroeger.
Perhaps instead of casually dismissing me ("you ought to read the piece rather than just react"), you might consider the fact that I may have a different POV, not coming from the elite class. But again, this is the plank in your eye....You, and a whole lot of people in your position/station in life simply don't understand what it is to have to work for a living. Or having to save for something. Or have to tell the kids that the dryer died and the money for their presents is currently drying their clothes.
The Democratic Party would do well to learn these lessons, lest 2026 and 2028 be further repudiation of the party and its coalescence around the elites and the corporations.
“The economy” is and always has been a statistical generalization. It’s a statistical construct. Not a feeling. Not a set of perceptions. For 80 years or so, we assess the economy statistically, not anecdotally, not a million and million different life experiences. Stop with partisan and class dismissals. Nothing I said reflects any of that and isn’t the point of what I wrote. And by the by more than 50% of Americans have a retirement plan invested in stock markets. Thats a whole lot of rank and file people. And a whole lot are left out, though many of those are young and will eventually have a retirement plan. Your POV about what is broken for many Americans material lives is fully valid. But your dismissal of what is statistically true as meaningless isn’t. It’s how every state, Washington, companies large and small assess plans and make decisions, along with their own personal lived experience.
But you're incorrect, the economy is not a statistical generalization (at least outside of the academic environment). It's what real people have to contend with every day.
Scroll down and look at the chart which shows the percent of increase of various consumer items. We can talk about statistics all day long, but that chart says everything you need to know about the economy.
We just witnessed the murder of a husband and father by a rich, entitled, "scion of a prominent Baltimore family". Though it's not the Robin Hood scenario it was initially thought to be, the fact of the matter is that there's a rather large number of people out there who are enraged by the current state of US healthcare.
Many people will point to the ACA as being a success based on certain metrics and statistics. Many more are painfully aware of how much more expensive health insurance is now, and how terrible coverage has gotten. In my case, I'm paying nearly twice for my solo coverage now as I was paying for a family of four in 2011......And my coverage now is nowhere near as good as it was then.
So people are looking to disruptors because they're tired of hearing how good the economy is, or how effective the ACA is. You want people like Trump to continue to be elected? You want more public support of murderers of CEOs? Keep it up. People are hurting and they're angry. Looking down your nose at them and telling them that your statements are statistically true guarantees more disruptors.
Do most people agree with "The world has never been more unstable"? WW2 is still a living memory after all. I take your point about negative generalisations, but that one in particular is hard to credit.
Depending on who you listen to, the world has never been more unstable, there's never been more racism, misogyny, and homophobia, and the country's never been more divided.
Generalizations that label or stereotype people really bother me. But I’m quite aware that they are often “generally” true. Thanks for another good article.
Great article. Despite the relentless media negativity about life in general, the U.S. economy is going like a blast furnace. Enough with the "families are struggling" clickbait, it's unmooring people from reality.
It's always interesting to see people who don't have to worry about how they're covering their bills and food from week-to-week lecture those of us who do as to how great the economy is. Again, you want another reason why Trump won, here it is. If you can go to a restaurant and not think about the prices, please stop telling those of us who have to live within a budget that we can't believe our lying eyes.
You ought to read the piece rather than just react. The statement is statistically true. That is not debatable or subjective. It is also true as I said that statistics are generalizations that absolutely do not apply to countless people and experiences.
I read the piece. "Statistically true" is a nice hedge, but it ignores reality. A fit athlete with cancer can be called, "mostly healthy" and that's also statistically true.
But statistics are nearly meaningless in the real world. "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes" was initially a joke. Now it's used as a way of denying reality. The perception by the vast majority of the American public is that the economy is terrible. Perception is reality. Moreover, reality is reality, and the working class has watched *everything* become more expensive. Sure, the Dow is over 44,000. That's all but meaningless to rank-and-file Americans who are looking at the shrinking value of their dollar when they go to Kroeger.
Perhaps instead of casually dismissing me ("you ought to read the piece rather than just react"), you might consider the fact that I may have a different POV, not coming from the elite class. But again, this is the plank in your eye....You, and a whole lot of people in your position/station in life simply don't understand what it is to have to work for a living. Or having to save for something. Or have to tell the kids that the dryer died and the money for their presents is currently drying their clothes.
The Democratic Party would do well to learn these lessons, lest 2026 and 2028 be further repudiation of the party and its coalescence around the elites and the corporations.
“The economy” is and always has been a statistical generalization. It’s a statistical construct. Not a feeling. Not a set of perceptions. For 80 years or so, we assess the economy statistically, not anecdotally, not a million and million different life experiences. Stop with partisan and class dismissals. Nothing I said reflects any of that and isn’t the point of what I wrote. And by the by more than 50% of Americans have a retirement plan invested in stock markets. Thats a whole lot of rank and file people. And a whole lot are left out, though many of those are young and will eventually have a retirement plan. Your POV about what is broken for many Americans material lives is fully valid. But your dismissal of what is statistically true as meaningless isn’t. It’s how every state, Washington, companies large and small assess plans and make decisions, along with their own personal lived experience.
Firstly, thanks for engaging. Seriously.
But you're incorrect, the economy is not a statistical generalization (at least outside of the academic environment). It's what real people have to contend with every day.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-tracker/
Scroll down and look at the chart which shows the percent of increase of various consumer items. We can talk about statistics all day long, but that chart says everything you need to know about the economy.
One more thing while I'm at it.....
We just witnessed the murder of a husband and father by a rich, entitled, "scion of a prominent Baltimore family". Though it's not the Robin Hood scenario it was initially thought to be, the fact of the matter is that there's a rather large number of people out there who are enraged by the current state of US healthcare.
Many people will point to the ACA as being a success based on certain metrics and statistics. Many more are painfully aware of how much more expensive health insurance is now, and how terrible coverage has gotten. In my case, I'm paying nearly twice for my solo coverage now as I was paying for a family of four in 2011......And my coverage now is nowhere near as good as it was then.
So people are looking to disruptors because they're tired of hearing how good the economy is, or how effective the ACA is. You want people like Trump to continue to be elected? You want more public support of murderers of CEOs? Keep it up. People are hurting and they're angry. Looking down your nose at them and telling them that your statements are statistically true guarantees more disruptors.
Do most people agree with "The world has never been more unstable"? WW2 is still a living memory after all. I take your point about negative generalisations, but that one in particular is hard to credit.
Depending on who you listen to, the world has never been more unstable, there's never been more racism, misogyny, and homophobia, and the country's never been more divided.
I'm thankful those people self-identify.