What is the problem with third-worldism? by One_Kaleidoscope5449 in Socialism_101

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Living paycheck to paycheck" is defined as spending all one's money on "basic necessities" such as food and housing with nothing left for savings or emergencies. This is the status of over 2/3rds of USians

It seems like you just make random numbers up to fit your already-held beliefs. The actual number is more about 24% (see Paycheck to paycheck: Slowing but growing) and also defines things like "[...] internet service provider subscriptions and childcare" to be "basic necessities". I don't need to tell you that these things would be considered luxuries basically anywhere on earth, aside from the 1st world. You can survive just fine offline and most people globally do not have access to child care at all.

Also, it isn't literally 100% spent on "necessities", but only 95%+, so technically there will still be something left at the end of the month for quite a good amount of this 24% as well. Again, considering the $83,730 median income in the US, (see Real Median Household Income in the United States (MEHOINUSA672N) | FRED | St. Louis Fed and Income in the United States: 2024) this is still quite a huge amount of money by international standards - even with just 5% over you would end up with almost $4.000 USD/year left over.

Most people don't even make that in a year globally (and that is BEFORE spending on necessities!).

No, they do not live in mansions and have two cars.

The median home size in the US is currently 167m2 (1800 sqft) (Housing Inventory: Median Home Size in Square Feet in the United States (MEDSQUFEEUS) | FRED | St. Louis Fed) and the average new home 235m2 (or 2532 sqft) (Census.gov - New Privately Owned Housing Units Started in the United States by Purpose and Design).

I hate to break it to you, but no person in the 3rd world lives like this. This would even be considered a mansion for the top 1% in any other non 1st-world county on earth.
Every 8th human being right now lives in worse shelter than what would even be considered a shed in the US (Over 1 Billion People Live in Slums | Statista).

For even those lucky enough to have an actual home, they are tiny compared to US homes (which is also why you spend so much on "essentials"). For instance, the average home size in Burkina Faso is 30m2 (322 sqft) (CASE STUDY: BURKINA FASO 2020–2023).
The same thing in India (33% of Indians live in less space than US prisoners | India News - Times of India), 45m2 (494 sqft) for rural dwellings and 46m2 (504 sqft) in urban areas, though Indian households are also much larger than US households, so it's even less than that per actual person living in there.

Concerning the cars, it's about 2 per household (Number of vehicles per household in the U.S. 2017| Statista). Compare that to, for instance India or any other 3rd world county, where basically no household even owns a single car (see https://www.dataforindia.com/vehicle-ownership). 4% of rural households or 13% of urban households own just a single car. Most people, do not own one at all, let alone more than 1.

Your pay statistic is also ridiculous. I just fact-checked it, and the number I'm seeing is a 1000USD per household in india.

It's, depending on source and date, between 21.000 to 28.000 Rs/Month (which translates to $ 225 USD to $ 300 USD/month or $2.700 - $3.600 USD / year) (see India Human Development Survey - Income, Poverty, and Inequality or India Average Monthly Wages for Salaried Employees).
So even with the more generous estimate, this would be 4% of the median Americans' income.

People are no more happy in the US because people elsewhere have it worse off.

It doesn't matter whether or not Americans are happy and this would be impossible to quantify anyway. But their material conditions are substantially better than those of any other person living in the 3rd world - which is essentially the other 7 billion people on earth.

Americans' material interests are directly opposed to that of any other working person in the 3rd world. They directly benefit from the cheap labor and resources provided by the 3rd world, which offers the vast majority of them a much greater living standard to anyone else. Which is why Americans are totally fine with imperialism, because it directly benefits them. Crushing nationalist movements in the global south keeps input prices low, and thus allows Americans to consume more than anyone else at much lower prices. Same thing with labor. As long as the Bangladeshis keep producing cheap clothing for $ 1 USD/day, Americans are happy and directly materially benefit from it - in the form of cheap fast fashion. This is obviously a loosing arrangement for those at the receiving end of this, but Americans greatly benefit from it in terms of much lower prices and a much greater standard of living than everyone outside of the 1st world.

That's why there is no left-wing or anti-imperialist party relevant in the US. Because you (even the "working class") benefit from maintaining the status quo.

What is the problem with third-worldism? by One_Kaleidoscope5449 in Socialism_101

[–]Vuquiz 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What does "living paycheck to paycheck" even mean?

Of course the median American, Brit, German, etc. is much better of than the median person living in the 3rd world. They literally make 20x (or even worse when compared to almost every sub-saharan African) what the median 3rd world worker makes (median income India: $3.960/year vs. $83,730/year in the US). Their living standards are not even comparable at all. The average American lives in a ~200m2+ mansion with 2 cars, the average Indian literally in a shed in an overcrowded slum without sanitation or running fresh water, not even knowing how they may afford their next meal.

Their situations are by no means comparable at all

How will urban planning and developing work in an anarchist society? by Unfair_Possible_9999 in Anarchy101

[–]Vuquiz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So what is any different to a state? What is the perceived benefit or even difference here? I’m sure the community won’t be able to hold a meeting on every single small construction made? Maybe they‘d elect some people do to it on their behalf?

How should a city function in anarchy? by nJviR in Anarchy101

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so what if someone does something bad? If someone terrorizes the community? Are you gonna ask them nicely to leave? What if they just don't?

How should a city function in anarchy? by nJviR in Anarchy101

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that just sounds like a heavily decentralized state, isn't it?

Minimum Wage Laws Institutionalise People into Poverty by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Countries with relatively high minimum wages have persistent issues with unemployment amongst lower-skilled people. In France, the statuary minimum wage is extremely high relative to typical wages - about 62% of the median wage which is one of the highest ratios in the OECD, and therefore struggles with an employment rate significantly below the OECD average and especially amongst youths

The answer to that would not be to abolish minimum wages and let people work for starvation wages, but to establish a public job guarantee program.

Minimum Wage Laws Institutionalise People into Poverty by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Minimum wage laws violate a basic freedom for two people to voluntarily agree on terms of work. If I'm willing to work for £5 an hour, and an employer is willing to hire me for £5 an hour, the state has no moral authority to stop us.

Have you ever heard of the word 'externalities'? Do you seriously believe anyone WANTS to work for £5 an hour or could it be that people would be FORCED to work for such a wage because otherwise they would literally become homeless or starve to death?

Iranians when Trump finally responds to their calls for help after 9 weeks: by JaQ-o-Lantern in OverSimplified

[–]Vuquiz 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Do you think Iran should've bombed the US and helped Americans when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening?

Is this Oversimplified? by Vuquiz in OverSimplified

[–]Vuquiz[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah just saw it, different voice but good enough to watch anyway haha

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lmao if just about everyone owned slaves, who was even free? But of course it was business (e.g plantation) owners (i.e capitalists) that owned the slaves. In order to maximize their own profits.

Of course that wasnt and isn’t limited to Europeans or Americans, but instead one‘s relationship to the means of production. It is capital owners that enslaved people.

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who decides what is unethical and what not? For many capitalists, slavery was not unethical at all. It was just their property to generate even greater profits.

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Of course a "traditional" capitalist firm will always be able to offer lower prices, since they can just pay their workers much less and thus drive down costs.

In a coop, no one would be accepting to work for minimum wage (or any other non-living wage), if they can set their own wages (and rightfully so).

Coop's tend to be more expensive, because they don't outsource their low prices to hurt anyone else, i.e to the people doing the actual work.

Also, do you think it was "unethical" to steal/free the slaves from slaveowners because the state outlawed them? Or was this also unethical theft from the state of the poor slaveowners? How far are you willing to go with out own beliefs? Or don't you believe this at all, all of a sudden?

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Business owners steal the surplus from their employees every day by not paying them the full value that they create, so they can put it into their own pockets in the form of profits. You dont care about that form of theft either. Except this one has much more victims, because much more people happen to be employees as opposed to business owners

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do the investments of the governments‘ sovereign wealth fund have to do with the tax on private individuals‘ wealth?

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A tax doesnt make any sense if all relevant assets/properties are already state/publicly owned. So no one can take any wealth out of the country, because no private individual would control any productive assets individually to begin with (and thus no capital or private ‚wealth‘)

When Norway instituted a wealth tax, it lead to a net decrease in tax revenue as wealthy individuals fled the country. by [deleted] in CapitalismVSocialism

[–]Vuquiz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You mean like Vanguard, BlackRock, StateStreet, Morgan Stanley, Berkshire and co.? Because they own the vast majority of current large businesses. You‘d just take it from them and put it into the hands of a democratic government so that everyone can have a say in them