[jimbokun]

> If the rich get richer but the middle class has a better quality of life than what the rich had 200 years ago

So no changes are called for until quality of life is literally as bad as it was 200 years ago?

In more recent times, quality of life and economic metrics are flat or down in the USA, at least. Life expectancy has gone down multiple years in a row now, for example.

[bhupy]

> Life expectancy has gone down multiple years in a row now, for example

It's been established that the cause of this, in America, is opioids and obesity, none of which are the fault of billionaires, broadly.

[sergiosgc]

Obesity must have a clear link with free personal time, which is essential for cultivating physical fitness. If you work two full-time jobs, there's no time for proper meal preparation, hitting the gym or going for a swim. Add poor quality meals to sedentarism, and obesity is an expected result.

[tootahe45]

Actually, it correlates with the opposite; low income and high dependence on others. Go stand outside wherever Americans collect welfare to take a look.

[vernie]

Those poor Sacklers...

[bhupy]

Hence my usage of the phrase “billionaires, broadly”.

Nobody is denying that the Sacklers are culpable for opioids, but what about Buffett, Bezos, Brin, Jay-Z, and Jerry Seinfeld? They’re all “billionaires” too, and it would be foolish to blame them m for obesity and opioids, and in turn, the falling average life expectancy.