[kortilla]

> There's countries with a healthy middle class, why isn't the US's thriving like theirs?

Someone tricked you. The US has one of the richest middle classes in the world. A CEO being paid obscenely has absolutely no impact on the middle class, it just makes a nice boogeyman for politicians.

[dctoedt]

> A CEO being paid obscenely has absolutely no impact on the middle class, it just makes a nice boogeyman for politicians.

Except that envy is part of the human condition, and arguably, a key component of human progress. Left unchecked, though, envy can lead to social instability. See, e.g., Kahneman and Tversky's work about how people are willing to incur harm to themselves to punish what they perceive as unfairness (sorry, no time to get the cite). So arranging our societal structures to keep envy in check might be necessary, even if it means giving some high earners a haircut on their income.

[thaumasiotes]

Rich and healthy aren't the same thing. What's the American middle class fertility rate?

Of course, by this metric the successful countries are all in Africa. It will be an interesting future.

[sokoloff]

Do we have some critical shortage of people that I'm not aware of?

[thaumasiotes]

If your idea of the health of Japan is totally disconnected from whether the Japanese -- technically -- exist, then no, we don't.

When the English and the Germans came to North America and replaced the population there, was that a success for North America? If so, is it the kind of success you'd like to have someone else give to you?

[sokoloff]

Over 10s of generations, I'm not especially worried about the trivial differences in the genetic ancestry of the people who live in a given country.

[thaumasiotes]

Most people don't wish to die for their ideology. You may be an exception. I doubt it, but if so, you're welcome to it.