[nnechm]

Feels more and more like it's the best of times and the worst of times...

Things feel off,but you have (mostly well-off) people talking about how great things are going to be and are. I suspect a lot of this correlates to the stock market.

For the median millenial atleast, whatever you were taught growing up is just the wrong guide to understanding the world today.

I think social media by its very nature, has to be understood inverted. A high number of posts about how great things are suggests otherwise. Comparisons with Europe have gone exponential that tells you more about how the posters feel than anything else...

[vladgur]

As I complete my travels through Argentina and a layover in Lima I realize that differences between poor and rich are much less stark in my opinion in the US and these LatAm countries where the percentage of population living below the local poverty line is 3 to 5 times higher than that of the USA

So whatever you feel - it’s all relative

[Cumpiler69]

People don't realize that being broke poor in the US is a luxury life in most developing countries.

I'm not from the US but I saw some video of of how some homeless people live in the US, and it's a lifestyle most of the developing world would kill for: dumpster dive for freshly made pizza or quality supermarket produce that's still good just not legal to be sold anymore, all free of charge. If you have a medical issue, go to the ER and get top quality healthcare. Dumpster dive for perfectly usable clothes, computers, etc. That's a luxury life for 80% of the planet.

[Jensson]

> That's a luxury life for 80% of the planet.

Not anymore, maybe 20 years ago but many nations developed a lot since then.

[Cumpiler69]

Yeah they have, but being broke poor in those developing nations sucks much more than in the US. Their development is mostly reflected in the lifestyle of middle and upper class not of the poor. You have no idea how good the poor in the US have it compared to large parts of the world.

[Jensson]

You said luxury life, that is different than saying the poor in USA are better off than the poor in for example China. American poor don't live as well as luxury life in China.

[Pigalowda]

Why use China? I’d rather be poor in the US than rich in DRC, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, eritrea, Somalia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Haiti, etc etc

Using the second largest economy which has many mega cities you can tour on Google earth and plenty of millionaires and billionaires isn’t really the right comparison. Like using Japan or Germany.