$250,000 a year isn't rich!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Someone on $250,000 a year is certainly rich. Median household income in the U.S is about $50,000. Just for context, you know.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Someone on $250,000 a year is certainly rich. Median household income in the U.S is about $50,000. Just for context, you know.

You do know that Wall Street makes more political contributions to Dems than Pubbies don't you?  This ain't Britain!  Who knew?

Oh, I know all that. It just seemed that some... er... facts... would help to cast a little more light, around. You know.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ah yes, facts are stubborn things.

As both Lukács and Reagan argued, they are actually stupid things.

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What are you going to do about it? Sue me?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

When push comes to shove, do you think income taxes should be indexed to cost of living?

What was it Harry Perkins said at the beginning of A Very British Coup? Something like 'now it's your turn to go to hell' or words to that effect.

Seriously though, if any group should be protected from the market (or market forces or capitalism or whatever term is preferred by the reader at this particular moment in their lives) then it certainly should not be people earning extremely high wages no matter how articulate or precious they are.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It would be nice if income taxes factored in cost of living.  The guy making 50k in Alabama paying the same rate as the guy in NYC is just not fair.

That is such an Atlas post that it makes me sick.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Of course one way of making sure that there is absolutely no chance of the best possible teachers joining the profession is to denigrate the profession, its practices and institutions (such as they are). As has been done in many countries for the bulk of the past thirty years, often in the guise of... er... attempting to raise educational standards. Bit of a paradox there.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's not a question of the 'feelings' of anyone currently in the profession (although I do tend to think that you don't get the best work out of people if you try to undermine and demoralise them, but that's by the by), but an expression of a fairly obvious reality; how do you expect to recruit the best people (however defined) to an occupation if the position of that occupation (both in material terms and in terms of authority) is under constant assault? Or if you impose a byzantine (and ever-changing) set of regulations, tests and 'market' mechanisms onto the profession that is supposed to be all about 'raising standards' but mostly seems to be about undermining the autonomy of teachers?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I don't understand the notion that, because you're spending a huge amount of money from your much-larger-than-average income, that suddenly means you're no longer rich.

It is quite so very Atlas, isn't it?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think Americans generally don't realise how low their costs of living are, when compared to comparable nations.

Yes, but unless one owns a mansion, several yachts, at least three second homes, and has a luxury car (and trust funds!) for every member of their family, then one cannot seriously considered to be rich. One would merely be... an ordinary American living an ordinary American life.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Mockery aside, I suppose it is normal to consider your own circumstances normal... when you're a child. So I grew up in a small house (actually an end terrace), but never thought of it as a 'small house', and in a low income household, but would never have assumed that (and wouldn't even have really understood what that meant). The problem is... the fact that at some point you should become at least vaguely self-aware.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ok, let's get a little self aware.

Always a good idea.

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I'm not really sure what that has to do with self-awareness? But I would say... I don't know... maybe around £75,000 a year or so? That's about four times more than my Dad makes in a good year, which seems like a good measurement from the point of view of self-awareness (it's also something ten times more than I'm on, but I won't use that as a measurement). I don't think in dollars so I can't properly translate (especially given that exchange rate stuff can be misleading) but I think that's a very rough equivalent of points north of $100,000 or so (obviously apologies if that's wrong).

I also like the child logic involved; four times more than my Dad. Haha.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

So you think a middle class family that is well off is rich. Fair enough.

See, from a British point of view nothing in that sentence comes across as even vaguely sarcastic or absurdist. Anyways, there's a difference between 'well off' and 'rich'?

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Relax; I'm not going to send you to a collective farm or anything.