Quantcast

America as two countries… literally?

kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,149
13,358
Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
rideit

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
25,022
12,726
In the cleavage of the Tetons
Well, American Airlines is ripping out First Class seating on a few routes, so I guess that’s the beginning of revolution!

(and, at the same time, giving everyone else on the plane EVEN LESS legroom).
JFC
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
40,152
9,047
domestic first class is worthless anyway

lie flat is the way. (but not needed short of Hawaii)
 
rideit

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
25,022
12,726
In the cleavage of the Tetons

viewfromthewing.com

American Airlines Begins Removing First Class, TVs, and Legroom From Fleet Of Cross Country Planes - View from the Wing

While the Airbus A321XLR is still in the future - the aircraft hasn't been certified yet, so Airbus can't deliver any - American is beginning the process of switching its existing fleet of A321T planes into the standard, less luxurious configuration.
viewfromthewing.com viewfromthewing.com
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,460
10,950
AK
Toshi said:
domestic first class is worthless anyway

lie flat is the way. (but not needed short of Hawaii)
Click to expand...
I'll take it every time. Usually get a meal and enough room to move. It's not very "special", but I'll take it. Last flight, there was an "overflowing" person next to me in 1st that definitely would NOT have worked in main cabin.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
89,319
27,534
media blackout
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
40,152
9,047
Toshi said:
Last night while mulling over World Bank and census.gov data, trying to make some sense of our perceived poverty and the growing income inequalities as illustrated so nicely this month in Mother Jones, I had a thought:

What if we separate America into Poor America and Rich America with the cutoff at the 80th percentile of income? (I chose 80th percentile since that's the dividing line on the Mother Jones charts where stagnation occurs below and growth has been occurring above, for better or worse. I also chose it because I'll be comfortably above that line.)

Let's run with this idea a bit:

How do the demographics of these two "nations" differ? Clearly they differ in income, so that's not the crux of the matter: We also know that Rich America's incomes are growing rapidly while Poor America remains stagnant. Although the dividing line is at the 80th percentile, what percentage of population lies in each group? How old are these people? What do they do?

What's the size of each nation's tax base? I know many relatively rich, right-wingers who like to whinge about the tax system being overly progressive, but is Poor America's tax base enough to cover its proportion of services of the combined nations?

What about educational attainment, teenage pregnancy, health outcomes? If we view these things as cultural values that Poor America continues to cling to rather than dismissing them as mere sequela of socioeconomic status can we come to any conclusions?

How much immigration is there between Poor America and Rich America? In other words, how much relative economic mobility is there between the lower four quintiles and the top quintile? Also on the topic, does one live in such a nation by virtue of birthright, akin to how citizenship works in most countries?

How are unemployment and disability rates in each nation--how many of the now-unemployed were living in Poor America beforehand and how many did not pass Go and went straight from Rich America to the unemployment line?

How do these countries fare on the world scale if we consider them alone? (I know there's that map out there that compares states' gross state product to various world countries' GDP.) Is Poor America the size of, say, Canada, and Rich America the size of Japan?

Clearly, at some level this view falls apart: services are shared, the labor of one "nation" almost entirely goes to benefit those who live in the other, and Poor America is burdened with a legion of elderly people who, lacking savings, plop themselves on the public dole once they become eligible for SS and Medicare. On the other hand, Poor America probably has a demographic advantage (the flip side of Japan's problem) with an overrepresentation of young, fertile, but poor immigrant families.

Finally, does this thought exercise clarify anything?

I'm not certain of the answers to any of these questions, although I think I know the answers to some of them. Will my stereotypes bear witness to reality? Stay tuned over the next several days as I try to sift through data and figure out some answers.
Click to expand...
this election was of the rebellion of Fishtown, of Poor America. it’s idiotic that they’d think Trump is better for them… but they know that the status quo hasn’t been working for them for decades.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
42,276
19,746
Riding past the morgue.
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
89,319
27,534
media blackout
Pesqueeb said:
I can't believe none of us have made an "Incredible Violence Man" joke yet. :(

abcnews.go.com

Fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson prompts wake-up call for nation's executives: Experts

The targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has sparked worry in C-suites across the nation.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

And by "wake up call" they mean "hiring private security for executives and passing the cost onto the consumer".
Click to expand...
They're still outnumbered by non-executives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom