Message #759

[Ted S]

Sorry Ted its not what you think, because facts make you look like you're brain dead. kentay

The devil is in the details Kentay.  I think the operative word is relative.

All of these countries have relative child poverty rates below 7%.

In the USA we have a much wider gap between the highest wage earners and the lowest wage earners.  Some make $7.00 an hour and some make $1,000 per hour. This happens because not everybody has the same talent, drive and abilities.

In countries that value equality over liberty, the income gap is much narrower.  The income gap is narrower because socialist policies force equal outcome.  For instance their hourly rate may vary between $0.50 per hour to $8.00 per hour.  A much narrower gap but you will notice that the standard of living is less for everyone and real upward mobility isn't possible.

The bottom line is that your chart from Think Progress most likely measures the lowest quintile against the highest quintile within the same country.  If instead it were to measure the quality of life of the lowest quintile in the USA against the quality of life of the lowest quintile in those other countries, the USA would score much higher.

Or put another way, some guy might be prisoner of the week on his cell block, but when measured against regular people, he probably won't make the cut.