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macdelamemes t1_iy2shrh wrote

Reply to comment by Zagacity in Charted: Income Distributions in 16 Different Countries by TheThinker12

Exactly. Bottom 10% in the US make 4k USD/year. 300 dollars in the US means you don't have enough to rent even the cheapest shitty room in a big city, let alone afford food, transportation, healthcare etc.

Meanwhile 300 dollars per month in Brazil for example, while being far from ideal, will probably be enough to get you a roof over your head and enough cheap food, meaning you'll be poor but not homeless.

Doesn't mean Brazil is better than the US, but it's nonsense to compare income distribution without taking into acount purchasing power parity

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40for60 t1_iy3ppgf wrote

The bottom 10% would not be people in the work force or primary earners. More like part time people and people on goverment assistance. Poverty in the US is classified as anyone who can't participate in normal activities not people who can't buy food and clothing. Also because the US doesn't have a VAT and the sales taxes are low the PPP is actually much higher then just about all countries.

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macdelamemes t1_iy3ulkn wrote

I don't know if you know what PPP is bit it's definitely not much higher in the US than it is in just about all countries. https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-ppp.htm

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40for60 t1_iy3vj9n wrote

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Yes it is and on top of the PPP the US doesn't have a VAT so the consumption tax revenue is 50% less then most all of the other OECD's while the income taxes on the top earners are higher. PPP is not a issue in the US neither are social safety nets for the very poor. The US system favors flexibility and a progressive tax system over security and a regressive tax system.

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macdelamemes t1_iy45ind wrote

Again I don't think you understand what we're talking about... This is a link to GDP PPP. I'm not saying the US sucks I'm just saying 100 dollars in the US buys less stuff than 100 dollars in Indonesia.

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40for60 t1_iy45raq wrote

and you earn a lot less in Indonesia, great to go visit with your US income but hardly a demonstration of buying power for a citizen from Indonesia.

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