As someone from Bangladesh, I think it's utterly ridiculous that you keep talking about how much better poor Americans have it than Indians or Chinese. So what? What does it matter that people from countries were things are desperately bad are willing to trade places with people who are in a pretty bad situation in a great country? It's utterly irrelevant.
Re:The Despair of Poor White Americans
by yummyfajitas on Saturday August 06, 2016 @04:54PM
(#12239884)
It's hardly irrelevant. My claim is that the Indian, Bangladeshi or Chinese will better themselves and move up in the world, while the American refuses to do so.
That implies that it's the American's choices, rather than his circumstances, which cause him to be poor. How is that irrelevant?
Re:The Despair of Poor White Americans
by searealist on Sunday August 07, 2016 @12:44AM
(#12241089)
The _average_ Indian, Bangladeshi or Chinese will move up in the world? I get the impression that you are comparing the exceptional people from those countries to the lowest performing Americans. Also, if the average person from those countries is so much more industrious than Americans, why do they need to come to America to enjoy a good life?
Do you think this person will be stuck in poverty forever, given that he's cut off from opportunity by a 2 hour train ride?
Also, I find your claim that people in New Haven or Poughkeepsie (approx 2 hours away) don't know they could find work in NYC simply implausible. I've had random conversations in broken Hindi with auto drivers; when they ask where I'm from and I tell them "New York", they immediately recognize it. Random people in South America, SE Asia, etc all seem to have a pretty good picture of what NYC is. Yet somehow someone from Allentown, PA doesn't?