I don't agree, because there certainly are some objective measures of well being, such as access to nutrition, clean drinking water, life expectancy, exposure to violence etc. that hold true across any age in time.
Most of these measures have in general increased in the course of humankind. So a homeless man im 2018 is most likely still better off than a homeless man during the Roman empire.
Re:How to Be Successful
by porpoisely on Thursday January 24, 2019 @05:50PM
(#18993857)
I understand that human society has progressed over time. That's not what I'm disputing. What I'm pointing out is that it's meaningless to compare current situation to the past. A homeless man in 2019 is better off than everyone in the roman empire - including the emperor and the homeless. So what? How does that help the homeless man in 2019. A slave in the 1800s was wealthier than the anyone in the roman empire. So what? People in 2019 or people in the 1800s weren't living in the roman empire. The north koreans in political camps are wealthier than the emperor of roman empire. So I guess that means everything is great? It's such a deceptive and insincere comparison. People live within their time and their "wealth" should be compared within it. And more importantly, wealth should always be viewed within the context of power because ultimately, that's what wealth is.
Re:How to Be Successful
by randomsearch on Thursday January 24, 2019 @05:34PM
(#18993734)
Your opening statement is incorrect - wealth can be created, indeed that’s exactly what (good!) entrepreneurs do.
"Limited" means something very different than "fixed".
> we have to frame money within the zero-sum context of power.
You can't just throw this out there. Why? In what way is power is zero-sum?
I don't really find your example of homeless people with smart phones all that convincing. Everyone knows being homeless is horrible.
It's not even that I entirely disagree with what your saying. I'm somewhat firmly planted in the vague middle area right now. But I would like to see the arguments better supported.
It's also a deceptive tactic people use to compare apples to oranges. We have to compare today with today and even more importantly, we have to frame money within the zero-sum context of power. Money and power are interchangeable and viewed in this context, wealth is a zero sum game.