Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with Anand Giridharadas

Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by 01100011 on Saturday March 02, 2019 @08:28PM (#19292174)

I stopped reading when he equated reduced lifespans to the wealth gap. In my experience(my own family included), the shortened lifespans relate to poor lifestyle choices(i.e. type II diabetes and not choosing to change post-diagnosis). I'm not saying the wealth gap is good, just that, with logic like that, I can't take this piece seriously.

Also, while I think it's great that folks want to level the field and reduce the wealth gap, the likely outcome will be that the ultra rich will evade taxes like they always do, while the $1-10 millionaires will be pulled down to appease the masses. I don't lose sleep over some mildly rich tech bro. They're not the problem. It's the ultra rich that are holding all the cards and controlling our destinies.

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Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by alexandercrohde on Saturday March 02, 2019 @08:44PM (#19292228)

Firstly, if you think the reduced lifespan thing is wrong and you're trying to convince us, you should probably cite a source.

Secondly, your approach is bad. The "I found one thing I think is false (but never bothered to look up) so I'm dismissing the whole article" is your right of course, but I don't know if it makes for an informed member of the discussion.

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Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by 01100011 on Saturday March 02, 2019 @09:52PM (#19292403)

> if you think the reduced lifespan thing is wrong I don't, and I'm not sure how you got that out of what I wrote. I have no doubt that there is a correlation. I just have personal opinions as to why that correlation exist which conflict with the idea that lower incomes caused the reduced lifespans. If you're disciplined enough to amass wealth, you're probably disciplined enough to maintain good health. Sure, there are other factors, such as access to better medical care. In many cases though, access to medical care cannot make up for poor lifestyle decisions.

If I read an article and encounter flawed logic, I am less inclined to continue investing time into exploring the author's thesis.

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Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by cryptokush on Saturday March 02, 2019 @08:52PM (#19292251)

"In my experience..." - anecdotal garbage, there are many datasets on wealth and lifespan proving the authors point.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/25135...

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Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by 01100011 on Saturday March 02, 2019 @09:53PM (#19292406)

I hate to say it, but correlation is not causation. Do you have any explanation for why incomes are correlated with lifespans? Remember, no resorting to 'anecdotal garbage'.

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Re:Silicon Valley’s Inequality Machine: A Conversation with ... by firstplacelast on Saturday March 02, 2019 @10:28PM (#19292521)

You can afford better food, nicer place to live (living next to major highways/trains results in lower lifespan due to the pollution), can have more autonomy and respect in the workplace (lots of pesky things like hormone levels change when you are perceived by others as 'high-status' vs 'low-status' and status is more often than not determined by money), and MOST importantly, at least in America, you can afford healthcare. And getting treated for a disease/ailment has a very positive correlation with surviving it.

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