In order to make the large dollars (middle income wise) you need good training or education (or experience, but that doesn't typically apply for <30). This education gives skills that typically require living in populated areas because businesses (especially large businesses) want to be near large population of potential employees.

So the typical employment force has their education benefit offset by the cost of living increase, putting them in just as bad a situation as living in the middle of no where making low wages (or perhaps worse, since they went into debt for training).

Meanwhile, if your in the top 10% -- a business owner or top management -- most of this doesn't matter because you make enough to take $15/trip HOV Lanes, or buy a $800,000+ home easily. So you want to keep your business near top talent (i.e. cities) but are less impacted by the situation you are encouraging by flocking the business to the city in the first place.

This is super complex, but just my quick-ish generalization... There are lots of factors.

Welcome to the US. How else do you think we have such a massive income disparity ? We’re a wealthy country but the wealth is in very few hands.

A lot of the people in this forum are part of the wealth. People talk about how after just a few year of working they are making $400k at a FAANG like its now big deal. That is a lot of money compared to the people around them.

See my other comment on this thread, it's not just about the money... it's about the cost of living.

Making $100k+/year now is "easy" in the tech sector, move to any of the major cities. Unfortunately homes cost $750k+ or you take an unpaid part-time job in commuting to the office (2-4 hours/day, 5 days a week).

And yes, that's a HUGE disparity when compared to the people working service industry in the same cities... but it's also a huge disparity compared to C-level and senior managers/owners... that can afford a 1-2 million dollar home and the $15-20+/day "Fast Lanes"... and can often afford to have one of the parents stay at home even!

> And yes, that's a HUGE disparity when compared to the people working service industry in the same cities... but it's also a huge disparity compared to C-level and senior managers/owners... that can afford a 1-2 million dollar home and the $15-20+/day "Fast Lanes"... and can often afford to have one of the parents stay at home even!

So do you not consider the $400k FAANG compensation a huge disparity vs the service industry pay? Is it only at the C-level and senior manager/owner level that it becomes a problem?

I do, I just believe that level of pay is at higher levels of the company more often. Not everyone at those companies gets that level of compensation.

In addition, My argument was trying to point out that there's multiple levels to this issue, and saying low level employees is the problem is ignoring the fact senior leaders decide to stay in these big cities despite the fact their own employees can't find homes, or commute as a part time job.

compared to what? Any contiguous plot of 350 million people in the world has similar disparity.

I think it’s 320 million people but that’s just being pedantic.

One thing you could compare it to is America four decades ago.

Wealth inequality in America seems to fluctuate, there was the gilded age which was greatly unequal, then we tampered it down with very progressive tax codes which we’ve since been slashing away at to produce what you see today (there are other factors as we of course).

Europe has many areas which are far more egalitarian than America but you’re almost certainly correct that the vast majority of Earth’s 7.whatever billion inhabitants live in deeply unequal societies.

Nothing says decline more than previous things once considered ordinary are now impossible. In the US and Britain Neoliberal policies reward rent extraction over wealth creation while treating labor as a social disease.