What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by zdragnar on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @12:31AM (#42944240)

You don't even need to look for the count of billionaires. My grandparents were poor-as-dirt farmers. My dad's education stopped at high school. He even went to a one-room schoolhouse until he was 14.

My brother and I are both college educated and, while not "rich", have a lifestyle and income my grandparents could have only dreamed about.

It is truly painful to watch people preach learned helplessness through failure and destitution as the only possible outcome.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by lazyasciiart on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @03:36AM (#42945706)

The relevant metric is not “did your grandparents farm” but “where in the socioeconomic continuum were your parents, and where are you”. In the US, these two answers are more likely to match than in other rich Western countries.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by Gud on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @01:21AM (#42944601)

This is common in Europe as well. I would guess more common than in the US.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by jampekka on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @04:46AM (#42946245)

It's a lot more common for children of poor parents to stay poor in the US than in (most of) Europe.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by WgaqPdNr7PGLGVW on Thursday February 06, 2025 @01:51AM (#42959772)

Most people in mainland Europe are poor by American middle-class standards.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF by mrguyorama on Thursday February 06, 2025 @05:35PM (#42967202)

People living in Europe don't seem to agree, since they have the same access to credit cards and yet just choose to spend less.

Why oh why do Europeans in general choose to spend less than americans?

[ Parent | on HN ]