[extropy-chat] Why Australians will never be prosperous

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Emlyn <emlynoregan at gmail.com> wrote:

> "Why Australians will never be prosperous"
> 
> Media Release (1 page):
>
http://www.tai.org.au/MediaReleases_Files/MediaReleases/PR%20Prosperity.pdf
> 
> Full Paper (longer):
>
http://www.tai.org.au/Publications_Files/Papers&Sub_Files/Prosperity%20webpaper%204.pdf
> 
> This is from the Australia Institute (http://www.tai.org.au/), no
> idea
> about their credibility, but check out their website, there's plenty
> of detail.
> 
> Except of interest from the media release:
> "The results show that the proportion of Australians who
> indicate they are totally satisfied with life overall declines as
> income increases; 21 per cent
> of those in the lowest income group say they are totally satisfied
> while only 13 per cent of
> those in the highest income group feel the same way. Overall life
> satisfaction is little
> affected by differences in wealth."

Not a valid comparison. You want a then vs now comparison of the same
people. When bloke A was in the lowest income group vs when he is later
in the highest income group, how likely is he to be satisfied now vs
then? I'll bet those in the highest income level who are upwardly
mobile were even less satisfied when they were poorer. The 87% of the
richest who are unsatisfied are unsatisfied because they are driven
individuals who want even more. Maybe that is unhealthy or not, but how
some other people who are poorer feel now has little relevance to them.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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