It’s not “ridiculous.” The median American simply has more money under the American system. The OECD collects detailed data on this: https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm. Look at the dataset “gross incl. social transfers in kind” which looks at disposable income accounting for universal healthcare, etc. America is head and shoulders ahead of EU countries like Germany.
Americans might be selfish but they’re not irrational. Much of my family immigrated to Australia and Canada. My mom just got back from a long trip there, and was complaining about how small and close together the houses are, and how doctors can’t really get rich there. If you care more about the square footage of your house or the number of cars you have (and Americans do, and continually import immigrants who have similar values) than about health care for poor people, then the specific trade-offs made in America economic policy are totally rational.
I'm saying that governmental policies have allied the poor and the ultra wealthy to the detriment of the middle class. GP was saying American dev salaries are too high, when really they are not the issue compared to how many tax breaks 10MM+ individuals have gotten.
Investors have bought up 40% of the real estate in some counties in the US. That's ridiculous.
When the government allows for predatory behavior by companies and the ultra wealthy that lowers their responsibility to society that is not a burden for the middle class to bear.
