Seems to me that this mostly points out that rich places are rich and poor places are poor. I suspect there's actually fewer poor people as a percentage of population in San Francisco CA than in Washington County MS. Having visited both San Francisco, where there is a thriving upper middle class (and yes, a large homeless population that flocks there for the climate and the expansive social programs), and Washington County Mississippi, where the richest guy in town is the guy who manages the Wal-Mart and makes maybe $40K/year, I have to say that the dismal poverty of Washington County doesn't seem like anything to aspire to... I'd much rather aspire to make everybody as affluent as the average in San Francisco than to make everybody poor like in Washington County.
Seems to me this is just another map to say that being poor makes you more virtuous. I've been poor. I'm currently not poor. I haven't noticed that acquiring a six-figure salary suddenly made me less virtuous. I was just as much an asshole when I was poor :).
Seems to me that this mostly points out that rich places are rich and poor places are poor. I suspect there's actually fewer poor people as a percentage of population in San Francisco CA than in Washington County MS. Having visited both San Francisco, where there is a thriving upper middle class (and yes, a large homeless population that flocks there for the climate and the expansive social programs), and Washington County Mississippi, where the richest guy in town is the guy who manages the Wal-Mart and makes maybe $40K/year, I have to say that the dismal poverty of Washington County doesn't seem like anything to aspire to... I'd much rather aspire to make everybody as affluent as the average in San Francisco than to make everybody poor like in Washington County.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me this is just another map to say that being poor makes you more virtuous. I've been poor. I'm currently not poor. I haven't noticed that acquiring a six-figure salary suddenly made me less virtuous. I was just as much an asshole when I was poor :).