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Comment by whybroke | Hacker News Reader

Given that the US has among the lowest social mobility of developed nations, this is highly unlikely today.

Interestingly, Americans have more belief that their society is a meritocracy than most developed nations and so are especially unaware of the problem. I submit it is this commonly held perception rather than data that is informing you comment.

Obviously in the past, when democracies were even fewer in number, the situation may have been different.

Here[1] you'll find a bounty of links supporting my point were one to take time time to read it rather than instantly and silently down voting what one doesnt want to know.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobility#Patterns_of_mo...

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> has among the lowest social mobility of developed nations

The US also already has among the highest median income of any developed nation, and nearly the highest median disposable income. The US also has a higher median household net worth than either Germany or Sweden. That would inherently make it more difficult for the US to keep pushing the boulder up the hill.

Further, in the US more people are moving up out of the middle class and into the higher income brackets, than are moving down and out of it. That has been true for 40 years running now. Given the immense scale, income and wealth involved in that result, it's a staggering accomplishment.

"middle class" is defined but the cohort of wages around the median. By definition, were it to disappear, exactly half the population will be above and half will be below its bounds. It is solely a measure of distribution of wealth not absolute wealth. In recent years more people have risen up out of it. And in many of the past 40 years, more have fallen down out of it. necessarily.

Likewise in the last 40 years, the US per capita GDP has risen close to 70% while the median income has risen less then 20%. But the problem of declining social mobility and rising inequality is not remotely unique to the US.

At least as disturbing is the resultant problem of the steady rise and now mainstreaming of politically extreme views in several western countries in (including the current presidential race obviously). I suggest the economic underpinnings of this problem are issues that we really ought to look at objectively rather than waving the flag and insisting we live in the best of all possible wolds.

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