We Talk Friday
(WTF)
This is a semi-regular series that I will run on Fridays to hold discussions on a topic that has caught my attention from the week gone. The aim is to keep them light and conversational, though some might be heavier - regardless of the content topic itself though, just have some fun engaging and discussing with whoever happens to put in the effort in the comments section below.
We Talk Friday Ep. 2: Show me the Money
Over the last few months, there has been a trend in the Australian media to go and interview people on the street and ask them how much they earn in their profession, or what is their income. It seems that many are willing to answer and what grabs the attention are the high or the low salaries. Those in the middle tend not to get much interest. The other thing that gets attention is when old people who are retired say something like they have "two million in the bank" or something like that, and the general consensus portrayed by the media and in the comments by people assumed to be younger is;
That's not fair!
Yet, there is something that troubles me with this attitude, because while it is true that for instance the boomer generation had many factors that made it easier to generate and accumulate wealth, it wasn't guaranteed. There was possibility and potential, but it still took going against the grain of the average and doing things that the rest were not, otherwise all of the boomers would be rich, right? This would include the parents and grandparents of the people who are complaining about not having the opportunity now. Essentially, if every boomer in Australia was wealthy due to the conditions all had, there would be a country full of generational wealth.
Nearly everyone's grandparents would have two million in the bank.
Nothing has really changed in the world in terms of "Do what the average person does, get the average results" since then, and most did the average. Many bought family homes and put money into their superannuation, but most didn't add additional income to their super, and most didn't invest to create more wealth in financial products. The interest rates on savings were higher then, so most people just put the money into the bank to save, earning far less than what they could have on the stock market for instance.
The conditions are "the same" now for people, right?
What I mean is that for the average person in Australia who is lets say thirty years of age, they are facing similar conditions as others in their bracket. Yet, some of those people are barely surviving, whilst others are thriving. What would be more useful than comparing holdings against other generations, is comparing against people in the same age brackets, or from other intersects like same suburb, high school, or even from the same family. What is the excuse when one family member is doing well financially, and one is struggling heavily?
The data collector corporations like Meta, Apple and Amazon have access to a huge amount of information about us, that we never see. They use it to increase their profits, but that same information could create a "people like me" query that can answer filtered on many of my own data points so I can ask questions like,
- What do people like me earn?
- What is the (Heart Rate Variability) HRV of people like me?
- How wealthy is someone like me?
- What percentage of people like me have children?
- What is the BMI of people like me?
- How much time do people like me spend at the gym?
All of this information is available and used to extract from us, so perhaps there should be legislation made so that it is searchable (anonymous data) so that each of us can get a sense of what people like us are doing, both right and wrong. Maybe if we had more transparency on people like ourselves, we would be able to better adjust.
Over the last decade or two a lot of the identity discussion has talked about having "people like me" as role models to look up to in the media. However, it isn't actually very useful if it is only based on looks or sexual orientation, because that doesn't speak to all of the other factors that matter in order to accomplish similar things. The truth is that the majority of us are average, which means even if we have high-achieving role models, we can't do the same, because we aren't high achievers.
The high achievers aren't people like me.
We want transparency on what other people are earning, because we want to use it as a yardstick for ourselves, but it isn't useful information unless we also know about their background experience, and their current practices now. If they are doing what we are unable or unwilling to do, should we be earning the same?
Currently, the data collection companies have a full view of our lives and information, but it is a one-way glass, not even a mirror. We have no visibility of them, nor do we have any visibility on ourselves through the data they have on us.
Would you want to compare yourself to others like you?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Past Episodes:
Episode 1: Strange bedfellows
In the town where I grew up there is a "think tank" that is really a sort of watchdog group and every year they pull a Freedom of Information Act on all of the school districts in the state. Then they put all of that information in a database on the web. If you know the district or the person, you can see pretty much exactly what they make per year. If you knew my real name (which apparently some people do on here because of Twitter I think), you could look up and see what I make. I've had this conversation before and it doesn't really bug me that they do it, but the reason why they do it does.
I wonder what would happen if all information was available for everyone - especially if for publicly elected officials, all of their income has to be disclosed while they are in office.
I doubt the would ever allow that. Oddly enough, even with this somewhat transparent system that I explained, there are still other ways they try to hide things like fringe benefits that don't get reported and stuff like that.
Yes, data companies know a lot about us. They even have wonderful analyses and a Z report about us thanks to their artificial intelligence applications. They can offer findings and recommendations that a psychologist cannot.
I don't like to compare myself to others. However, I can make a comparison in case of injustice.
Far, far more than most people realise. And they are using it effectively.
I was saying to my wife the other day about gym workouts for different body types. The best way to design a workout, is find someone with a similar body type and the type of body you want to achieve, and do what they do :)
If I see a retired boomer with Millions in the Bank, I see someone who planned and executed their retirement agenda well. There's no need for any form of resentment from the current generation. It may have been different times but with the same planning, discipline and effort many will Still achieve results
There are supposedly many who are eating cat food - so not all did a great job preparing.
I am sure that most people who have millions in their banks have invested their money well to achieve such results. Still such number seems to be insane to me.
Also I find it curious that people are willing to admit that they have so much. Sure that chances that someone would see the interview and track them down are slim but I still think that announcing that you have millions is just asking for trouble. But when again people are willing to share their personal information so perhaps it should not be surprising that they share their bank account details as well.
Me too - but I haven't done well at investing! :D
I think it depends on what country you are from as to how secure people feel talking about it.
If talk about my country, due to the economic crisis, it seems that the Gen Z and Gen Alpha will not be wealthy in the years to come if their grandparents didn't hand down something to their parents such as a house or some millions at bank.
Yeah, it is the same everywhere. The thing is, that while some got wealthy back in the day, the average person didn't.
I agree with you!
In the world I live in, every phone call, message, and financial transaction of an individual is monitored.Dear @tarazkp !
They even monitor the conversations that civilians like me have with foreigners like you. The state and corporations are increasing criminal punishment for people like me who pass on their secrets to foreigners like you.
So, I cannot reveal my appearance and private life to my brother @tarazkp.😂
Can you tell me how I can avoid surveillance by the state and corporations?
Is this legally know, or is it speculation?
Have you ever talked to people from my country man on Hive and Steemit?
People in my country believe that if they talk to foreigners like you, they will be monitored and punished by their country and corporations!Dear @tarazkp !
My country and corporations legally prohibit ordinary people like me from telling foreigners like you state and company secrets.
Defamation of K
‘Fake News’
If you were living in my country, you would be subject to criminal punishment for spreading false information.
I have already been criminally punished by the state and had to pay a fine of 2600 US dollars.😰
Would you want to replace these companies with a more accountable organization if given a chance. I think that most people over time get normalized and conditioned to think in a certain way, if you can escape the clutches of the Matrix prove yourself worthy of it...
All of the data held on "other people" (us) should be transparent and available. If they don't want others to have it, they shouldn't collect it. Perhaps a data DAO.
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We don't even get to peek at the data they have. I agree with the point about not comparing ourselves to others, but it's hard not to when you're seeing these high salaries
The right to be forgotten is useless if we don't know what they know.
You're absolutely right sir, absolutely
I continue my experiment on stock arbitrage. My plan is about 1% of return in 4 days or 3% (considering free leverage on futures). The experiment is going well, today I made the first capitalization of interest. 90 times 3% and I become absolutely uninterested in how much people around me earn :)
Hopefully it holds out for you :)
Yea, comparing achievements between generations is unfair: each era has unique challenges and opportunities. Crucially, within each group, some stand out for decisions and efforts that are different from the average. I am interested in knowing what people in my situation -age, location, context- are doing to improve themselves. If companies like Meta have detailed data about us, there should be anonymous and transparent access to understand what ‘people like me’ are earning, saving or achieving. Without that, comparisons are superficial. I want to know not just how much someone earns, but how they achieved it, so I can adjust my actions, not just my expectations. I understand they sell access to large corporations through an API, which is the backdoor you refer to. What is clear to me is that airlines make use of all that information, they know in advance who is coming on a certain flight and the possible presence of that person as an undesirable.