As someone who was broke for many years and now is less broke (cash is flowing, there's money in my accounts, but I'm deeply in negative net worth due to student debt), I think you're understating the issue, vastly.
Simply put, money is freedom. If you have it, you can do things people who don't have it can't. If you have enough of it, you can do just about anything. And, I'm not necessarily talking about luxuries, I'm talking about stuff like:
* If you have enough money in the bank, an unexpected car repair is a hassle, rather than a disaster.
* If you can afford to buy a home, then you don't have to worry about being evicted or not having a lease renewed.
* If you have enough money, you can send your kids to a good school and get them off to the best possible start in life.
* If you have an absurd amount of money, you don't need to worry about going bankrupt from getting sick.
As I said, none of these things are luxuries, but, to reach "don't have to worry about medical bankruptcy" levels, or even "I get to own a home and nobody can tell me I can't paint my front door pink" levels takes a huge amount of money relative to the median income today.
> I learned how to live poor, and discovered I could still have a meaningful life while being broke.
That doesn't mean being broke is great, good, or even not all that bad. It just means you've gotten used to it.
> If you have enough money, you can send your kids to a good school and get them off to the best possible start in life.
> If you have an absurd amount of money, you don't need to worry about going bankrupt from getting sick.
I don't know where you're from, but most rich countries, and even some poorer ones, have free, quality education for all, and health care tends to be nearly free... if you get sick, the government will support you for as long as needed. If you're from a very poor country, sorry about that... maybe you should consider migrating to a better country, if you have skills that are in demand, that's pretty easy nowadays!
I was being sarcastic :) of course I know in which country people usually have the concerns you mentioned... being #1 in GDP means nothing to the majority of Americans who don't get to have the peace of mind to not worry about even the most basic human necessities.
I see you caught my implicit punch line. None of those things above the level of "unexpected car breakdown" really ought to be things people in the country with the largest economy in the world ought to be worrying about. We need to do something about that, whether it's a move toward social democracy, or even full on socialism. But, there's such a "fuck you, got mine" attitude among our political class that we're never going to see it in my lifetime, I'm sure. If it hasn't happened in the face of a global pandemic shutting everything down, I doubt the elite are going to get the message that workers are the ones that create everything of value in the economy, so we should try to elevate the lot of the average worker, rather than keeping him so stressed, sick, and insecure.
I agree these things should not be what "people in the country with the largest economy in the world ought to be worrying about".
But Socialism is not the answer.
As Churchill said "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."
Socialism is great in concept. In class, which deals with the theoretical, it sounds great. For teachers, who can teach concepts and don't need to deal with the pesky nastiness of the real world, it is the thing to teach.
But in real life, Socialism, and partial socialism, and partial social by other names, are all TERRIBLE for the average dude.
Study history, for real. Look at the countries which have had all the "ism's". Democracy (and in many cases, even autocracy - which is also REALLY bad) are better.
I am not at all wealthy, live simply (no car, no smartphone, no whatever). I moved from the States to a socialy democratic country with an excellent public Medicaire system.
Even so, if I could make it more democratic and less socialistic, I would, and so would anyone else I know. A massive amount of my neighbors have moved to the States or are waiting for papers to do so. Everyone who can afford it has supplemental insurance.
It would be a shame if the States lost what they have right.
Also, if you have an absurd amount of money, your days become 8-10 hours longer because you don't need a job to pay your bills, which effectively doubles your remaining (awake) lifespan.
Yeah, everyone knows that rich people live longer on average, but most people don't realize how much longer.
As someone who was broke for many years and now is less broke (cash is flowing, there's money in my accounts, but I'm deeply in negative net worth due to student debt), I think you're understating the issue, vastly.
Simply put, money is freedom. If you have it, you can do things people who don't have it can't. If you have enough of it, you can do just about anything. And, I'm not necessarily talking about luxuries, I'm talking about stuff like:
* If you have enough money in the bank, an unexpected car repair is a hassle, rather than a disaster.
* If you can afford to buy a home, then you don't have to worry about being evicted or not having a lease renewed.
* If you have enough money, you can send your kids to a good school and get them off to the best possible start in life.
* If you have an absurd amount of money, you don't need to worry about going bankrupt from getting sick.
As I said, none of these things are luxuries, but, to reach "don't have to worry about medical bankruptcy" levels, or even "I get to own a home and nobody can tell me I can't paint my front door pink" levels takes a huge amount of money relative to the median income today.
> I learned how to live poor, and discovered I could still have a meaningful life while being broke.
That doesn't mean being broke is great, good, or even not all that bad. It just means you've gotten used to it.