• @Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    05 months ago

    Bernie Sanders is out there talking about eating the rich…he always convienently leaves out that HE HIMSELF is rich.

    I’m never sure if that’s meant to say like “Yeah, I’LL pay my fair share if we get all the other rich people to do it too”.

    Or if it’s meant to be something that sounds good on a soundbyte that makes you angry at the rich…while you’re not supposed to know HE’S rich.

    I never know what to take that context as.

      • @Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        05 months ago

        If someone has even 1 million dollars they’re rich. That’s the thing about numbers. They’re infinate.

        You say you couldn’t even buy a house with a few million dollars? I could buy a house for $70,000.

        For another $10,000 I could fit the house with solar, and use the other 900,000 to live off interest.

        How is that not rich?

          • @Anarch157a@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            05 months ago

            Here in Brazil you can, but we have ways to curb real estate speculation, the government can force owners to rent or sell properties that are idle, this helps keep the prices under control. On top of that, mortgages for ones first home is strictly regulated, especially in terms of how much interest can be charged.

            • Cruxifux
              link
              fedilink
              05 months ago

              Oh crazy. That’s a good idea. Do you find it works well for your country?

              • @Anarch157a@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                link
                fedilink
                English
                05 months ago

                Yup. Thanks to those controls and a federal program called “My home, My life” that I managed to buy a condo on a nice neighborhood for around $50k. By coincidence, it’s across the street from the labour union founded by our current president, Lula. Sometimes he visits the place to make speeches, so I get to see him :-)

                • Cruxifux
                  link
                  fedilink
                  05 months ago

                  Oh that’s dope. What are wages like in Brazil? Like is it easy to find a job making around 60k a year?

                  • @Anarch157a@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    05 months ago

                    Depends of which currency you’re talking about. Brazilian Reais ? Sure. Minimum wage here is R$ 18k/yr, so that would be about 4x that. US Dollars ? Pretty hard, unless you’re on executive levels.

                    But… Cost of living here is much lower than in US. Take food for example. A Discord friend from Colorado showed me a picture of a carton of eggs… US$ 7.50 for a dozen. Here in Brazil for that price you could buy around 50 or 60 eggs. Buying or renting a home is way cheaper too, fuel costs are lower, because our cars can run on Ethanol, which is 40% cheaper that Gasoline, we don’t have to spend money on heating or heavy winter clothes (except for the 3 southern states, but it still cheaper than northern US. The coldest those states get around 25F).

                    Sure, electronics and cars are a bit more expensive, same for some luxury goods. But even with those things costing more, with wages close to the equivalent of US$ 30k, you can have a standard of living that in the US would require closer to US$ 100k.