04 October 2023
Is The U.S. a Zero-Sum Society?
Anne Case and Angus Deaton find it hard to imagine that an educated elite can prosper indefinitely without a better future for everyone else,” in their guest essay in the 3 October 2023 NYTimes, "Without a College Degree, Life in America Is Staggeringly Shorter." Are U.S. college students taught that their good fortune at graduating into the “elite” only comes at the expense of the rest of Americans? Do they learn that later?
Case and Deaton point out that the same is less true in other economically advanced countries. Many of those countries have more equitable healthcare systems and cover other social costs through government programs rather than through private sector enterprise. The latter is one of the supposed benefits of guaranteeing personal freedom. It also results, though, in divergent living conditions (and longevities) between social classes.
