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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| dirving wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
The fact that what seems a low wage to us is still in the top 10% from a global perspective should tell you exactly how well we live. You've pretty much made the point the site is trying to make for them. Sure, by Western standards $26,000 a year might not seem like much, but that person still has a home of their own, access to what is for practical purposes unlimited amounts of electricity, food, and clean water, probably a car, almost assuredly a variety of devices devoted purely to entertainment, and may even take international vacations from time to time if they otherwise live frugally. That sounds pretty well off when you consider what the majority of people in the world have. |
Who can have a home of their own making 26k? |
Sorry, I articulated that quite poorly. I meant they could afford to live by themselves in a decent apartment. Re-reading it, you're correct that it sounded like I was suggesting they could own a house.
In my home city of Madison, it's possible to get a decent one-bedroom apartment for under $600 a month. I consider that to be fairly affordable for someone on a $26,000 a year salary. |
Madison, Wisconsin?! If so, she's held as one of the better places in which to reside in the U.S. |
Yes, Madison, Wisconsin. And yes, it's a wonderful city. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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Never heard a bad thing about Madison. I tried to get a teaching job there but no dice! Nice area.
>We live BETTER than the 12 richest kings in Europe did a century ago.
Then where's my legion of concubines? "Hump or die," as Mel Brooks said.
I think the point of the website is more to guilt people into giving, and I'm not sure about the reliability of the numbers. Still, it puts some of one's petty complaints into perspective. I get sick of Korean food.. but I can afford to eat as much as I like...
I would like to think that I'm not a materialistic person, and that I value friends, fun, and leisure time more than money. I'm certainly a fool if I did English degrees expecting to be super rich. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Senior wrote: |
| We live BETTER than the 12 richest kings in Europe did a century ago. Every facet of our life is better. We probably even work less. |
Are you kidding? Maybe 6 or 7 centuries ago, but in 1910? Sorry, but I don't get to travel in private yachts, hunt fox and quail, or ride my own horses that other people tend to and clean. I don't get first class on ocean liners. So they didn't have cell phones, computers or Wii. I don't think I'd give up red carpet treatment or a slew of royal European mistresses for any of those items! |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| Senior wrote: |
| We live BETTER than the 12 richest kings in Europe did a century ago. Every facet of our life is better. We probably even work less. |
Are you kidding? Maybe 6 or 7 centuries ago, but in 1910? Sorry, but I don't get to travel in private yachts, hunt fox and quail, or ride my own horses that other people tend to and clean. I don't get first class on ocean liners. So they didn't have cell phones, computers or Wii. I don't think I'd give up red carpet treatment or a slew of royal European mistresses for any of those items! |
To be entirely honest, I think modern entertainment absolutely crushes things like rides on a yacht or hunting fox and quail in the early 20th century. Being able to travel half way around the world in mere hours blows any transportation they had availible to them out of the water. Anything they had access to in terms of food I can probably buy at a mere super-market, much less the immense variety availible in terms of fine dining in a reasonably sized city. As far as mistresses go, it's easier than ever to get female attention from a plethora of women if that's what you want, and you don't have to have a fortune to do it.
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything I would envy these people. I guess they had more pretty decorative objects? In terms of raw utility, though, I'd consider a single modern, internet-connected computer to be of greater value than probably everything they owned combined. We're talking about a machine with access to an ever-growing body of knowledge and entertainment here. Quail hunting doesn't even compare. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Measuring happiness is a tricky business. Being a king might also be headaches and worries about phony suitors and succession struggles.
But overall, I wouldn't mind being a 19th century monarch. Everything taken care of. You're someone important. I like having the internet, but I didn't miss it before it was available! |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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Shooting quails is frickn' boring. I've done it a heap of times. They are impossible to shoot because they fly low and fast. We usually just ended up shooting at tin cans. I just go with my buddies to get drunk out in the forest. Shooting ducks can be fun though. Shooting a fox is not my idea of fun. Who wants to kill a fox?
My uncle has a speed boat that destroys anything that was available in 1910. My family and I spent a week every summer on it. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Moldy Rutabaga wrote: |
Measuring happiness is a tricky business. Being a king might also be headaches and worries about phony suitors and succession struggles.
But overall, I wouldn't mind being a 19th century monarch. Everything taken care of. You're someone important. I like having the internet, but I didn't miss it before it was available! |
Being a monarch in the middle ages would have sucked. If you made it to 40 you were old, and you had to lead cavalry charges. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Being a monarch in the middle ages would have sucked. If you made it to 40 you were old, and you had to lead cavalry charges. |
Hehe.. especially the Anglo-Saxon kings. When I did research in grad school, I was amazed how short a time the average English king lasted.. a few years, and then you lost the support of your chief warriors and got your head chopped off, if the Danes did not get you first. No retirement benefits. At best, when you sensed the winds were shifting you quit and joined a monastery to save your hide. I always wondered why anyone would ever want the job! English king is just kin-ing, one of the family; no special grandeur.
It's a little like the Monty Python & the Holy Grail movie. One of the peasants says, "There's the king." Another says, "How do you know he's the king?" The first says, "Because he doesn't have sh*t all over him."
But still, being one the French monarchs in modern pre-revolution France? Not such a bad deal. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 6:53 pm Post subject: Re: English Teachers are Rich |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| Your total income including housing and airfare puts you at the top of the world ... top 5% or better ... |
Awesome!
And if you make $58,613 a year you are in the top 1%.
My goal is to one day earn as much as the average college grad.
But either way I'll be thankful.
| Quote: |
| "The data also demonstrate the extent to which having such a degree pays off: average earnings in 2008 totaled $83,144 for those with an advanced degree, compared with $58,613 for those with a bachelor�s degree only," the bureau said in its statement. |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36663479/ns/us_news-census_2010/
Cliffs:
English teachers: poor compared to the average American college grad; rich compared to the rest of the world. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| djsmnc wrote: |
| Senior wrote: |
| We live BETTER than the 12 richest kings in Europe did a century ago. Every facet of our life is better. We probably even work less. |
Are you kidding? Maybe 6 or 7 centuries ago, but in 1910? Sorry, but I don't get to travel in private yachts, hunt fox and quail, or ride my own horses that other people tend to and clean. I don't get first class on ocean liners. So they didn't have cell phones, computers or Wii. I don't think I'd give up red carpet treatment or a slew of royal European mistresses for any of those items! |
To be entirely honest, I think modern entertainment absolutely crushes things like rides on a yacht or hunting fox and quail in the early 20th century. Being able to travel half way around the world in mere hours blows any transportation they had availible to them out of the water. Anything they had access to in terms of food I can probably buy at a mere super-market, much less the immense variety availible in terms of fine dining in a reasonably sized city. As far as mistresses go, it's easier than ever to get female attention from a plethora of women if that's what you want, and you don't have to have a fortune to do it.
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything I would envy these people. I guess they had more pretty decorative objects? In terms of raw utility, though, I'd consider a single modern, internet-connected computer to be of greater value than probably everything they owned combined. We're talking about a machine with access to an ever-growing body of knowledge and entertainment here. Quail hunting doesn't even compare. |
Yeah, but if you are talking about material wealth, as one of the monarchs at that time you would be sitting atop one of the largest international empires ever in human history. Would you really care about flying somewhere in no time when you would have your every whim catered to on the long voyage there? Not saying I would care to take the opportunity to be a pompous pre-WWI monarch over the existence I have now, but I don't agree that any average Joe can even consider their current financial status or standard of living as even coming close to the wealth held by kings in the last century. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| djsmnc wrote: |
| Senior wrote: |
| We live BETTER than the 12 richest kings in Europe did a century ago. Every facet of our life is better. We probably even work less. |
Are you kidding? Maybe 6 or 7 centuries ago, but in 1910? Sorry, but I don't get to travel in private yachts, hunt fox and quail, or ride my own horses that other people tend to and clean. I don't get first class on ocean liners. So they didn't have cell phones, computers or Wii. I don't think I'd give up red carpet treatment or a slew of royal European mistresses for any of those items! |
To be entirely honest, I think modern entertainment absolutely crushes things like rides on a yacht or hunting fox and quail in the early 20th century. Being able to travel half way around the world in mere hours blows any transportation they had availible to them out of the water. Anything they had access to in terms of food I can probably buy at a mere super-market, much less the immense variety availible in terms of fine dining in a reasonably sized city. As far as mistresses go, it's easier than ever to get female attention from a plethora of women if that's what you want, and you don't have to have a fortune to do it.
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything I would envy these people. I guess they had more pretty decorative objects? In terms of raw utility, though, I'd consider a single modern, internet-connected computer to be of greater value than probably everything they owned combined. We're talking about a machine with access to an ever-growing body of knowledge and entertainment here. Quail hunting doesn't even compare. |
Yeah, but if you are talking about material wealth, as one of the monarchs at that time you would be sitting atop one of the largest international empires ever in human history. Would you really care about flying somewhere in no time when you would have your every whim catered to on the long voyage there? Not saying I would care to take the opportunity to be a pompous pre-WWI monarch over the existence I have now, but I don't agree that any average Joe can even consider their current financial status or standard of living as even coming close to the wealth held by kings in the last century. |
But who gives a damn about vast wealth if there is nothing to spend it on?
Besides, the value of the goods an average person owns today is probably vastly larger than what a historical monarch possessed. How much would people pay for a '93 Ford Taurus back in 1890? Monarchs would probably trade their whole empire for it. How about antibiotics? The value of antibiotics probably exceeds everything that existed 100 years ago. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: English Teachers are Rich |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| ontheway wrote: |
| Your total income including housing and airfare puts you at the top of the world ... top 5% or better ... |
Awesome!
And if you make $58,613 a year you are in the top 1%.
My goal is to one day earn as much as the average college grad.
But either way I'll be thankful.
| Quote: |
| "The data also demonstrate the extent to which having such a degree pays off: average earnings in 2008 totaled $83,144 for those with an advanced degree, compared with $58,613 for those with a bachelor�s degree only," the bureau said in its statement. |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36663479/ns/us_news-census_2010/
Cliffs:
English teachers: poor compared to the average American college grad; rich compared to the rest of the world. |
My goal is to earn minimum wage without working. Ie, have assets that provide a modest income. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| Yeah, but if you are talking about material wealth, as one of the monarchs at that time you would be sitting atop one of the largest international empires ever in human history. |
He didn't speak about material wealth, though, he spoke about living better. And I think he's correct about that.
| djsmnc wrote: |
| Would you really care about flying somewhere in no time when you would have your every whim catered to on the long voyage there? |
Yes, honestly. Think of how boring it would be to be on a boat for months; sure, you can have whatever you want out of things that actually exist and are accessible, but that list is extremely limited compared to what we're used to. Plus, time in transit is a pure waste. All that time spent sailing could instead have been used at the destination in question. I just can't bring myself to envy that.
| djsmnc wrote: |
| but I don't agree that any average Joe can even consider their current financial status or standard of living as even coming close to the wealth held by kings in the last century. |
I don't see anything about their standard of living that even approaches ours. Our entertainment is better, more varied, and more accessible. Our level of comfort is higher. Our level of mobility is higher. Our access to knowledge is higher and faster. Our ability to communicate across long distances is greater and more convenient. Our access to quality medical care is greater. The list goes on; sure in some sense they had more wealth (since they had quite a bit of land and plenty of valuable physical objects), but no amount of wealth can buy things that don't exist yet, and many of the things that defined their lifestyles (travel, quality food, quality clothing, etc) are now availible to the common man at an equal or greater level. Sure, you could have whatever took your fancy, but the things availible to fancy simply weren't particularly wonderful. Unless you really like precious gems, precious metals, large tracts of land, and big boats, you'd probably find the whole experience quite lacking. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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I really wish I could remember his name, but there was a billionaire that died in either 1910 or 1915 from a tooth abscess that, today, could be treated with antibiotics.
I'll choose being able to cure pnemonia and small infections over a schooner any day. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
I really wish I could remember his name, but there was a billionaire that died in either 1910 or 1915 from a tooth abscess that, today, could be treated with antibiotics.
I'll choose being able to cure pnemonia and small infections over a schooner any day. |
Hehe, schooner. |
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