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Comment by jdsully | Hacker News Reader

Is there any calamity that affects the young and the rich the most?

Private plane crashes, risky Instagram selfies in exotic locations, populist coups, malfunctioning automated systems in Bond-villain-style underground lairs.

I’m not sure whether they fall under ‘calamity’, but: breaking your neck playing polo? Dying in a helicopter crash? Car accidents at over 300 km/hour?

Inheritable diseases that richer families can survive easier, making them more prevalent in richer families, such as Haemophilia may be better examples.

Not having to strive - there's plenty of people who inherit money and have great educations that never amount to anything and live lonely lives without a family.

Still better to cry in Lamborgini than in a VW Polo. Being sad because you are lonely and being devastated because you cannot feed your children because you are too poor, watching them die on your arms. Those are two different spectrums of being sad. Anyone can say what he wants, but having enough money in current world can ammas to 99% of everything that matters to be happy in life.

Some diseases can be worse for the young because their immune system is more active. As for the rich, affluenza.

Yep - existential crises (e.g. a lot of Silicon Valley right now)

Poor people experience even deeper existential crises, but they usually don't get to write novels or essays in influential publications.

If given the opportunity to do so, the words and metaphors they'd choose would be alien to most people who aren't in poverty.

Metaphors are the easiest, quickest way to evoke empathy, but when you're poor, your daily life is significantly different, and finding shared metaphors to convey your feelings is harder. Then there's the language barrier (style, spelling, vocabulary, grammar).

Speaking of the US alone: most born again Christians emerge from some kind of existential crisis. I don't believe the underlying crisis ever goes away, but it's turned into some kind of tool/resource.

Cuts to higher education. Rent control. Contraction of high-paid knowledge work labor markets like tech and finance.

Rent Control in NYC actually disproportionately benefits wealthier New Yorkers.[1]

https://ny.curbed.com/2019/6/12/18662844/rent-regulation-stu...

The 1920 flu pandemic?

Young, yes. Being rich definitely didn't help very much but I don't think it hurt you either.

Diabetes was historically a rich person disease

Also gout and constipation. But it is the other way around now.

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