al-jazeera has a story about the rising social discontent concerning the growing gap between the have and have-nots. while i generally agree with the tone of the story, it’s interesting when i hear some of these numbers about how the us median income is about “50,000” and the rich are making “over 200,000”.

it seems that these folks do not live here in the sf bay area where a 200,000 salary (100,000 x2 for husband & wife) gets you a small house, a car, and a little bit of savings for your kid to go to college. i’m sure 200,000 in topeka, kansas will get you a mansion and a butler, but i think it’s weird to lump in these really expensive metro areas where your median income means a lot less than in a more rural area when talking about the “rich”.

again, i’m not complaining about any of it. i am the one making the decision to live here in the bay area, but somehow it doesn’t sound right to me when they say the “rich” are making “more than 200,000”