...Most people still need to spend a huge fraction of their life working in order to pay for a place to live.
(Arguably, someone could choose to work no job and therefore be homeless and they still probably wouldn’t literally die quickly, but they would still have to spend a large fraction of their time finding food, water, shelter etc, and their life expectancy would be far shorter.)
I’d argue that this is mostly exaggerated when taken literally. Jacob Lund Fisker, for example has written about how he spends less than $7,000 a year, and yet still has housing in the United States (which includes the cost of imputed rent), adequate nutrition, a car, internet access, and even healthcare. If we take the results of the RAND health insurance study seriously, as well as the very weak correlation between healthcare consumption and life expectancy in rich nations, then we should conclude that one’s life expectancy is not substantially diminished via deprivation from high spending on medical services.
There is a strong correlation between levels of income and life expectancy within nations, but most of this is likely explained by a number of confounders, including intelligence and conscientiousness. In practice, high quality evidence indicates that, for example, reducing smoking and reducing calorie intake increase lifespan, which are easier to do on a fundamental level without money (as you literally cannot purchase more of these goods).
Furthermore, there is a large system of government services available to extremely poor people in the United States (and Western Europe), especially if they are able to move to a different state. For example, in California, you can qualify for Medi-Cal if your income is less than 138% of the federal poverty level, or $17,775. And you would likely also qualify for housing assistance, SNAP Food Benefits and private charity at this level of income too.
On a literal, just stating facts level, the idea that very low income people (in the range of $2500-$5000 per year) in the United States or other rich nations are being fundamentally deprived of their right to life is false. Of course, one could (and indeed should) argue that we ought to aim higher, and ensure that everyone is entitled to a high standard of living. But that’s a separate argument.
I’d argue that this is mostly exaggerated when taken literally. Jacob Lund Fisker, for example has written about how he spends less than $7,000 a year, and yet still has housing in the United States (which includes the cost of imputed rent), adequate nutrition, a car, internet access, and even healthcare. If we take the results of the RAND health insurance study seriously, as well as the very weak correlation between healthcare consumption and life expectancy in rich nations, then we should conclude that one’s life expectancy is not substantially diminished via deprivation from high spending on medical services.
There is a strong correlation between levels of income and life expectancy within nations, but most of this is likely explained by a number of confounders, including intelligence and conscientiousness. In practice, high quality evidence indicates that, for example, reducing smoking and reducing calorie intake increase lifespan, which are easier to do on a fundamental level without money (as you literally cannot purchase more of these goods).
Furthermore, there is a large system of government services available to extremely poor people in the United States (and Western Europe), especially if they are able to move to a different state. For example, in California, you can qualify for Medi-Cal if your income is less than 138% of the federal poverty level, or $17,775. And you would likely also qualify for housing assistance, SNAP Food Benefits and private charity at this level of income too.
On a literal, just stating facts level, the idea that very low income people (in the range of $2500-$5000 per year) in the United States or other rich nations are being fundamentally deprived of their right to life is false. Of course, one could (and indeed should) argue that we ought to aim higher, and ensure that everyone is entitled to a high standard of living. But that’s a separate argument.