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AIBU?

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Stats that are surprising

253 replies

Ontobetterthings · 12/08/2026 22:13

I came across a stat online earlier that said 80% of the world's population hasn't been on a plane. Aibu to find this so surprising?

What other stats have you come across which suprised you?

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 15/08/2026 00:07

SabrinaThwaite · 14/08/2026 23:06

Seriously?

There’s huge swathes of the US that are still forests and wilderness. 97% of the country is designated as rural.

Of course quite a bit of the ‘rural’ is agribusiness - huge fields, and those enormous irrigated circles.

SabrinaThwaite · 15/08/2026 08:39

ErrolTheDragon · 15/08/2026 00:07

Of course quite a bit of the ‘rural’ is agribusiness - huge fields, and those enormous irrigated circles.

Around 17% of the US land area is crops, and 34% is pasture, range and grazed forest land. The National Parks account for about 2% of the land area (3.75% if you include all the NPS land), so there’s plenty of countryside to explore outwith those.

IzzyGone · 16/08/2026 05:44

BoredZelda · 14/08/2026 08:45

I take exception to this framing of it. 50% of households “take more out” (pejorative framing) than they “pay in” (only in financial terms), but also, it’s largely meaningless. Firstly these statistics are impossible to measure when looking at indirect taxes, it’s a calculation based on modelling. But secondly, most of the net beneficiaries are pensioners, and that number is rising. The group also includes young adults in education and training, and disabled people who are unable to work. With pensioners, this doesn’t take into account their lifetime “value” in terms of financial payment in. With students it ignores their future value.

In all cases it doesn’t reflect the fact that those people contribute to society and to businesses in financial ways other than personal taxes. For example, a low wage worker is paid poorly, and requires income support, but the business they work for will make more profit. Those profits are taxed, the shareholders are taxed, the goods and services they provide are taxed. Pensioners often do voluntary work. The services charities provide should be provided by the government. That’s a saving to the taxpayer.

You’re also conflating figures because 50% of income taxes may be paid by 6.5%, but that’s only a quarter of the tax take. When you add indirect taxes, the split is far more even across all households. Also, even within that 6.5% the distribution is massively uneven.

The framing is made all the worse because the statistics are driven by tax and benefit policies rather than the actions of households.

Basically those paying more in tax, wouldn’t be able to without the other 50%

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