Quote:
Originally Posted by Riot
Sorry, no. All the economic data says no to your theory of "far more prosperous". And here is that data, in the link below.
By every metric: real income, buying power, tax liability, etc - no, people are not more prosperous now. They are less prosperous. The middle class has been disappearing.
And the fact that the data says "no" to "more prosperous life", and in fact they have a less prosperous life - is exactly why Occupy Wall Street is occurring.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1...=sidebyuserrec
Oh, yeah: not to mention today's headline about the continued diminishment of the middle class: |
The data is of course subject to context. Think back to when typical middle class families had no credit cards, no home equity loans, one car, no formal personal retirement accounts, very little investment opportunity, during the 70' were paying 18% interest on mortgages, when access to higher education was more limited, when leasing a "luxury" car was impossible. Think back to when only rich people could go on a caribbean cruise, when a single income earner was sufficent, before the luxuries of the rich like cell phones were available at a reasonable cost to anyone. Before average people could afford personal computers or flat screen tv's.
How did the middle class fare in 1929? How did they fare in 1939? In 1979?