50 years ago it was possible to buy a house and raise a family on a single working class income, this is rare now and becoming rarer. We've got bigger TV's and

50 years ago it was possible to buy a house and raise a family on a single working class income, this is rare now and becoming rarer. We've got bigger TV's and smart phones, but we've gone backwards where it counts. > But somehow we've managed to lose the other kind of social safety net... strong social ties to the community. When you're renting and don't have employment with long term stability it's a lot harder to put down roots. > I believe this latter thing is the root cause of the disease of despair, and I don't believe any check cut by the government A lot of that community comes from things like sports fields, scout halls and the like that governments pay for. Another thing that builds them is bars, but government is taxing the small community bars out of existence, at least around here.