1. Minimum wage has stayed the same since 2009, meanwhile there has been a 30% cumulative inflation. Certain costs are not included in the official inflation nu

1. Minimum wage has stayed the same since 2009, meanwhile there has been a 30% cumulative inflation. Certain costs are not included in the official inflation number and they have gone up significantly more. House prices near me (random suburb) are up 20% since last year. Other important things like healthcare have also risen in cost well above inflation. Also, it should be surprising that inflation adjusted wages stay the same when we are now much more productive thanks to technology. Why has this not caused wages to go up! 2. People have not gotten richer, wage increases at best match inflation. With the decline of unions even this is not the case. Good jobs have been outsourced for pennies. House prices and healthcare have gone up. I would have an easier time getting married and buying a house literally anytime in the past. You used to be able to sustain a family on a single income. That's almost impossible now. 3. I'm on hackernews, I like tech. Videocalling is nice. I do pay $50 a month for the privilege to some of the most hated companies in America. Most of the internet has been designed to ruthlessly take your money and attention as efficiently as possible. It's not a very pleasant place, videocalls aside. Really though, my point is: technology has made us all much more productive. The stock market is at record levels. Trillions of dollars have been given to businesses. Meanwhile, wages as a whole have at best matched inflation. Minimum wage has not increased at all. Houses are massively more expensive. There are so few good jobs that people work at Starbucks with master's degrees. Why has all the record setting economy stats only benefited billionaires? The ability to pay for slave-labor built spying planned-obsolete smartphones is the only thing the common person has gained in the last 20 years