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> Before, society grew with the average working age person only needing to half support an elderly retiree. Now, that same working age person will need to suppo

> Before, society grew with the average working age person only needing to half support an elderly retiree. Now, that same working age person will need to support more than 2 elderly retirees themselves, over 4 times the resources. There a tenancy to forget that 60 years ago one working person would have to support a wife and several children.

Ekaros 4y ago
It kinda amazing how we could probably point a point where productivity peaked that is how many people single working person can support. As before that depending on location pretty much everyone worked on one level or an other...
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  Productivity has never been higher. We're just consuming more.
  - remarkEon 4y ago
    I don’t think that’s OP’s point (plus I’m not convinced we really are more productive). OP’s point appears to me to be something like “a good measure of productivity is how many people a single working person can support”. Today, most families need to have two parents working. This makes a pretty good inference, I think, about how much things have changed.
    - rr808 4y ago
      Most families do not need to have two parents working if they live like people 60 years ago. Ie one car, a 1000 sq ft home, vacations in the local area, home made lunches, hand me down clothes, no AC, no electronics, no braces.
      - doliveira 4y ago
        That's a great illustration as to why inequality matters, not just poverty.
        xeromal 4y ago
        I'm not sure what inequality has to do with it. To me, it sounds more like chasing the joneses. There are plenty of free activities.
        doliveira 4y ago
        Good luck convincing people that they should be happy to raise children with the living standard of 60 years ago and they don't have to worry about money because there's free activities to do with your children. What you call "chasing the joneses" is perfectly expected human behavior. People compare themselves to their current metaphorical neighborhood in time and space (not to their grandparents or to hunter-gatherers) and they make their life decisions based on that: college, career, having children. It's just nonsense to dismiss it as "hey, that's jealousy" at a population level.
      - confidantlake 4y ago
        The 1000 square foot homes are no longer for sale.

Ekaros 4y ago

It kinda amazing how we could probably point a point where productivity peaked that is how many people single working person can support. As before that depending on location pretty much everyone worked on one level or an other...

colinmhayes 4y ago
Productivity has never been higher. We're just consuming more.
- remarkEon 4y ago
  I don’t think that’s OP’s point (plus I’m not convinced we really are more productive). OP’s point appears to me to be something like “a good measure of productivity is how many people a single working person can support”. Today, most families need to have two parents working. This makes a pretty good inference, I think, about how much things have changed.
  - rr808 4y ago
    Most families do not need to have two parents working if they live like people 60 years ago. Ie one car, a 1000 sq ft home, vacations in the local area, home made lunches, hand me down clothes, no AC, no electronics, no braces.
    - doliveira 4y ago
      That's a great illustration as to why inequality matters, not just poverty.
      - xeromal 4y ago
        I'm not sure what inequality has to do with it. To me, it sounds more like chasing the joneses. There are plenty of free activities.
        doliveira 4y ago
        Good luck convincing people that they should be happy to raise children with the living standard of 60 years ago and they don't have to worry about money because there's free activities to do with your children. What you call "chasing the joneses" is perfectly expected human behavior. People compare themselves to their current metaphorical neighborhood in time and space (not to their grandparents or to hunter-gatherers) and they make their life decisions based on that: college, career, having children. It's just nonsense to dismiss it as "hey, that's jealousy" at a population level.
    - confidantlake 4y ago
      The 1000 square foot homes are no longer for sale.