>People tend to compare the experiences of average people now against those of an elite in the past and conclude that things were better. This, I think, is key

>People tend to compare the experiences of average people now against those of an elite in the past and conclude that things were better. This, I think, is key. I mean, notice all the old guys whining about how the '60s and '70s were so much better... notice how it's mostly white men saying that? that's 'cause, well, yeah, it was better for white men back then. I am not trying to say that 'white privilege' doesn't exist or anything, but it's no longer absolute. I've probably worked for as many asians as white folks, and I've even worked for a few women. Hell, half the studies on stagnating wages since the '70s talk about 'wages for working men[1]' and then go on to complain that unemployment levels for men are also way higher; and they are right, but they are missing the point, that men now have to compete with people we didn't have to compete with before. So yeah, we've got to try a little harder than we did then. I mean, the point is that things have gotten dramatically better for people that are not white and male; I'd say things have probably gotten better overall (though, that's pretty subjective; I might feel different if I was one of those now unemployable white men.) http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/the-uncomfortable-truth-about-american-wages/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/the-uncomfortab...