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Just for starters, he is almost certainly warping his perception of the 1950s by only considering what movies and television showed the 1950s being like for whi

by Crito 13y ago

Just for starters, he is almost certainly warping his perception of the 1950s by only considering what movies and television showed the 1950s being like for white men in suburbia America.

coldtea 13y ago
Which doesn't matter much, because I can also do the exact same comparison to the same group in today's suburbia America. And no, it's not "movies and television". There are numerous books studying the decline of the middle class since the seventies. Heck, there's even an accepted term "Great Prosperity" (as opposed to the "Great Depression" that describes the era after World War II for the USA and the West in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_economic_expansion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_econo... Here are some factoids: Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs. According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 declined by 27 percent after you account for inflation. Back in the year 2000, more than 64 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.7 percent of all working age Americans have a job. The home ownership rate in the United States is the lowest that it has been in 18 years. In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent. Today it is up to 154 percent. Consumer debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.
- Crito 13y ago
  > Which doesn't matter much, because I can also do the exact same comparison to the same group in today's suburbia America. Compare the lives of minorities and women in America 60 years ago to their lives now. Quality of life for the majority of Americans has undeniably improved. You have massive tunnel vision if you cannot recognize this. Remember that white American men are a plurality, not a majority.

by Crito 13y ago

Just for starters, he is almost certainly warping his perception of the 1950s by only considering what movies and television showed the 1950s being like for white men in suburbia America.

coldtea 13y ago

Which doesn't matter much, because I can also do the exact same comparison to the same group in today's suburbia America. And no, it's not "movies and television". There are numerous books studying the decline of the middle class since the seventies. Heck, there's even an accepted term "Great Prosperity" (as opposed to the "Great Depression" that describes the era after World War II for the USA and the West in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_economic_expansion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_econo... Here are some factoids: Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs. According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 declined by 27 percent after you account for inflation. Back in the year 2000, more than 64 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.7 percent of all working age Americans have a job. The home ownership rate in the United States is the lowest that it has been in 18 years. In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent. Today it is up to 154 percent. Consumer debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

Crito 13y ago
> Which doesn't matter much, because I can also do the exact same comparison to the same group in today's suburbia America. Compare the lives of minorities and women in America 60 years ago to their lives now. Quality of life for the majority of Americans has undeniably improved. You have massive tunnel vision if you cannot recognize this. Remember that white American men are a plurality, not a majority.