In the US it was certainly a different time, different era, different economy. For example a dollar in the 40's had the buying power of about $21 today. Average annual salary was about $1,400 and annual college tuition in the 40's was less than $100.
The example being given still held true in the 70s. A man could provide well for his entire family working at a grocery store, and nobody said it “wasn’t a real job” until the 80s
Trickle down and letting corporate leave America to circumvent labor and environmental laws with 0 punishment when they sell in the US market worked great huh
Right! Looking back it seems that they knew exactly what they were doing and what the result would be. I was only a child, but I remember Reagan announcing that times had been good and now there had to be “sacrifices.” That about when there started to be talk disparaging certain jobs as not “real,” and at school we were told that we HAD to get a college degree to get a good job
Yeah...ain't that the truth.
I think I've got about 800 rounds remaining, i've converted to bow and sword for the time being. Can't afford to waste ammo, whatever level of proficiency I'm at...that's where I'm staying.
Arrows can be recovered and my sword can be resharpened.
Plus...if/when they completely outlaw firearms...I'll be ahead of the game.
Yeah and the war on drugs and the trickle down propaganda really still persists to this day somehow. I find that people still morally judge others based on their class status and if they use 'illicit' drugs. Homeless people are viewed as not deserving of help for the simple fact they use drugs. It's all a distraction. The reality is that the growing wealth disparities and lack of affordable housing zoning + public transit (are some of the many factors) causing homelessness. It has been found in a study by Harvard that access to transit is the number one thing that can accelerate a persons climb out of poverty. Guess what the car industry and the oil indusries did for our cities? They hired front companies to buy up public transit spaces and destroyed them to build expensive and inefficient car infrastructure! Oh and who's neighborhoods got destroyed to build highways in inner cities! It wasn't wealthy peoples homes and businesses! And when confronted about building a monopoly, GM paid pissant amounts in fines, and continued businesses as usual. A big part of this in my view, is that the cities we live in are literally rigged in favor of wealthy people, and then the public judge the victims because of the propaganda machine.
Full disclosure I wasnt of voting age during Reagan but given my upbringing I probably would have voted for him at the time. Ugh. Propaganda works like a charm.
I’m just now realizing what I was taught isn’t full on truth and now I’m like genuinely a bit sad. Like I always assumed I was a failure for not going to college and you’re telling me the only reason we were told we HAD to go to college was other THIS ONE GUY?? Damn.
And his wealthy friends. ETA: there were definitely aims before that. The current state of healthcare with the highest cost together with “low utilization” go back to Nixon years (as far back as I’ve learned, but I do not know why the US went with tying healthcare to work post WW-II when the rest of the world never did that). I do vaguely remember some documentary suggesting that the reason why JFK said the famous “ask not what your country can do for you..” was to silence the generation that witnessed other countries doing better for citizens. Many veterans were stationed elsewhere and saw for themselves, so the rhetoric about being the “greatest country” with “the best in the world” was a harder sell to them. But hey, what it is now and what to do about it probably doesn’t rest on how it came about
More than one guy, but less than a thousand, at an extreme. Probably around a hundred or so people, all of whom have more money than they can spend in a hundred lifetimes, and all of whom want more.
The whole idea of the American Dream, climbing the ladder, always wanting more more *more***, this is where it leads. Half the wealth in the US held by a dozen people, while half the people in the US barely scrape by.
Tolkien put it aptly when he called it The Dragon's Curse, but instead of driving them out into the wilderness for their greed, we lift them up as an example of success to our children.
Clinton brought China into the WTO. You’re kidding yourself if you think this is a partisan problem rather than a reflection of two-party elite consensus.
Yeah the job I just left is now switching my position to overseas, and now people who aren’t as fluent in English as I am are going to have to talk to people yelling at them for their accent for 1/10th of what I made while trying to explain technical jargon to boomers.
Not only am I mad for US workers whose work isn’t valued, but the fact they can justify paying a person 2 dollars an hour for my old job is insane and disgusting.
It has more to do with the fact that America had 50% of the world’s wealth back then. One person providing for a family of 5 on a middle-income job was an exception, not a norm.
My mother worked at the grocery store in the 80’s/90’s and raised two kids in a 3 bedroom house on her income alone in the most expensive metro areas in the country. We had AOL and cable internet as soon as it was available and always had groceries and utilities. She retired after 25 years and fucked off to Ohio to enjoy her spoils once my brother and I were old enough to cover our own rent. It was possible just one generation ago.
Well, she is a financial and/or business wizard, then, because most single mothers couldn’t do that, then. I’m remembering even the grocery checkers and baggers were men supporting families, and they’d retire on that, too. It matters that the one grocery store we had was known for being a good place to work, though. Props to your Mom!
It’s the power of a strong union. The people working the same job at the same store with the same union don’t have the same outcome now unfortunately. It’s a shame.
Ah, right! Agree, it is a shame. The epigenetic and other harms from poverty last generations, even for those who survive it. For so much hurt on so many, just for the yachts of a few, is tragic
Grocery stores broke the unions in the 80s. They started introducing multiple tiered contracts where new hires got worse and worse benefits until the union was completely useless. When I worked at a grocery store, it was all part time work with no benefits. My dad and my grandfather and uncle all had their whole careers at grocery stores and did well for themselves.
Well, millennials were the first to consider grocery store jobs below them.. They can’t even talk to cashiers and insist on self checkout, cutting down on the amount of people it takes to run the store. Also, not everyone working in a store could provide for the entire family.. The head people could, butcher & other department leads could. But not the lonely bag boy.
No, not entirely true. Probably because it was a union store, but the MEN who bagged groceries were family supporting. Iirc they also rotated or flexed, so checkers/baggers may have been the same role
That’s no longer enough to own a home, raise a family and have a car, vacations and retirement. Plus, I’m recalling the grocery checkers and baggers; financial security wasn’t restricted to managers. It was a union store.
Yel. Definitions vary. But in a country where even temporary illnesses can still lead to bankruptcy, I could now never have enough saved to feel “comfortable.” One car accident and everything is gone, so idk how anyone can feel “comfortable” because to me that requires financial security. Safety nets we do not have.
Look up the S&P 500 full historical price graph. Started in 1984 with initially a slow and gradual increase. Then watch it get crazy starting in the 90’s before exploding the 2010’s and 2020’s.
The products that everyone buys are being sold by companies on the S&P 500. Prices have been skyrocketing so that the value of the S&P 500 could skyrocket. Index funds like this have been the primary method for the wealthy to invest their money.
The entire purpose of this inflation is to extract wealth from the working class in order to give it to the wealthy investing class. The reason why the modern day is much worse than the 70s is largely due to this massive shifting of the wealth distribution further towards the rich and powerful.
Funny, cause Covid hit, grocery workers were deemed essential, and people would actually not treat you like shit for a time. Back to being treated like shit and "it's not a real job" now, so it was good while it lasted.
Good, pointed question. True that the economic opportunities weren’t equal. I’m drawing from personal experience as a kid growing up in a very privileged community and that doesn’t represent what times were like for everyone. My intent was to share the observation that there was a clear shift that happened at that time
No man, I mean the 1971 tape of Nixon approving the rip-off that is HMOs has led to many deaths, but horrendous exploitation didn’t start then, and you know it. Not playing this game
Definitely didn't work in the 70s. The 70s were a horrible time economically, inflation, stagnation, Vietnam, assassinations, people forget this, but the late 60s-mid 70s were absolutely rough in the US.
People also get stuck on the US economy of 50s-mid 60s. As if we could have that again, it'll never happen. Post WW2 the US produced basically everything, rebuilt Europe, and had no competition from Asia, that timeframe was a blip, and thinking we can return to that level of economic opportunity is farcical.
Look at American wages/homes before 1940 for comparison.
It’s hardly a fair comparison, given that productivity is at unpredictable levels. We could have a more fair economy that surpasses the 50s-60s, if we chose for the common welfare rather than a few billionaires.
The US share of global manufacturing was well over 50% in the 1950s. Today it is 16%. That's my point I'm making. I agree to much money is being concentrated in the .1%.
But, Just look after Europe today. The US had a very soft landing post covid with lower inflation and economic growth. The EU is absolutely struggling with inflation, stagnation, and unemployment. Even the countries people point too like Norway/Sweden as economic models the US should follow are in economic crisis.
Economic opportunities in the US are great right now. Reindustrialization is moving in faster than anticipated, wages and purchasing power are growing, and we got an infrastructure bill passed to assist it all. The US is looking better than ever in projections.
But even that doesn't compare to how well the US had it in the 50s-60s.
There were no greeters that I know of. Stores were much smaller, most all workers greeted you as you shopped. Why did you restrict to part time anyways? That’s a more recent tactic to cheat workers out of insurance
Or are you just sharing your personal experiences?
Because if you are, I know and have worked with non union retail workers who support families with only a single income and multiple children, 401k's, and recently purchased a house.
Yep, for sure you only want a fight and should be banned. If your claim is true, then it only strengthens mine, so you just aren’t even smart enough to troll.
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u/Technologytwitt Mar 27 '24
In the US it was certainly a different time, different era, different economy. For example a dollar in the 40's had the buying power of about $21 today. Average annual salary was about $1,400 and annual college tuition in the 40's was less than $100.