Tuesday, January 21, 2025

No, Americans Didn’t Have It Economically Better in the ‘Good Old Days’

 From Culturcidal;

On top of this, in the fifties, very few Americans had microwaves, dishwashers, or air conditioning. Back then, there were no computers, Playstations, Xbox, flat screen TVs, Uber, digital cameras, MP3 players, GPS, Amazon or cell phones. The point is we live a lifestyle that is orders of magnitude better than people did back then – and they did better than earlier generations of Americans. My dad grew up during the Depression and he told me stories about wearing shoes with holes in them, thinking soda and peanut butter were luxuries, and playing with a corncob that had feathers in it when he was a kid.

So, when people are like, “Why can’t we still support a family with 3 kids on one regular income like they used to be able to do back in the day?” Well, the reality is that you can if you’re willing to live like they did back then. Get a small house, 1 car, don’t go out to eat, and don’t grab Starbucks. Buy any “luxuries” and appliances in your house at yard sales, patch your clothes, etc., etc. If you have a bare-bones lifestyle, that single salary will stretch a lot further than you think.

However, the reality is that very few people outside of the Amish are willing to live like that. Of course, that’s understandable. I’ve used an outhouse before. I can’t say that I’d recommend it over indoor plumbing. I’m also sure my grandmother would have much rather bought her dinner at the store rather than feeding chickens, taking their eggs, and then wringing their neck one day so they’d have something for dinner. (Read more.)

Share

No comments: