My idea of becoming rich isn't a fancy mansion.... It's having enough for all of my essentials and having plenty left over...
Ya know, what used to be normal?
I hate that we consider that rich. Being able to have a normal home, food on table and a bit left over for rainy days shouldn't be considered rich, it should be the baseline for everyone.
I wish I could both afford to have health insurance and afford to go to the doctor. I can't even afford to get insurance on my car and the health insurance cost 20% of my income but has a $2,000 deductible? What the fuck?!
Deductibles should be illegal it's like "I have insurance, but not really"
Look up 'Hell's Angels" by Hunter Thompson.
There's a chapter in the book where he talks about the economics of being a biker/drop out/artist circa 1970.
A biker could work six months as a union stevedore and earn enough to stay on the road for two years. A part time waitress could make enough to support herself and her musician boyfriend.
Or, to put it another way, in 1960 minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the cost of the average home was $11,000.00. A burger flipper could get hired on high school graduation day and be a home owner in 20 years without ever getting a raise.
You can still be a nomad at today's wages. I have a friend who works for a school year as a teacher, and then travels extensively for a couple of years. He lives like a nomad though, no fancy hotels or accommodations. That's what the Hell's Angels did back then too, in addition to plenty of additional illegal activities which provided them extra funding.
Well, one other thing in the 70s was everyone kind of lived a simpler life anyway. Not many had really luxurious things, and most places weren't trying to be anything fancy. It's just a place to live and the basics for most. I love what we have today, but I also miss those times as well since nobody cared if your place of living wasn't up to date with all the luxeries we come to take for granted as necessities or judged for possibly not having them.
The figure referenced in this tweet is likely referring to the 2021 net compensation chart we saw making the rounds a few weeks back. Indeed, it's correct, ~50% of all Americans made less than 35k per year in net total compensation in 2021.
In 2022, that figure rose to ~40k. So the trend is going in the right direction, at least. And IIRC, the chart does include teenagers, college students, people working part time or underemployed, etc.
That's half of United States rather than half of America.
98% outside of America make less than 35k.
