The standard of living today is immensely higher. If you wanted to live at 1960 level you could certainly afford to do so. You’d have 1,000 sq ft of house, a single unreliable car, almost never go out to eat or travel, etc.
Is it? sure we have the Internet and big TVs and fast cars, but how much time do we actually have to enjoy them? quality of life is measured in more than just the things you have. I mean, yeah, if you're getting Doordash every meal and spending all your money that way, that's on you. Trader Joe's is frigging great, imo. but eating at home and having an older car isn't going to get me to a place where one median American salary can comfortably support a meaningful amount of people.
this is after we decry the other ills of there 1960's, of racism and sexism, which hopefully it's obvious I don't want to go back to, but letting both parents work somehow became both parents need to work for middle America and I'm just tired of my friends living at the edge.
Ah, the 1960s. Have you tried living in a jungle, slaughtering villagers in their homes, fighting to overthrow a foreign government in exchange for college tuition? Good times.
