The Shrinking Middle Class in America

[notyoueither]

If the goods now are so much better than the goods than, why aren't we so much happier now?

Luxuries don't matter in and of themselves, they matter in what they provide people. People in 1970 were happy to watch black&white. Yes, color/HD/etc are better, but they actually aren't equivalent to a better life.

And while it is a bit better to be able to contact your friend in Japan, it isn't entirely needed and back than people didn't go to the other side of the world so often.

I am pretty sure that I would be better off with $7k per year in 1970 than 30k per year in 2004, assuming that I don't get ill.

JM
(Health is one of the areas where we do have a better life now than in 1970.)

The goods we buy now are NOT better quality. They are far, far worse.

In 1980 I could buy a pair of Levis that would last five years and then start to rip out at the knees and in the crotch.

The last number of paris of Levis I have bought did not last more than a year before ripping out in strange places, like above the right rear pocket. That's ****ing strange.

Shoes, same ****. What used to last years now are crap in 12 months.

The decline in quality of consumer products is dramatic.

[Hauldren Collider]

People wrote letters. It cost ~$0.10 to communicate.

You are a freak.

And now you can use email, for free! AND you can talk, no need for text, FOR FREE! Hell yes present day, still.

The decline in quality of consumer products is dramatic.

You provide nothing but anecdotal evidence for this rather sweeping claim.

[giblets]

What is he supposed to do, search for studies on how long jeans last?

[DaShi]

And now you can use email, for free! AND you can talk, no need for text, FOR FREE! Hell yes present day, still.

Yes, you can. But not everyone has a mommy and daddy who can afford to buy them computers and internet service.

[Al B. Sure!]

Yes, you can. But not everyone has a mommy and daddy who can afford to buy them computers and internet service.

He's going to say that libraries are free. Watch.

[Hauldren Collider]

He's going to say that libraries are free. Watch.

We're not talking about homeless people you moron, in case you hadn't noticed the thread title says MIDDLE class.

[notyoueither]

And now you can use email, for free! AND you can talk, no need for text, FOR FREE! Hell yes present day, still.

You pay for the access, doofus. Far more than my letter writing peers and seniors did for stamps back in the day.

The decline in quality of consumer products is dramatic.

You provide nothing but anecdotal evidence for this rather sweeping claim.

It's called life experience, junior. That's another thing that was valued more before life got so much 'better' when we started slaving ourselves to buying crap for our whelps that wouldn't last.

[Kuciwalker]

The goods we buy now are NOT better quality. They are far, far worse.

In 1980 I could buy a pair of Levis that would last five years and then start to rip out at the knees and in the crotch.

The last number of paris of Levis I have bought did not last more than a year before ripping out in strange places, like above the right rear pocket. That's ****ing strange.

Shoes, same ****. What used to last years now are crap in 12 months.

The decline in quality of consumer products is dramatic.

this ridiculous canard again

Have you ever heard of survivorship bias?

Not to mention that quality != durability. Obvious example: computer today are much higher quality than computers 10 years ago.

[notyoueither]

Actually, they are not. Computers.

Computers today have better processors and more giga-flooples of certain commodities, but they are crap compared to computers oif yesteryear.

And yes, quality does sure as hell equal durability when speaking of physical goods, you moron.

[Kuciwalker]

People wrote letters. It cost ~$0.10 to communicate.

You are a freak.

Wait, it's no improvement to be able to talk to someone in real time, when previously he could only write letters that would take days to arrive? If so, why do we even have phones?

[Kuciwalker]

Actually, they are not. Computers.

Computers today have better processors and more giga-flooples of certain commodities, but they are crap compared to computers oif yesteryear.

As someone who probably expends considerably more resources than you on computers and similar equipment, and actually knows a thing or two about them:

1) You're just wrong. Plain ****ing wrong. Also, you're an idiot.

2) You've obviously never done anything with a computer where processor speed was actually important. e.g. for work I perform tasks daily that would take weeks on a 10-year-old computer.

And yes, quality does sure as hell equal durability when speaking of physical goods, you moron.

Dude, you're an idiot. Which would you prefer: a car that can only go 20 miles per hour, but will last 30 years, or a car that can go 60 miles per hour but will only last 10?

[notyoueither]

I have a coat that is older than your parents. I inherited it from my grandfather. It is tweed, about as thick as four pairs of blue jeans. It is freyed at the cuffs, and it weighs a ton so I do not wear it anymore. I still have it as a charm against the return of the glaciers.

Nobody makes **** like that anymore. Not as long as I have been alive.

How's that for survivorship bias? I value a coat that is about 100 years old because it lasts! Haha, what a fool am I!

[Kuciwalker]

You pay for the access, doofus. Far more than my letter writing peers and seniors did for stamps back in the day.

1) The library point is, in fact, a valid one.

2) The nominal cost of long-distance phone calls is actually lower than it was forty years ago, let alone the real cost.

It's called life experience, junior. That's another thing that was valued more before life got so much 'better' when we started slaving ourselves to buying crap for our whelps that wouldn't last.

You're an idiot, nye. Have you looked up survivorship bias yet? That's one of the many reasons that your "life experience" is completely worthless for making this kind of judgment.

[Kuciwalker]

I have a coat that is older than your parents. I inherited it from my grandfather. It is tweed, about as thick as four pairs of blue jeans. It is freyed at the cuffs, and it weighs a ton so I do not wear it anymore. I still have it as a charm against the return of the glaciers.

Nobody makes **** like that anymore. Not as long as I have been alive.

How's that for survivorship bias? I value a coat that is about 100 years old because it lasts! Haha, what a fool am I!

Holy ****, it's like you read my criticisms of your broken logic, and then decide you want to emulate them fully!

[Kuciwalker]

He's going to say that libraries are free. Watch.

Libraries are, in fact, typically free.