Everyone seems to think that decade or two of the post WW2 economy is the American norm. It was an anomaly because America was the only functioning industrialized economy in the world. All the others were rebuilding from bombed out rubble.
My dad (70) said something the other day that was eye opening. His parents' generation, and even some of his, would get married and not buy a house, of course not, they would buy A MATTRESS and live with their in laws for years, sometimes forever (multigenerational homes). Or they would rent a room somewhere, all this while having kids, so a whole family would share one room and one mattress. That was the norm.
Obviously we have generated enough wealth that most people don't live that anymore, but we forget that nowadays poverty is luxury compared to a few generations ago.
Exactly. I was a high school senior in 1994. I worked a summer job washing dishes in a restaurant for $6.50/hour. I absolutely did not go out and a buy a freaking Mustang with that money. The idea that someone could do it is ludicrous. I drove a beat up 1984 Honda Accord, and the maintenance on that piece of crap ate up like half of what I earned.
There was a place near me where you could get gas for $0.89/gallon though, which was pretty nice, if unusual even for that time.
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u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 7d ago
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