Re: Upcoming US Election
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2024 12:05 pm
For the discussion of all things philosophical, especially articles in the magazine Philosophy Now.
https://forum.philosophynow.org/
Statistics don't say much. First, "below the poverty line" is arbitrary. Who knows whether the goal posts have been moved in the last 50 years?
If Americans can't buy houses today it is because they are less frugal than they were 50 years ago. "Necessities" now include: 2 cars, high speed internet; cable TV; air conditioning (thanks, global warming); gaming devices for the kids; shopping at Whole Foods; dinners in restaurants twice a week, etc., etc. The median household income is slightly higher than it was in 1970 -- but what were once considered luxuries are now thought to be necessities.Wizard22 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:54 amIncorrect, the Baby Boomer generation still own the wealth, and are not giving it up until they die-off, which will begin this decade.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:43 amIn 1970 college age kids were getting killed by the NVA, the Viet Cong, and the U.S. National Guard. Median household income was $9000, adjusted for inflation still slightly lower than today. Life expectancy was 6 or 7 years less than it is now. Inflation was double what it is today.
Of course if you want to die young, you might think the 1970s were better than today. But most of us prefer not to get drafted and sent off to Nam. I didn't watch the video. If people want to post links, how about something to read?
Then, America will enter a new phase, where Inheritance is the primary form of wealth-transfer. This is a paradigm shift, because in every generation and century since the Colonization of the Americas, wealth was earned by the current generations, instead of Inheritance.
When Wealth shifts to Inheritance, Socialist policies tend to takeover, hence the rise of the Liberal-Left and Far-Leftists, Marxists.
It becomes more like the Old World, like 'European' countries and political ideologies.
In the 1970s, most Americans could afford to buy a house, car, have a wife, have children...they cannot do that as of the 2010s, 2020s.
The Middle Class is gone, and no sign of it ever coming back (10 million illegal aliens, under Democrat leadership/policies).
USA is destroyed.
You could literally just do a bare minimum amount of research on this and find out the truth. The median income is higher than 1970, and the prices of houses are much much higher than that. Housing prices have increased faster than salaries. Nothing to do with frugality.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:05 pm
If Americans can't buy houses today it is because they are less frugal than they were 50 years ago. "Necessities" now include: 2 cars, high speed internet; cable TV; air conditioning (thanks, global warming); gaming devices for the kids; shopping at Whole Foods; dinners in restaurants twice a week, etc., etc. The median household income is slightly higher than it was in 1970 -- but what were once considered luxuries are now thought to be necessities.
That's just not true.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:05 pmIf Americans can't buy houses today it is because they are less frugal than they were 50 years ago. "Necessities" now include: 2 cars, high speed internet; cable TV; air conditioning (thanks, global warming); gaming devices for the kids; shopping at Whole Foods; dinners in restaurants twice a week, etc., etc. The median household income is slightly higher than it was in 1970 -- but what were once considered luxuries are now thought to be necessities.
The middle class is doing fine. I'll grant that high-paying working-class jobs have vanished but, given a global economy, they're not coming back.
I just googled it. The median home price (I'm sure different sites vary slightly) 50 years ago was $36k, and today it is $395 k. So the price has gone up slightly more than inflation (which has decreased the value of the dollar about 7 fold since 1974).Flannel Jesus wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:37 pmYou could literally just do a bare minimum amount of research on this and find out the truth. The median income is higher than 1970, and the prices of houses are much much higher than that. Housing prices have increased faster than salaries. Nothing to do with frugality.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:05 pm
If Americans can't buy houses today it is because they are less frugal than they were 50 years ago. "Necessities" now include: 2 cars, high speed internet; cable TV; air conditioning (thanks, global warming); gaming devices for the kids; shopping at Whole Foods; dinners in restaurants twice a week, etc., etc. The median household income is slightly higher than it was in 1970 -- but what were once considered luxuries are now thought to be necessities.
Read my other post. Also, median earning (based on the stats) is the same as it ever was. Housing prices have gone up -- which means that the net worth of home owners has gone up. So you're right that when kids inherit the family home, they inherit more wealth. Why is that so horrible? In general, home ownership has always represented a high percentage of an average individual's net worth (no, I didn't google the percentage, but anyone interested may do so).Wizard22 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:54 pm
That's just not true.
How much do houses cost now, compared to 1970?
American wealth is changing from Earning to Inheritance.
From the beginning of Colonialism, this represents a shift in Work and Efficiency, New World economics versus Old World economics.
It changes the mentality of a Nation: Individualism (American Protestantism) to Socialism (European Aristocracy).
Okay - so this part is true.Wizard22 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:54 pmThat's just not true.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:05 pmIf Americans can't buy houses today it is because they are less frugal than they were 50 years ago. "Necessities" now include: 2 cars, high speed internet; cable TV; air conditioning (thanks, global warming); gaming devices for the kids; shopping at Whole Foods; dinners in restaurants twice a week, etc., etc. The median household income is slightly higher than it was in 1970 -- but what were once considered luxuries are now thought to be necessities.
The middle class is doing fine. I'll grant that high-paying working-class jobs have vanished but, given a global economy, they're not coming back.
How much do houses cost now, compared to 1970?
American wealth is changing from Earning to Inheritance.
IN 1968 in mum bought a house for £5,500, as a single parent, with a mortage that was 3 times her annual salary. She struggled but was able to buy it on a modest wage with help from my Grandmothers pension to look after the kids.Alexiev wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 4:13 pmRead my other post. Also, median earning (based on the stats) is the same as it ever was. Housing prices have gone up -- which means that the net worth of home owners has gone up. So you're right that when kids inherit the family home, they inherit more wealth. Why is that so horrible? In general, home ownership has always represented a high percentage of an average individual's net worth (no, I didn't google the percentage, but anyone interested may do so).Wizard22 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:54 pm
That's just not true.
How much do houses cost now, compared to 1970?
American wealth is changing from Earning to Inheritance.
From the beginning of Colonialism, this represents a shift in Work and Efficiency, New World economics versus Old World economics.
It changes the mentality of a Nation: Individualism (American Protestantism) to Socialism (European Aristocracy).
Obviously, if you want to buy a house in Manhattan, L.A., San Francisco or London you have to fork over the big bucks. ON the other hand, if you want to live in Oklahoma or West Virginia, you can still buy a good house for $150k or far less. I bought my small house for $85k in 1994. It's probably worth $300k today. During that same period, the stock market has gone up 10 fold (standard and poors). IN addition, I've had to pay taxes, interest and upkeep on the house. As more people are working remotely (due to the pandemic and the internet), it might be less necessary to live in areas where housing is expensive.Sculptor wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 4:20 pm
IN 1968 in mum bought a house for £5,500, as a single parent, with a mortage that was 3 times her annual salary. She struggled but was able to buy it on a modest wage with help from my Grandmothers pension to look after the kids.
I sold that house in 2008 for £400,000.
For a person the have bought that same house at 3times their salary they would have had to be earinging £133,333 per annum at a time when the average wage was £28,000.
How many young couples make £130,000 a year? My Mum had a rather ordinary semi-skilled job, which proably would net about £35000 at today's prices.
Why the massive change? Milton Friedman!
This is not "the left"
You can use the $390k as a down payment, and pay a monthly mortgage (I admit that if you bought a house for $10k, your mortgage payments would have been minimal).commonsense wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 4:50 pm If one buys a house for $10,000 and later sells it for $400,000, one can then use the $390,000 profit to buy a lesser house not a bigger and better one.