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To: Blackirish

I can cite a personal example.

In the 70s, when I was a kid, my father was able to afford his mortgage, my stay-at-home mom, me, and did I mention we went to Europe every other year to visit relatives in Sweden and Italy? And on those years we didn’t go to Europe, we went to places like Japan, Egypt, etc.

My father was a baker. Yes, a baker.

Purchasing power was obviously higher in the past. How many families could afford to do what I just mentioned on a working-class salary today?

By 2010s standards, I had a childhood of the rich and famous. Yet my parents were solidly working-class.


13 posted on 01/24/2013 8:21:32 AM PST by AnAmericanAbroad (It's all bread and circuses for the future prey of the Morlocks.)
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To: AnAmericanAbroad
How many cars did he own? Did your mom have a washer and dryer? Dishwasher? Did your house have a/c? How many square feet? Attached garage? Etc.?

Now, ask yourself, if your dad bought your mom a washer and dryer, how many hours did he work for it? How much of a proportion of his take-home pay did he spend for them?

15 posted on 01/24/2013 8:26:16 AM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: AnAmericanAbroad
I grew up in the fifties and sixties with six siblings and one parent working for money. We were poor, and "vacation" was a trip to visit my grandparents who lived 600 miles away. My father drove non-stop to get there. I remember a total of two "vacation trips" like that in my childhood.

Now I have two siblings who are worth more than a million and maybe a third, but my older brother won't tell me how much he has. I live in a nice home. Last year I visited my youngest brother who was struggling financially for a number of years. His house is nicer than mine. In short, I might be the poorest member of my siblings, and I did alright. Most of my siblings have traveled extensively overseas. We all have a lot more than what my parents had material-wise.

21 posted on 01/24/2013 8:56:16 AM PST by driftless2
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