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Most Ordinary Americans in 2016 Live Better Than John D. Rockefeller in 1916
Cafe Hayek ^ | 02/22/2016 | DON BOUDREAUX

Posted on 02/22/2016 11:03:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: MNDude
I was thinking of writing a paper called “Which has(had) the Better Quality of Life, King Solomon or Welfare Willy?”

Define "Quality of life."

I'd say King Solomon had a much higher quality of life--as did Daniel Boone, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Bill Hickok, and even the poor schmuck who lost a leg to a Civil War musket ball.

People had people--not facespace "friends." People knew how to work, and why they worked. They made something of this nation. Welfare Willy? Not so much.

21 posted on 02/22/2016 11:45:11 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: sparklite2
you didn’t have to be in touch with everyone all the time.

Yup. If I had the choice, I'd happily flush my smartphone. An electronic leash comes with the job, however - and not just in my line of work.

22 posted on 02/22/2016 11:46:37 AM PST by wbill
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To: GrootheWanderer

I meant liberal in the sense of sophomoric thinking. It’s fairly horrifying that he actually has the background he has and yet thinks so immaturely.


23 posted on 02/22/2016 12:10:52 PM PST by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: SeekAndFind

My husband waxes nostalgic about earlier days but I wouldn’t choose any other time to be born. I like modern technology.

My childhood was idyllic, I had all of what I needed and a lot of what I wanted. My mother was almost always at home, my dad came home at 4. We played in the neighborhood until dinner time and in the summer all day, sometimes into the night.


24 posted on 02/22/2016 12:14:04 PM PST by tiki ( r)
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To: tiki
My dad turns 80 this year. When he starts talking about the good ole days he'll stop and say, “but I really like getting to go to the bathroom indoors, especially on a cold night”.
25 posted on 02/22/2016 12:19:57 PM PST by fungoking (Tis a pleasure to live in the Ozarks)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop
If I had a choice, I'd go back to 1916.
At least back then people spoke with each other face to face. There was a real sense of community. Neighbors helped each other.

As to all the new gadgets, they gave everyone the "I have to have it yesterday" attitude. No one stops to smell the roses anymore.

I tend to agree

26 posted on 02/22/2016 12:25:38 PM PST by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! I reallyRead it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: SeekAndFind

Ridiculous article, which also has such a weird sense of priorities, along with the usual whiff of cultural superiority. Like, ‘cause life had to be so bleak and dreary without round-the-clock American Idol, Big Gulp drinks, and internet porn. Good grief.

I have a big collection of my family’s postcards, which cover the 1906-1928 era, and their written messages certainly reflect a more vibrant, more social, more fulfilling kind of cultural life than what tends to be the norm in these dysfunctional times. Steamboat cruises, county fairs, neighborhood gatherings, hayrides, church socials, etc. And who says 1916 was devoid of entertainment? Nickelodeons, vaudeville, pulp-magazines, horse-races, baseball games, and admittedly a few short years later, radio and jazz-bands.

People nowadays don’t seem to remotely have any concept of American cultural life before the blasted hippie era.


27 posted on 02/22/2016 12:28:21 PM PST by greene66
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To: MNDude

I don’t know - if he takes a baggie of coke down to the high end sorority house....


28 posted on 02/22/2016 12:42:08 PM PST by PAR35
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To: Fiddlstix

In 1916, World War I was in full fury... millions dead, wounded and maimed, USA would be drawn into the conflict a year later. In less than a year of fighting 110,000+ American young men were dead. Many from the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 20 million worldwide and 500K in the U.S. My great-grandmother and great-uncle among it victims... she was 42, he was 19.

In 1916 the federal income tax became effective... the beginning of the end of the Republic as founded... for when government has first claim to your labor, it became our master and we the servants. 180 opposite from the Founders vision.


29 posted on 02/22/2016 12:55:54 PM PST by FiddlePig
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To: SeekAndFind

Couldn’t pay me enough to live back then.
I am a Viet Nam vet, the wounds I got would have cost me at least one leg back then (probably my life).
I now live in a very remote area; 2 years ago I had to hike out six miles in deep snow just to get my rabies shots (truck was broke down).
I am not sure if they even could treat a bite from a rabid fox back then.
All the gimmedats complain about not having enough of the good life now days, back then they would have just been dead.
There are a lot of things I don’t like about the early 21’st century, but a lot more that I wouldn’t like about the early 20’th century.
I like having my propane stove, I like having nice soft toilet paper (and a warm place to sh#t), I like having a phone that always works, even though it is just a landline (no cell service up here).


30 posted on 02/22/2016 1:00:37 PM PST by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’d give an awful lot to have a society with more beauty and less coarseness all over.

I would miss the variety of easily gotten food available in any season.


31 posted on 02/22/2016 1:00:43 PM PST by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: SeekAndFind

When I was stationed in England 1973-1976 in certain ways it felt like stepping back in time. In those days the Blokes (British) lagged far behind the U.S. in the heating and plumbing areas.

Our place had indoor plumbing, but no heat. There were only 4 electrical outlets in the entire house. No phone. We had a TV and the broadcast quality was superior to American TV of the era.

Ah, the good ole days.


32 posted on 02/22/2016 1:23:37 PM PST by libertylover (The problem with Obama is not that his skin is too black, it's that his ideas are too RED.)
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To: SeekAndFind

terrible article - the writer must be an idiot.


33 posted on 02/22/2016 1:26:05 PM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: SeekAndFind

They made rifles, knives, and fishing reels. Woman were around so what else do I need?


34 posted on 02/22/2016 2:00:18 PM PST by 03A3 (The reset is gonna be epic.)
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To: lacrew

My eight year old son saw a row of books in my father’s library and asked what they were. “They’re encyclopedias.”
“What do you do with them?”
“You can look stuff up with.”
“Why didn’t he use Google or Wikipedia?”
“That didn’t exist when I was your age.”


35 posted on 02/22/2016 4:25:49 PM PST by tbw2
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