[mamaduck]

Today, our living standards are as high as they have every been.

You know what is really sad is that our "standard of living" is now determined by how many cheap goods we can buy . . .

[GatekeeperBookman]

I think the term or phrase has just ben 'miss-defined'. I should think the millions of poor illiterate children who can't speak English are defining our 'standard'-DOWN. So too their criminal parents who also pay no taxes.

Calling W-are you listening? Can you hear us down here in Whoville??

[karen999]

"You know what is really sad is that our "standard of living" is now determined by how many cheap goods we can buy . . ."

Amen to that. The enviro-whack jobs and taxes have done in our real standard of living. You want a standard 3 bed/2 bath house in a non-crack neighborhood? FORGET IT unless you are highly paid, or BOTH parents work full time....vacation time with the family? Ha---if you can manage to snatch it a few days at a time, otherwise there will be "hints" at work that you aren't as "dedicated" [a wage slave] to the company as someone else. Tens of thousands of dollars have to be spent before a new housing project can go up...satisfying the envirowhackjobs...and uncle sammy hasn't kept pace with the PERSONAL deductions people can take on their taxes. When adjusted for inflation a family can deduct only a fraction of what they could back in the 50s...children and teens are brought up by baby sitters and the "me, me, me" attitude is everywhere....but, by God, we can by a DVD for less than 20 bucks at the freakin' Walmart.