[Bella_Bru]

Just today, in the N.Y. Post, there was an entire page article, about the living standards of today and just 30 years ago. More people have telephones, T.V.s, VCR, two story houses, 2 1/2 bathrooms, or more, in their homes, and on and on and on. If opne looks back farther, say 50 or 60 years, the differences, for the BETTER, are remarkable and astounding.

Hey, as a kid in 70's and 80's, there was only 1 tv in our house. Today, I think that means you are poor. There was also 1 car, which mom and dad worked out use of. Just a little schedule jostling, and things ran smoothly. You are really poor if you only have 1 car to many nowadays.

What people classify as poor today is not even close to real poverty. Not being able to buy your kid a laptop is not poor. It's normal.

[DBtoo]

People used to get by with a lot less back then, and I think as a whole Americans were happier and healthier. Now people want more "things" but have lost real connections with others. Image is everything now. I feel that started in the 80s.

[trueconservative]

I agree that today's consumer has significantly more possessions than 50-60 years ago. Some of that is due to the power of television advertising, convincing people to want well in excess of their needs. Some are purchases that have brought true utility to consumers.

However, there is a significant difference vs. 50-60 years ago. Almost no one bought on credit then, today the average consumer is deeply in debt and digging themselves deeper every day. In addition,many people are buying these goods with other people's money, coerced out by an income redistribution tax scheme. Today over 50% of people receive more in government benefits/subsidies/tax rebates of various sorts than they pay in taxes - believe it or not this is true. Part of this is clearly Marxism at work in our government. But pressure for this redistribution increases due to job exportation in so many categories of jobs. Those who still maintain good incomes because their jobs have not yet been exported are increasingly subsidizing those who do not.
Standards of living based on high debt and transfer payments from one income group to another, are not sustainable in the long term and looking at an income chart is overly simplistic because it does not reflect cost burdens such as taxes placed upon that income.

[nopardons]

Yes, to everything you said.

It's calamitous, that today, people think that they have some sort of " right " to having as much as they think they should, without really working for it. More, more, more, M-O-R-E ... and they think that they're " poor ", when they don't have way more than what used to be considered " normal "; even " rich ".