Nice article. One thing that I would add is that Americans defined as “poor” in 2023 have far fewer material possessions than the median person did in 1960 (or 1970 for that matter).
An unfortunate side effect of progress is that we keep ratcheting up the definition of what it is to be “poor”.
Great article. I’d love to see a comparison of what bundle of goods were considered poor in the 1960s. I’ve seen middle class compared across countries with photos of daily groceries or meals. But across time in the U.S. would be powerful to see too.
I'm finishing an essay on this topic from a different interaction but we've landed on the same thing. The apocalypse is always in front of us though, never behind us. There's a lot of psychology baked in that most of us are unaware of.
A very thought provoking read! While I would certainly agree with your statement on how the brains has a built-in-mechanism to suppress negative memories over time and thus the past will almost always be remembered fondly than it deserves, I would add that the US was a nation that was on the rise post WW2, compared to the other nations when it came to education, military strength, technological innovation, industrial production, etc. There is no doubt that that the human race has progressed over the course of this time, US specifically has been in a state of decline, as government spending and debt have reached new levels and productivity growth has slowed. At the same time, there are emerging nations that are quietly yet quickly catching up, which has weakened the US's negotiating power at a global scale. Unfortunately, one of the undesired natural side effects of capitalism is inequality, and if over a period of time, the government does not work in unison with companies to build the right infrastructure in place to equip people and societies with jobs and other resources, negative sentiment is bound to take hold. I think, that is a driving factor today in many of America's societies that have been left behind, though as a whole human society and the race has progressed further.
Everyone has seen the chart showing how “goods” have gotten much cheaper but “services” have gotten more expensive. Specifically, Eds and Meds has taken over the economy.
Real estate is somewhere in between these two. Physical building is cheaper but land in desirable areas has gotten more expensive. Part of the issue there is that “desirable areas” is defined as having good Neighboors and public order near jobs, and that has declined since the 1950s due to social decay.
People 100 years ago thought that the massive increase in productivity would result in lives of leisure, Keynes thought we would be working 15 hours a week. To find out that instead both parents would be working full time jobs to pay for their Eds and meds and daycare and mortgage would be quite a shock. All of the “progress” just got rerouted into new rackets.
It’s not that people don’t understand that technology has gotten a lot better since the 1950s. It’s that people in the 1950s who could foresee technological progress thought it would result in a much better world than the one we are living in.
Nice article. One thing that I would add is that Americans defined as “poor” in 2023 have far fewer material possessions than the median person did in 1960 (or 1970 for that matter).
An unfortunate side effect of progress is that we keep ratcheting up the definition of what it is to be “poor”.
Absolutely.
Great article. I’d love to see a comparison of what bundle of goods were considered poor in the 1960s. I’ve seen middle class compared across countries with photos of daily groceries or meals. But across time in the U.S. would be powerful to see too.
One could argue just being able to question progress is progress, compared to more restrictive eras...
I'm finishing an essay on this topic from a different interaction but we've landed on the same thing. The apocalypse is always in front of us though, never behind us. There's a lot of psychology baked in that most of us are unaware of.
A very thought provoking read! While I would certainly agree with your statement on how the brains has a built-in-mechanism to suppress negative memories over time and thus the past will almost always be remembered fondly than it deserves, I would add that the US was a nation that was on the rise post WW2, compared to the other nations when it came to education, military strength, technological innovation, industrial production, etc. There is no doubt that that the human race has progressed over the course of this time, US specifically has been in a state of decline, as government spending and debt have reached new levels and productivity growth has slowed. At the same time, there are emerging nations that are quietly yet quickly catching up, which has weakened the US's negotiating power at a global scale. Unfortunately, one of the undesired natural side effects of capitalism is inequality, and if over a period of time, the government does not work in unison with companies to build the right infrastructure in place to equip people and societies with jobs and other resources, negative sentiment is bound to take hold. I think, that is a driving factor today in many of America's societies that have been left behind, though as a whole human society and the race has progressed further.
"US specifically has been in a state of decline, as government spending and debt have reached new levels and productivity growth has slowed."
I am not sure that the US has been in decline so much as the rest of the world is converging a bit. Perhaps relative decline?
Yes, relative decline would be a better way to frame it.
Everyone has seen the chart showing how “goods” have gotten much cheaper but “services” have gotten more expensive. Specifically, Eds and Meds has taken over the economy.
Real estate is somewhere in between these two. Physical building is cheaper but land in desirable areas has gotten more expensive. Part of the issue there is that “desirable areas” is defined as having good Neighboors and public order near jobs, and that has declined since the 1950s due to social decay.
People 100 years ago thought that the massive increase in productivity would result in lives of leisure, Keynes thought we would be working 15 hours a week. To find out that instead both parents would be working full time jobs to pay for their Eds and meds and daycare and mortgage would be quite a shock. All of the “progress” just got rerouted into new rackets.
It’s not that people don’t understand that technology has gotten a lot better since the 1950s. It’s that people in the 1950s who could foresee technological progress thought it would result in a much better world than the one we are living in.