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Replace "cable, high speed internet, cell phone plans and relatively safe cars " with “T.V., Dishwasher, Radio, Air Conditioning, and a Chevy Bel’ Air” and your point is moot.
Pretending today’s luxuries did not have analogues in history is just stupid.
Can you give some examples of that?
I agree that does happen, but is that the true cause of middle class shrinkage?
When Walmart comes to a small market, is it the regulations that hurt the small businesses, or the economic advantage a large corp has to take over a market?
Americans have along history of luxury spending, this nonsense that “smart phone plans” are some burden is ridiculous.
I find the fact my uncle is set for life because he had the “high skilled” job of delivering bread for Oroweat for 30 years to be a more interesting comparison.
Free trade benefits many people it all depends on how the agreements are worded.
Well when Walmart greases the wheels of local politicians, yeah I would say yes.
They will receive tax benefits from local community meanwhile that community will pay for widening of roads to and from Walmart etc. Thus putting a tax burden on small local business that benefit their competitor.
Which accelerate the demises of local business except for fast food popping up around Walmart.
Fair enough.
If we look at the strength of unions, and their decline since Reagan, and the Republican party not supporting them, I think that plays a role in the illegal workers.
Strong unions would be able to keep that activity to a minimum. But corps (with the help of Republican legislation) have minimized unions effect on skilled and manual labor. Corps will always want to pay the least they can to get the work done, to maximize profits.
Which reminds me, that our worshiping the next quarterly results, so the boards and shareholders are happy…is also a key factor. Always trying to cut costs, to maximize profits, is short sighted. Sure, it make those at the top quite wealthy, and corps profits are at record levels. But sadly, very little is trickling down.
Well let’s see, we didn’t have a dishwasher or an air conditioner and had one small black and white TV, so add them to the list of modern amenities people want now that the working man didn’t have in 1970. Sorry, we didn’t have luxuries on a single GM salary for a family of six. And often, it was cornbread and beans for dinner.
No doubt big corps hurt small businesses, like corp farms hurt small family owned farmers. But overall, its federal, state and local regulations that can price a small business out of business.
So no regulations just good old fashioned corruption.
And I don’t have air conditioning (though it is coastal So Cal 
) , and my grandma still has neither that or a dishwasher to this day, but do not pretend that the same issues were not present then as today with managing finances.
I buy hundreds and hundreds and hundred of cars per year. One area that is a pool of vehicles I consider for purchase are repossessions. There was a common denominator I noticed in repossessions that was far above the national average…guess what that was? The preponderance were smokers. People place their desire to smoke ahead of the financial obligation to pay for their car. The ability to distinguish wants from needs and to be able to prioritize them is where my comment was coming from. In the scheme of things, a younger person will place a smartphone much higher on their list than an older person would who has lived the majority of their life, without one.
It’s okay, because Zantax has a simple solution for all your ills. Just live like it’s 1970 and market yourself for something that is in demand so that you can earn WHATEVER you want.
At one time, i would have agreed with you 100%, but not anymore. Unions want to unionize illegal workers.
Uh no, unions are pro-illegals.
from Immigration policies of American labor unions - Wikipedia
Two of the most vocal opponents of restrictionist immigration policy towards illegal immigrants were the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).[27] The Service Employees International Union, representing principally building trades, state and health care workers, grew from 650,000 members in 1980 to over 2 million members in 2009,[28] in large part by organizing immigrant labor, many of whom worked illegally. Justice for Janitors, perhaps the union’s most seminal and successful campaign, highlights the union’s organization of immigrant labor.[29] UNITE was born of a merger between the ILGWU and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU), both of which have strong histories of opposition to restrictive immigration policies.[30]
The AFL-CIO increasingly believed illegal immigrants to be much harder to organize than legal immigrants, as their fear of deportation and lack of legal recourse make them much easier to exploit by employers in order to prevent the unionization of their work force. Therefore, believing restricting the flow of illegal immigrants to be impossible, the AFL-CIO began to support policies favoring the legalization of illegal immigrants. One such policy was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to an estimated 3 million illegal aliens.[31]
The AFL-CIO also came to see restrictions in legal immigration as ineffective starting in the early 1980s, believing that restricting legal immigration does not actually reduce the number of immigrants entering the country; instead, it simply creates greater illegal immigration. They therefore favored, and continue to favor reforming United States immigration policy to allow for the entry of greater numbers of legal immigrants, while providing amnesty to illegal immigrants.[32]
Smoking is crazy now! like $10 a pack here is CA, don’t know how some maintain it (especially when you have to virtually shame yourself in special spots).
Cars are definitely one of the biggest mistakes people make, we love our cars too much. I still daydream about getting myself a Camaro here and there); butI have a 10 year old Toyota and planning on 10 more years, no car payment is glorious.
I try to tell everyone, #1, get yourself out of rent and into a house payment that fits you as soon as possible.Owning a home outright at retirement is so important.
I said no such thing. What I said was, if you want to lament that blue collar workers could get by on one salary back in 1970, you have to remember what getting by meant back then as compared to today. By every objective measure, they are better off today.
My life could have been lot different. Back when I started in construction they gave me few days of work each month just so they can deduct my dues. Since I was a farm kid I didn’t know anyone in the union. In the 70’s nepotism was bad.
So when I had a chance to get non union construction work I did…and yes we battled with union back then on commercial jobs.
This isn’t about party, the unions sold their soul to the democrats and democrat party used them. The unions should have keep their political options open.
So the costs increase some. Have 4 kids do you need a 5 bedroom house? No. Does each kid need their own brand new phone? No. Do you need a new car every few years? No. Can you get buy without spending a fortune on food - Yes.
We’ve gotten into a new mentality of we NEED everything when it’s only a want.
It always amazes me when I see a poor person smoking. Especially now that you can vape for so much less money and not kill yourself while you are at it. And I am always amazed at the cars people buy as well. I know a guy who is always complaining he’s broke, well gee, maybe that 70k F150 Platinum in the driveway has something to do with it? And it’s not even something I’d want to drive, I’ll take my 2003 Infiniti G35 over that any day of the week and I bought it for 10k.
Yeah, people who buy cars as “status symbols” that do not fit their very obvious income level just make me 
I love that my FJ is actually a classic now, damn thing is going up in value!
