This morning, an idea came to me that may not exactly separate the Other 1% from the 98%, but perhaps again, it does. This article addresses the cost comparisons of a lifetime . . . mine to be specific. We have to start somewhere recognizing both the continuity as well as the change. The statistics are very basic in 1958, which probably has allowed for the wider wealth gap between The One percent and the 98%, but I noticed something else in the research. The use of the income acquired has dramatically changed in the past 50 some years. The most current comparison I could obtain was from 2010, but I have also included a link to the new way of figuring economic stats. For the purpose of this article and the obtainable information from 1958, here's the basic comparison.
In 1958 the average annual income was $4,650, with minimum wage set at $1.00 per hour. The minimum wage act had been instituted in 1938 at 25¢ an hour. Following WWII, minimum wage was set at 40¢ in late 1945. It would be another 11 years before it rose to $1.00, yet this was the time America saw great economic progress, historically referred to as a "booming economy!" Our economic statisticians love to move the value of a dollar throughout history, but I'm not quite so savvy. I've simply taken the minimum wage difference and multiplied everything in the list by that same approximate number. With minimum wage at $1.00 om 1958 and now set at $7.25, for all intents and purposes, I've just used the multiple of 7 as the "constant" for the illustration.
Here are other basic expenses for the year of 1958. The median price of a house was 30,000. A new car could be obtained, depending of course on make and model, for $2 - 5K. Gasoline was priced at 24¢ a gallon and I have no "gas war" statistics for those who remember that long forgotten part of American history. Milk was right about a dollar a gallon, and bread was 19¢ a loaf. I still hear various price recollections from my Daddy, who was finding his way into the world as a young adult through this time frame. To mail a letter, first class, would cost 4¢ and oranges were a dime a pound. There was no cable, no cell phones, and as I recall, very little dining out. Now fast forward 50+ years, and by the way, they do actually arrive faster as I go.
Minimum wage is over 7 times what it was when I was born. The average annual income is also about 7 times what it was, just under $30,000 annually. The price of a home fits neatly into that same multiplied statistic from $30,000 to $200,000+. Here's where it gets a bit surprising. New cars are at least 10 times what they were in the late 50's but cars are among the last depreciating products still assembled in America, and the gasoline has followed that same rise of 1000% increase. Postage has increased that much as well, and notably a fully contained US service. As for other basics, bread has increased at about the same rate as income, while the cost of milk has only increased at half that rate, while cattle prices have skyrocketed through the years. Interestingly, the price of fruit and produce have increased markedly, which seems odd considering the GMO promises and immigrant farm workers . . .
The biggest rise in American expenses that I was able to find was in higher education. Obviously, the University tuition I've included is not your average state college or university. I've chosen an Ivy League, simply because those stats are easier to find and are national, rather than state to state. Harvard Tuition was 1,250 per year in 1958 and over $33,000 in 2010. I'm guessing the local colleges and state universities would be comparable . . . That is an increase, not of a multiple of 7 or even 10, but of over 25 times over! That is a 2500% increase!
No wonder the programming toward higher education took precedence over everything in the past 1/2 century. A nation of enslaved dependency has been gaining ground so rapidly, it would actually appear to be the goal, rather than unintended consequences . . . comparatively speaking.
Minimum wage is over 7 times what it was when I was born. The average annual income is also about 7 times what it was, just under $30,000 annually. The price of a home fits neatly into that same multiplied statistic from $30,000 to $200,000+. Here's where it gets a bit surprising. New cars are at least 10 times what they were in the late 50's but cars are among the last depreciating products still assembled in America, and the gasoline has followed that same rise of 1000% increase. Postage has increased that much as well, and notably a fully contained US service. As for other basics, bread has increased at about the same rate as income, while the cost of milk has only increased at half that rate, while cattle prices have skyrocketed through the years. Interestingly, the price of fruit and produce have increased markedly, which seems odd considering the GMO promises and immigrant farm workers . . .
The biggest rise in American expenses that I was able to find was in higher education. Obviously, the University tuition I've included is not your average state college or university. I've chosen an Ivy League, simply because those stats are easier to find and are national, rather than state to state. Harvard Tuition was 1,250 per year in 1958 and over $33,000 in 2010. I'm guessing the local colleges and state universities would be comparable . . . That is an increase, not of a multiple of 7 or even 10, but of over 25 times over! That is a 2500% increase!
No wonder the programming toward higher education took precedence over everything in the past 1/2 century. A nation of enslaved dependency has been gaining ground so rapidly, it would actually appear to be the goal, rather than unintended consequences . . . comparatively speaking.
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