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Originally posted by Superman
Now try and tell me that unions have destroyed America by raising wages? Hogwash!
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Never was my argument. I mentioned that with tax burdens, the EPA, OSHA, and other bodies which companies need to comply with (and all the extra $ involved). Then I asked how companies can afford union wages on top of that. The union wages, while in themselves not necessarily bad, are the straw that breaks the camel's back and drives companies to manufacture elsewhere. That was my point.
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In those days, a breadwinner could raise a family of children with the help of his stay-at-home wife, they could take vacations and have two cars. The kids could be in sports and whatever activities. Television sets and kitchen gadgets galore. They might even send kids off to college. The entire middle class was set up this way.
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Though I'm not a child of the 50's, I'm willing to try and examine this more closely. First, what kinds of cars did most people have? Maybe Pontiacs or Oldsmobiles or Mercuries, right? No middle-class people tried to buy a Cadillac right off the bat...it was something to work for. Why do some buy BMWs and Hummers at a relatively young age today?
Next, where did people vacation? They didn't take expensive trips to resorts, I don't think. I have the picture that the car was loaded up and driven somewhere, with everyone staying at motels along the way.
I'd think there were fewer gadgets then than there are now. We have Xboxes, computers, cell phones, and all the monthly bills that go with them. TV was free then, and my parents tell me a TV set wasn't disposable.
Look at all our monthly bills and services. Cell phone, OnStar, caller ID, cable Internet, etc. The 50s never had that. They had basic land phone, possibly a water bill, electricity, heat, mortgage, and maybe car payments. With fewer services chipping away at monthly income, they do look wealthier. I bet a lot of people could replicate that financial standing that came with the 50s...if we gave up $50 a month cable and $1500/month mortgages on McMansions.
I'd really like to see an average income of today and of 50 years ago broken down. Without all the extra toys and associated debt, I'd bet we actually have the potential to duplicate the 50s, for the most part.