The Next Time Somebody's Whining About How Hard We All Have It Now, Take A Wee Look Back
Megan McArdle writes at Cato about what's changed about standards of living:
Rare is the public policy panel where someone does not bring up the fading grandeur of America's middle class, and when they do, rare is the participant who does not sorrowfully nod and agree that yes, living standards are bad and getting worse, and today's children are the first generation in our nation's history that cannot expect to be better off than their parents....My grandfather worked as a grocery boy until he was 26 years old. He married my grandmother on Thanksgiving because that was the only day he could get off. Their honeymoon consisted of a weekend visiting relatives , during which they shared their nuptial bed with their host's toddler. They came home to a room in his parents' house--for which they paid monthly rent. Every time I hear that marriage is collapsing because the economy is so bad, I think of their story.
By the standards of today, my grandparents were living in wrenching poverty. Some of this, of course, involves technologies that didn't exist--as a young couple in the 1930s my grandparents had less access to health care than the most neglected homeless person in modern America, simply because most of the treatments we now have had not yet been invented. That is not the whole story, however. Many of the things we now have already existed; my grandparents simply couldn't afford them. With some exceptions, such as microwave ovens and computers, most of the modern miracles that transformed 20th century domestic life already existed in some form by 1939. But they were out of the financial reach of most people.
If America today discovered a young couple where the husband had to drop out of high school to help his father clean tons of unsold, rotted produce out of their farm's silos, and now worked a low-wage, low-skilled job, was living in a single room with no central heating and a single bathroom to share for two families, who had no refrigerator and scrubbed their clothes by hand in a washtub, who had serious conversations in low voices over whether they should replace or mend torn clothes, who had to share a single elderly vehicle or make the eight-mile walk to town ... that family would be the subject of a three-part Pulitzer prizewinning series on Poverty in America.
But in their time and place, my grandparents were a boring bourgeois couple, struggling to make ends meet as everyone did, but never missing a meal or a Sunday at church. They were excited about the indoor plumbing and electricity which had just been installed on his parents' farm, and they were not too young to marvel at their amazing good fortune in owning an automobile. In some sense they were incredibly deprived, but there are millions of people in America today who are incomparably better off materially, and yet whose lives strike us (and them) as somehow objectively more difficult.
She gives a number of examples of what's changed. For example:
Diet. We have a tendency to romanticize "the good old days" of fresh foods and home cooked meals. Yet when you look at what the majority of people were actually eating on an average day in 1930, it looks considerably less appealing: fresh vegetables in season, yes, but the rest of the year it was grain, milk, more grain, beans, and cuts of meat, like salt pork and calf's liver, that most Americans won't touch today. Bread and milk was an actual meal that many people ate for supper, and not because it was homey and charming, but because most people could not afford the rich diet of the modern American.Liberty. Life is a lot better than it was in 1930 if you're black. Or gay. Or a woman who wants to work outside the home. Or mentally ill. Or pregnant. Or cohabiting. Or accused of a crime. Many categories of people who previously suffered brutal punishment--legal or social--have had their lives immeasurably improved. Are we a perfectly equal and free society? No. But many groups of people have immensely more freedom and opportunity than they used to.
Sadly, this -- the area of our freedoms -- is an area where there's a big push to roll back the clock, especially against free speech, but also against probable cause-based policing.
These rollbacks are called for in the name of "comfort" and "safety," and I believe it's partly because our world is vastly more comfortable and safe than it's every been.
This is a wonderful, modern thing -- how safe and comfortable we are -- but it's also a dangerous thing, because it's turned a good many of us into big pussies who refuse to put up with the slightest bit of discomfort. (And, okay, so what if we have to turn into, oh, a bit of a police state in the service of that. Pass the remote?)
On Nashville's AM650, on Sunday morning, they feature the Cowboy Chorus, from the OK Corral in church services.
So powerful is the myth of a better life in the past that the religious also cling to this fantasy of a wholly fictional American West.
I understand why film and TV people are heroes - we cannot seem to put heroes in public office - but cannot figure out why people abhor reality.
Radwaste at March 9, 2015 9:52 PM
I don't think people are saying its never been worse, more that they're concerned that we've peaked and are on a downward slide.
And anecdotes are stupid... my grandmother's parents had a live in maid, a large village house, a farm in the mountains, and a villa by a lake all on a country doctor's salary. Which is just as valid proof of the decline of middle class professionals as the above anecdote provides proof of their rise. There've always been rich and poor people and there still are.
Now if we look beyond examples, their does seem to be a widening gap between the rich and poor and standards of living seem to be going down since the second half of the 20th century. "The past" being referred to is the 70s-90s
NicoleK at March 10, 2015 12:59 AM
And my mom's parents were not particularly poor by any means (my great grandfather left my grandfather and his mother when he was a little boy, so they weren't that well off), but my grandmother's dad was a doctor, and they had a very good middle class lifestyle, and didn't even suffer as much as others from rationing during World War II, since as a doctor, great grandpa had to do house visits. I'm reasonably sure that the standard of living went down for a while after my grandparents got married, since they were living in base housing for part of the time (grandpa was in the Navy), and just from stories from my mom and grandma about some of the things they did lack. Now, I will say that I'm probably way better off than my dad's dad was as a child, since the only way he and great uncle Andrew were able to achieve anything near middle class lifestyles was to join the military, plus they were second generation immigrants, who had to Americanize my last name in the 1920s when they were in the Army, so they wouldn't be discriminated against.
spqr2008 at March 10, 2015 5:30 AM
Someone else will have to imagine the good old days because I lived enough of them to know better. The 70s were the inflation era. I had a mortgage with a 12 percent interest rate. The 80s were the decade when Japan was going to own the world - until it wasn't. Not a good time to be an auto worker.
Don't confuse what someone tells you with reality. We had drunks, bums and insane people when I was a kid, too. The difference is that you could say that back then. There were entire industries wiped out by economic competition and environmental rules. If you lived in Pittsburgh, or Buffalo, or a host of other cities, you'd know all about declining living standards.
MarkD at March 10, 2015 5:41 AM
Ok, so NicoleK's great-grand parents where part of the 1%. But that's not most of us.
They probably didn't notice the iceman who came by to deliver ice blocks to keep the milk and cheese cool. Nor did they have to deal with the milkman who also made house calls.
I've heard all those stories from my mom, who grew up in the shadow of the steels mills outside of Pittsburgh. My father told different stories, growing up in South Dakota. No running water, outhouse out back, -40F blizzards, harvesting the crops with steam powered threshing machines, and a awful lot of manual labor. Plowing the fields with teams of horses.
Let's not forget the polio and other diseases that would sweep thru. I still recall visiting my grandpap's homestead in South Dakota. There was a gravesite on the sheep pasture. Three kids, the Spooners, were buried there, dead of diphtheria within days of each other in January 1892.
I'm sorry, we live in the Age of Miracles.
I R A Darth Aggie at March 10, 2015 6:04 AM
If you want to go back to the 1800s and earlier, my great great grandfather wrote a family history in 1865 that I transcribed a few years ago. He was a Methodist minister in upstate NY born in 1835, and describes how his own male ancestors died of such things as an infection from being cut by a scythe on the farm (grandfather), or getting sick from an infectious disease working outdoors (father). His own brother died around age 20 from typhoid, and his son was killed by a falling tree while cutting wood and his grandson was crushed in a railway yard accident in 1912. (The latter information comes from family records). At least he managed to live to be 88. Not everyone was as unfortunate as his ancestors or descendants, as his other grandson was my grandfather, though even he had to survive during the Great Depression. My own father was born during the Depression, and I was fortunate to be born during the economic boom following World War II in the 1960s.
So yes, just going by this family history alone, both men as well as women had a rough time of it in the past compared to the post WWII era.
MIOnline at March 10, 2015 7:20 AM
I am thinking about getting an apple watch to help my shooting.
Better than Star Trek, ladies and gentlemen, and available in my life time.
Isab at March 10, 2015 7:40 AM
Isab, how can the watch help with shooting?
Michelle at March 10, 2015 9:26 AM
30 years ago when we had a garage sale, people were waiting outside impatiently at 7am because we weren't starting soon enough and they bought everything we had. The last time we tried, we had very nice stuff out (much nicer than that earlier time) and 90% of it didn't sell, so we just give to goodwill now.
42 years ago in college, when I rented a room I laid a few rugs on the floor and slept on that. I didn't even mention it to anyone. No big deal.
We have hired neighborhood 18 yr old boys to help around and some of them have never cut the grass, raked, painted, or planted flowers. Nothing. I begged my dad at 13 to let me cut the grass. Unbelievable.
Craig Loehle at March 10, 2015 9:37 AM
This is why we study history - so con artist, populists, and politicians (maybe they're one and the same) can't sell us on the idea that we've lost a paradise we never had or that no one has ever had it as rough as we do.
In August was the Jackal born;
The Rains fell in September;"
Now such a fearful flood as this,"
Says he, "I can't remember!"
~ Rudyard Kipling
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2015 10:02 AM
This is a good reason for the bondage to freedom to bondage cycle. Each generation inherits something different than they pass on. It is the enslaved generation that leaves freedom to their decendants, and free generation that leaves prosperity to the next. The prosperous generation breeds a spoiled generation, and the spoiled generation creates a dependant generation. The dependant generation then gives birth to an enslaved generation.
I believe the dependant generation is coming of age now. Romney got a lot of grief over the 47%, without.it being asked how we reached the point where 47% were dependant on government. We just accept dependancy as normal.
Trust at March 10, 2015 10:15 AM
My parents used to tell stories about growing up during World War II. My mother grew up in Chicago and my father grew up in rural North Carolina.
Her stories involved deprivation, fuel rationing, cakes without sugar or eggs, meatless Mondays, etc. - everything a city dweller during World War II might have experienced.
My father, on the other hand, was the son of a local office holder (various municipal and county offices). He experienced little of the things my mother described. My grandfather, not a farmer himself, came from a large family of farmers. Farmers got extra fuel rations, so if Grandpa needed more gas, he got some from Uncle X. If he wanted bacon, he got some from Uncle Y. Eggs, sugar, flour, meat, etc. were always available ... if you knew who to ask. What he traded for these things, I never asked.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2015 10:49 AM
Dead horses in the street. 60' piles of manure. Ugh.
http://www.beamsandstruts.com/articles/item/127-things-are-better-than-ever
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2015 11:01 AM
Isab, how can the watch help with shooting?
Posted by: Michelle at March 10, 2015 9:26 AM
Lots of ways. Not only are there apps for the IPhone now that will call the line and time both timed fire and rapid fire for me, blue toothed to a receiver under my hearing protector, but also like Fitbit, it will check my pulse and blood pressure and give me feedback on when I am getting excited, and need to either sit down, or walk around a little before taking the next shot.
At least I understand that it is supposed to do those things, and unlike my iPhone, it will be accessible right there on my wrist, not in my pocket where my phone usually is.
The biofeedback in an actual match will tell me what my vitals are like when I am shooting well, and hopefully allow me to create the same conditions in practice.
I have never been an early adopter of technology. Finally got an IPhone 5 when I started using one in Japan, and have never gone back.
Isab at March 10, 2015 11:10 AM
I'm with NicoleK. The middle class is getting wiped out and complaining about how hard people had it back then seems pointless.
Plus for some reason people seem happier living in rural areas. And having too much seems to make us unhappy. I think our brains aren't used to this type of lifestyle. Not saying we should go back but I think the depression epidemic and dissatisfaction has a lot to do with how little our brains evolved to live in opulence.
Ppen at March 10, 2015 11:13 AM
Craig,
10 years ago I did that in my dorm. The school supplied bed was purchased during WW2 and sagged 3-4in in the middle. Everyone looked at me funny. But my back felt much better on the floor.
These days the wife puts the mattress on the floor. It was hard enough to get her to move it into a bedroom and out of the living room so that is as much civilizing as I can do.
Ben at March 10, 2015 11:16 AM
You may enjoy this, from 2010:
http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/john-rosemond-what-to-do-with-a-returning-college-student-1.161265
First half:
Q: What, if any, ground rules can and should parents set for a child returning to live at home after college graduation? My husband and I are facing this issue with our daughter in May, and we need help.
A: A recent (Dec. 10, 2009) Charlotte Observer article told of a 26-year-old Duke University graduate student who lives in his van, parked on the edge of campus, to finish school debt-free. He uses public facilities for all of his hygienic needs, eats lots of peanut butter, and cooks on a camp stove. He works part time during the school year and full time as a park ranger in the summer. Ken Ilgunas is one resourceful guy. He could probably make a decent living for himself going around the USA doing workshops for college students on how to successfully emancipate on less than $10 a day.
Just 40 years ago, when a child left home for college, it was assumed by both parents and child that he or she would not come home after graduation. Many if not most of today's kids assume the opposite.
If that's not problem enough, they often come back home with the attitude ''You [parents] have to pay for my food as well as my share of the mortgage and utilities, but you can't tell me what to do.'' In other words, they want their parents to continue treating them like dependents, but they view themselves as independent adults who have no responsibilities to the people paying the larger share of their bills...
(snip)
lenona at March 10, 2015 11:57 AM
Isab, thank you. When my iP4 crumbles in my hands, I will check out the watch.
Though my second thought is about the potential to collect real time info for crowd control and viewer response/ marketing, and employee data collection.
Michelle at March 10, 2015 12:25 PM
That is an increasingly common problem Lenona with no simple answers.
In the end, the parents made their bed and now they have to sleep in it.
Ben at March 10, 2015 3:29 PM
NicoleK: "I don't think people are saying its never been worse, more that they're concerned that we've peaked and are on a downward slide."
I agree, that is far more the complaint I hear than things have never been worse.
Yes, many things are much, MUCH, better than before.
But, some things are not getting better and are getting worse. The middle class is getting squeezed and squeezed hard. The tax burden, especially property tax, in the US is getting out of hand.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs - the "good" jobs of yesterday are gone; and I fear, gone for good. I'm not talking about a "living" wage for unskilled workers. I'm talking about finding a decent paying job that allows you to put a roof (buying one, not just renting) over your head, putting food on the table, and saving for your kids' education and your retirement, seem to be gone. Sure, there are still plenty of jobs around. but, they aren't the good kind any more.
Today, too many people are living the new norm - that is just settling for a job without benefits, without paid time off, without any future. Working as temps because no one can afford or is simply not willing to hire permanent folks due to overwhelming government meddling.
How many families of my parents generation lived with just one income? How many today cannot do without two incomes? How many of those working are underemployed or are working 2 or more jobs?
What percent of the US population is collecting some sort of government handout? Compare that to years before.
How many people have been out of work so long that they are no longer counted as "unemployed" by the government?
So, yea, nice article and I agree with everything said; but, it misses the point in that we do seemed to have peaked and things are looking rather bleak.
charles at March 10, 2015 6:41 PM
Charles,
You are describing expectations and not reality.
"How many families of my parents generation lived with just one income?"
Quite a few, but go back just one generation and you are below today's numbers. The post WW2 boom enabled that. I would also suggest reading Warren's the Two Income Trap. Pickup a copy at half price books if (like me) you don't want to give the witch any money. I don't agree with her assumption that people aren't responsible for their actions but she is spot on about how two incomes are not all they are sold as.
"How many people have been out of work so long that they are no longer counted as "unemployed" by the government?"
This is one minus the labor participation rate, or 100-63=37%. The low point was in 2000 at 33%.
The bigger issue is the split nature of the US economy. Since 2008 things have significantly split into 'winners' and 'loosers'. If you had the savings to play the stock market 25%/year asset appreciation is normal, while pre-2008 5-7% was realistic. If you have a directly commercializable skill wages are going up and unemployment is low, ie 2-3%. If you can design, repair, or build complex machinery your job is safe. If you don't have those skills wages are flat and unemployment is much higher.
On the bright side we can recover. We made it through the great depression, we made it through stagflation, and we can make it through obamanomics. Just don't expect much till the obama is out of those nomics.
Ben at March 11, 2015 6:58 AM
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