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A disaster is looming for American men

washingtonpost.com

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Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#31

Post by caublestone »

"Second, the gains in average education and health of the workforce over the last 50 years are unlikely to be repeated"

I'm cautious about arguments that rely on a pessimistic expectation that progress will reverse because it's just never continued in the past. If the argument identified some fundamental reasons why progress will slow instead of drawing historical correlations then it would have merit. Then again if we knew those principles then we could correct our society and avoid disaster. Because this argument is flawed and human knowledge and understanding is the only thing that solves human problems, the validity of the argument is lost.

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#33

Post by c0nducktr »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #26
hrgeek wrote: post #19

Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.

I think it did make things easier, but then the fruits of that betterness were captured by the oligarch class. Our rapid progression toward a society of renters goes along with this.

Feudalism 2.0

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#34

Post by [deleted] »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #26
hrgeek wrote: post #19

Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.

I think it did make things easier, but then the fruits of that betterness were captured by the oligarch class. Our rapid progression toward a society of renters goes along with this.

[deleted]

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#35

Post by falcolas »

blowski wrote: post #23
hrgeek wrote: post #19

Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.

This is partly because the definition of comfortable has increased faster than the average salary.

In the 70's, middle-class "comfortable" consisted of a 16-30,000 sqft house with a yard, two cars, and remarkably good job stability (pensions, etc).

Today, it takes nearly 2x the median household income to get something resembling that kind of life. Granted, you're still considered middle class at that level of income...

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#36

Post by [deleted] »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #26
hrgeek wrote: post #19

Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.

I think it did make things easier, but then the fruits of that betterness were captured by the oligarch class. Our rapid progression toward a society of renters goes along with this.

[deleted]

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#37

Post by a-priori »

methodover wrote: post #14

I wonder if the employment rate would be different if the minimum wage were zero.

The employment rate would be higher. And total wage dollars paid would be higher too.

But hourly rates, particularly at the low end, would be lower than now and probably below a livable amount.

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#38

Post by jewel »

hrgeek wrote: post #19

Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.

The average home size in the 1950s was just 953 square feet. Now it's 2500 square feet. You likely would have a single car. Your utility bill would be a lot lower (no internet, no cable, no air conditioning). You'd eat a lot of home-cooked meals, have a serious vegetable garden, would sew and mend your own clothes, etc. You wouldn't need to pay for your own clothes.

I suspect it's quite possible to raise a family on a single income if you're willing to live like it was the 1950s.

Re: A disaster is looming for American men

#39

Post by whenwillitstop »

h4nkoslo wrote: post #11

"Job destruction caused by technology" kind of begs the question, especially when the US has an immigration policy that results in vast additions to the labor supply that compete with natives.

Shhhh! There is a massive labor shortage dont you know?
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