Why I'm done with humanity

[Kä'eng]

Originally Posted by Icu

humans have become far wealthier over the past few centuries [...] the average American has seven times more purchasing power today than he or she had in 1900

Notice that whenever the pro-establishment economist goes on the standard spiel about how the average joe is so much better off today than in the past, they always go back at least a whole century. You will never see them compare, say, 1970 to 2010. And here's why:


(made using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

The economists' favorite measure of the economy, GDP per capita, has doubled during this time. Despite this growth, wages have been practically flat. (Maybe even decreased, since the government tends to understate inflation.) The fact is, increased economic productivity does not automatically trickle down to ordinary folks. They have to fight for it. There used to be labor unions as the main way to do this. Today, there's nothing, and you can see for yourself the result.