Re:America’s banks are missing hundreds of billions of dollars
by scotty79 on Wednesday March 22, 2023 @11:58AM
(#35263067)
> They had one landline phone - no cell phones, and certainly no computers.
I have no idea why those are mentioned. Do we somehow pay for development and manufacturing of those with exorbitant rents and mortgages?
When people talk about standard of living they talk about living, not various forms of entertainment brought on by sheer technological progress.
If you want to mention technology mention things like washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and fridges. Those contribute to standard of living. Not whether people figured out how to do astral projections or whatnot cheaply.
That family with one salary probably also only had one car. That car needed a tune-up regularly, and was lucky to make it to 100,000 miles.
They had a house, but it was a small house by current standards - maybe 1000 square feet.
They had one landline phone - no cell phones, and certainly no computers.
The breadwinner could retire at 65, but the median age of death was 68. They could afford medical care, but the medical care that was available didn't lengthen their lives to what we expect today.
So that's where it went - bigger houses, more cars, computers and cell phones, and better medical care. But if you're willing to live in a 1000 square foot house, only have one car, no computers or cell phones, and inadequate (by current standards) medical care, you can probably raise a family on one income still today.