[quote=weberlin][quote=Ash Housewares]
The problem with the hedonics argument is that there is no logical endpoint to the extrapolation. People who use this argument say we have to have two incomes to make ends meet today because we have bigger houses, nicer cars, televisions in every room and cell phones that allow us to talk to anyone at anytime.
This fails because people in the 1950s somehow got by with one income despite having new technologies that people 50 years earlier could only dream of. So why did they get to enjoy the good life with new, amazing gadgets while have a stay at home wife?
To me this discrepancy gives weight to the “globalization is killing the middle class” argument.[/quote]
Ash, your argument highlights everything that’s wrong with the mindset of today’s average American citizen. You assume that you are entitled to a very comfortable lifestyle filled with food, toys and entertainment.
If a human being has food in his stomach, a warm place to rest at night(a home), and clothing on his back, he is taken care of. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Take a step back and look at how the vast majority of the Earth’s human population lives now, and has lived for the past 2000 years. We’re pretty darn lucky.
Why are we entitled to a ‘middle class’ lifestyle’?[/quote]
I was merely making an observation, not whining about entitlements. My question remains unanswered. How did people in the 1950s live an extravagant lifestyle (compared to 1900) on one income, and why didn’t the same argument work for the next 50 years (2000 vs 1950)? I contend the answer is globalization. I’d love to hear other theories. Please enlighten me.
