An interesting take on the difference between the average American of 1967, when we hit the 200 million population mark, and the average American of today's 300-million landscape:
As the U.S. population crossed the 300 million mark sometime around 7:46 a.m. Tuesday (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), the typical family is doing a whole lot better than their grandparents were in 1967, the year the population first surpassed 200 million.
Mr. and Mrs. Median's $46,326 in annual income is 32% more than their mid-'60s counterparts, even when adjusted for inflation, and 13% more than those at the median in the economic boom year of 1985. And thanks to ballooning real estate values, average household net worth has increased even faster. The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83% from 1965, 60% from 1985 and 35% from 1995.
Throw in the low inflation of the past 20 years, a deregulated airline industry that's made travel much cheaper, plus technological progress that's provided the middle class with not only better cars and televisions, but every gadget from DVD players to iPods, all at lower and lower prices, and it's obvious that Mr. and Mrs. Median are living the life of Riley compared to their parents and grandparents.
So why are they so unhappy?
Possibly because the more we have, the more we expect, the more nervous we become about keeping it and the more impatient we are at achieving the next level. Desperate people are grateful for the smallest improvement in their lot. Satisfied people get grumpy.
Comments
Leo:
While I concur with most of what you so eloquently stated, I would have to say that although people (today) DO expect more, that has led to some problems with America in general.
Example: TOO many choices. Everything from vehicles to canned goods to soft drinks...wasn't it less reason to become grumpy when we *only* had a few choices back in the 60s? Personally, I think that with ALL the choices for ALL the things we have thrown at us (from a marketing standpoint), we've become a bit ADHD...our attention drifts way too much way too often.
Now maybe I'm just anachronistic, but I'm pretty much satisfied with what I have, and don't have this "need" to rush right out and iPod myself up, or Blackberry myself into oblivion. I like to READ a newspaper, yet I like to blog. And I still think HDTV is overrated (I don't need to see every pore in some actor's face).
I still own 2 VCRs...(one of them a BEAT machine)...I have a turntable (with some classic vinyl to play on it), yet I refrain from going out and grabbing the "latest" gizmo that is made to make my life "easier" or better....Hell, I only this YEAR got a DVD player, and the only thing I like about it, is I don't have to rewind anything...LOL!
(call it a labor-saving device)
When it comes to technology, I become a Missourian REAL fast...i.e. "show me".
My Dad always said: "What's worth having is worth keeping". Guess that rang true somewhere in my life. The car I bought new is STILL running after 23 years!
As to families doing better, well, I feel relatively undecided on that. We ARE making more money, but things cost a lot less in the 60s, so it sort of evens out. I do remember my Dad's paycheck and how we sometimes "sweated out the week"...but still got by OK. Then again, we've since "redefined" the American family (for the most part).
If there is anything that DOES (or would) make me a curmudgeon, it would be the way SOCIETY (itself) has changed from the 60s.
Today our society suffers from a severe lack of morality, civility, and personal responsibility. Maybe that has to do with the "too many choices" I mentioned earlier. Many are just taking advantage of all those choices, and choosing to be STUPID?
It just seems like America was an "easier" place to deal with one another back then...but dwelling on all that would just get me grumpy...lol!
;)
B.G.
Your last paragraph does point out some reasons for our perceived "unhappiness". I would also submit, too a much larger degree, the constant, persistent, ever-present, in-the-background, nagging press coverage 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
I don't care how resilient you may think you are, if someone tells you every day, 24 hours a day you are bad off and the sky is falling, you will begin to believe it.
I have always judged my situation by creating two columns. One column is the pros in my life, the other column is the cons in my life. I think if everyone did this once in a while they'd find the sky ISN'T falling and life really is pretty good.