It largely hasn't been true for anyone coming of age in the Reagan era and beyond. I hail from a blue collar family. My extended family is all blue collar. They fully believe in the adage of work hard and live well. Most of my cousins aren't living as well as their parents did and yet they're working even harder.
Here's the kicker - they adamantly believe the Republican talking point that providing massive tax cuts to the 1% will somehow improve the quality of life for the remaining 99%, i.e. them. They've bought into it hook, line, and sinker. I used to argue with them but now I don't bother. I reckon if they haven't been able to work out cause and effect during the past four decades then they likely never will. The sad thing is not a single one of them will be able to retire, they're all going to have to work until the day they die. They pray they don't get sick because then they have no income and they would have even more bills to pay.
This is the reality of a huge swath (majority?) of Americans and Americans refuse to look this problem in the eye and acknowledge its existence. Much less do anything about it. It seems as though if you're not in this boat then you're taking everything not nailed down before this ship goes down.
I just figure things are going to get worse before they get better. You don't even want to know how bad I think things will get before we have a national Come to Jesus moment and turn this ship around. It's the stuff of my nightmares.
idk, to provide a counterpoint i was born in '76 and all my older extended family are either truck drivers, oil field hands, nurses, or work on ranches out in West Texas. I'm the only one that went into tech. All of my cousins are doing at least as well as their parents, one is even an ER doctor. They all have families and homes of their own and seem pretty happy with their lives.
You blame them for taking the Republican message hook, line and sinker - but the alternative party does nothing but demonize them for their gender and skin color and tells them they have some magical privilege and that they're to blame for everything bad in the world.
Hard to win them over while demonizing them non-stop.
Here's the kicker - they adamantly believe the Republican talking point that providing massive tax cuts to the 1% will somehow improve the quality of life for the remaining 99%, i.e. them. They've bought into it hook, line, and sinker. I used to argue with them but now I don't bother. I reckon if they haven't been able to work out cause and effect during the past four decades then they likely never will. The sad thing is not a single one of them will be able to retire, they're all going to have to work until the day they die. They pray they don't get sick because then they have no income and they would have even more bills to pay.
This is the reality of a huge swath (majority?) of Americans and Americans refuse to look this problem in the eye and acknowledge its existence. Much less do anything about it. It seems as though if you're not in this boat then you're taking everything not nailed down before this ship goes down.
I just figure things are going to get worse before they get better. You don't even want to know how bad I think things will get before we have a national Come to Jesus moment and turn this ship around. It's the stuff of my nightmares.