Right, up 76% since 1967, after adjusting for inflation. Add to that say, the quality of a '67 TV set with 3 channels VS a 2012 home entertainment system with cable. Add improvements in medical care, average home size doubling, no more Soviet threat, etc. Finally there's the fact that most who were bottom quintile in '67 are top quintile now....the amount of that rise and it turns out to be 1.27% per year - at a time when technology and process improvements have exploded. Do you really feel that this is cause for celebration?
Bottom line is that America is blessed, I give thanks, and many decide to be ungrateful. It's a free country.
Well, it's only up by 56% which means my initial calculation was wrong. Recalculating, the growth rate during that time was 0.99%.
I like the technological goodies we've been offered in that time. I've developed some of them. But it's also been a time of great stress for most people. The pace of life has gone up and the enjoyment of it has gone down. I can't comment much on life in 1967 because I was 8 years old and it seemed pretty wonderful to me but I know that life in 1979 was a lot more enjoyable than it is now. IMO, material wealth is a poor substitute for the hectic pace that has become expected from most people.
