how and why did the middle class expand so much during the 50's and 60's?

[Spoonman]

And your little pea brain has no idea what causes the disparity.

My little pea brain has made more money than you'll see in three or four lifetimes.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that people who feel compelled to brag about their income and wealth in a sad attempt to win an argument on an anonymous message board are pathetic losers who lose.

My name is Elmer J. Fudd ...I own a mansion and a yacht

 

[NYcarbineer]

Union membership in the US peaked in the 1960's. The middle class has been in decline ever since.

Detroit was one of the most prosperous cities in the U.S. and the world....happy days in the '50s and '60s....it still has unions and high taxes....

why is it bankrupt today....?

Really? There are as many union jobs in Detroit now as in 1960?

 

[NYcarbineer]

It wasn't an analogy, it was a simple demonstration of the correlation implies causation fallacy, the same fallacy that you were using as your argument, but obviously you still don't get the fact that it's a FALLACY any way you slice it.

In order for you to reject causation you have to reject the idea that unionism was or is ever able to obtain higher wages and better benefits for union members than they would get without unions.

If you reject that, you reject every argument ever made that in any way blames unions for any higher cost of doing business for any company.

Is that your position?

Ummm... I'm not rejecting the idea that state of unions is a/the cause I'm rejecting your argument that was based on the correlation implies causation fallacy, if you want to make a valid argument supporting your hypothesis fine but if you simply rely on correlation then your argument is invalid.

Do you understand what a logical fallacy is?

I'm proving the correlation. You haven't disputed anything I've said.

 

[JoeNormal]

yea but it just proves on a Saturday afternoon they are lying like hell....I would be in Hawaii or on my yacht some where instead of a forum board talking to peasants.

Three or four times average isn't rich. But since you guys seem to put all of your belief in the power of the market, it must mean that I'm much more brilliant than the average con. Isn't that the way it works?

 

[Freewill]

i would like someone to explain this:

how and why did the middle class expand so much during the 50's and 60's?

what political and economic policies were involved? or did it not expand.

i'm having this debate with my...shall remain anonymous...nevermind...curious as to what USMB has to say

note to mods: i want both political and economic so i thought political forum would be best

I have lived through that time period and here is my assessment. During the 50s and 60s American industry flourished. Unfortunately they took all the money out of the mills and didn't put any back in. It could be because of the Unions and it was just too expensive or it was because environmental controls were too expensive. For whatever reason the mills closed. A place where a guy could learn a craft and make decent money doing so.

Then Nixon opened the Chinese door along with the EPA and the first Clean water act. Didn't take long for industry that relied on labor, and not necessarily skilled labor, to realize moving out was in their best interest.

Along comes Clinton to finish a job no Republican would ever be able to do. He signed the "free" trade agreement sending whatever low skill jobs were available oversea. The rest is history.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Those guys destroyed themselves over drugs. Fame had nothing to do with it. Non famous people and poor people drug overdose everyday.

Sorry, what I read John Candy didnt use drugs. John and Chris could not find happiness because they were fat and the only girls that wanted them was gold diggers...thats why they turned to drugs...they wanted out. they couldnt buy what they wanted.

What was Heath Ledger's excuse? Cory Monteith, janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, River Phoenix, all drugged themselves to death and weren't fat.

let me guess your a 300 lb fattso katz... lol....

 

[RandallFlagg]

After WWII, the foreign based competition to U.S. companies was basically decimated. We had a global field for our manufactured products...with a lot less regulation than we do now. Combine that with an education system which had not been destroyed by Progressivism and more cohesive nuclear families raising kids in two parent homes at all income levels...the result was an economy and culture which encouraged upward mobility.

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. After WWII, the economic engines cranked up and the baby boom hit full on. Patriotism was at an all time high (the Cold War had just started) and Church attendance was at an all time high. Americans were invested in their communities and the commies that run rampant in America had yet to be born.