*food

I think there’s both truth and distortion, like all the best narratives. Old enough to remember a lot of those years you describe. Technology brings a lot of amazing things but affordability right now _is_ bad, especially for ‘American Dream’ staples like house/car/family/education. That being said we’re not destitute and a lot of things are possible - like getting a burrito to your door in 5min and learning about quantum physics from your computer instead of a PhD course.

I agree with that, sorry, I’ve interjected in the middle of a thread.

I think there is some merit in the argument that women entering the workforce have not significantly changed material home lifestyles much other than to inflate property prices, obviously the women have gained tremendous freedom of opportunity which is one thing to celebrate. But family homes didn’t suddenly get twice as large or twice as well equipped. Two worker families didn’t suddenly start selling up and moving into mansions. The houses are the same houses as when only one parent worked, the mortgages just increased. Land was the winner.

When you think about it, equality almost doubled worker density in many cities that itself creates a lot more opportunities for business. Land was the winner again.

For us growing up in the 80’s, Gen X were the first generation where both parents worked.

We came home to empty houses and we watched MTV and played with tech, all in the absence of parents. That’s where Gen X culture comes from, the zero authority adventurism.

I think nostalgia mostly harks back to the 1950’s (before our time) when household incomes were growing +15% yoy in real terms. Hard to convey what that must have felt like knowing you can buy 15% more stuff next year and the year after. I’ve never really known a society like that.

These days all those productivity gains are largely retained by the capitalist class. Largely because working people are quite happy and content with their lives. Your screen time will confirm this.

If things really were declining there would be political turbulence because no matter what anyone says, you get the society that can exist on popular consent and not much more.

That said, I think some countries are going to face sliding living standards over the coming decade. What will German industry look like without cheap Russian energy powering their automation? Lots of German factories are now trapped with sky high opex. What does that mean for exports and balance of payments?

Nothing stays still for long.