BS5000
Jul 19, 2023

While all you write is true, it was a time of economic opportunity and mobility, prior to “Greed is Good” and trickle down economics. Now we have an economic system dominated by very few and the American dream is disappearing in student debt, mass layoffs, Wall Street excess and narcissistic billionaires. Our healthcare system is broken an unaffordable, our life expectancy is declining, not to mention daily mass shootings or climate destruction. I appreciate your reflections but I believe they are a bit limited as we enter late-stage capitalism and younger people lose hope. Our generation had expectations that we would do better than our parents, that is now gone.

Sign up to discover human stories that deepen your understanding of the world.

Free

Distraction-free reading. No ads.

Organize your knowledge with lists and highlights.

Tell your story. Find your audience.

Membership

Read member-only stories

Support writers you read most

Earn money for your writing

Listen to audio narrations

Read offline with the Medium app

Responses (6)

Write a response

Interesting that the “good old days” tend to end during the 1980s. That was when economic indicators started to go off the charts.

There’s also nostalgia for childhood. My childhood was pretty dreadful, but the fact that my future was in front of me (not behind me) was something I dearly miss.

--

... well said; I'd only add something about housing costs as an added burden these days. It used to take the average family 3 or 4 years to save for an average house downpayment; it now takes closer 7 or 8 years (If I recall the stat read elsewhere).

--

Barry, that is perfectly articulated and — sadly — 100% correct. The demographic (age, income, gender, etc.) that a person in the U.S. falls into has a HUGE effect on how they feel about each of the issues you listed....and how willing they are to…

--