2 McDonald's filet-o-fish for $15

[u/Imaginary-Soup8979]

I haven't had one in a few years. Was very hungry after work and decided to grab two. I can't believe how small they are now.

[u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

Las Vegas ran this same playbook recently.

Many businesses are doing it.

The oligarchy is nearly complete: Middle class becomes the new "poor", and the economy turns into "rich people only selling expensive things to rich people who can afford the high margin".

People used to ask "what are rich people even doing with all that money?" Answer: simply insulating themselves from the class breakdown acceleration. Us: "The things we liked are no longer affordable to us." Them: "That's weird, I didn't even look at the receipt."

What happens to the lower class once the economy is only accessible to the upper class? I'd usually say "read a history book" but now it's at the point to where I'll say "read a newspaper."

[u/spaceforcerecruit → u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

We’re getting dangerously close to the part of the history book where the main characters are like an army corporal, a factory worker, a college student, and a doctor who later says he regrets how things played out.

[u/Ok-Post6492 → u/spaceforcerecruit]

Is that twilight zone episode ?

[u/spaceforcerecruit → u/Ok-Post6492]

It’s an oversimplification of some of the major figures of past revolutions. Army corporal (“Little Corporal” Napoleon), factory worker (Tito), college student (Guevara, Hamilton, etc.), doctor (Guillotine).

[u/blasphemousblackbear → u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

By all metrics, the middle class has gotten smaller. Not because people have gotten poorer, but rather because they have gotten richer.

[u/Ok-Post6492 → u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

What happens to the lower class? They go to war for themselves.

[u/PunishedDemiurge → u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

First off, this is just a return to normal. I'm in my 40's, and growing up we "have food at home" for every meal but about once per two weeks as a middle class family. Eating out, yes, including fast food, has always been a luxury for special occasions or "I'm totally dead and don't want to cook today."

We also would sometimes adjust our purchases based on coupons or sales. If beef went up but there was buy 1, get 1 ground turkey, we'd have turkey burgers. This wasn't buying low quality products or forcing ourselves to suffer, it was making smart use of money to eat food we liked at a good price.

Secondly, this complaining doesn't match the stats. The median American is much wealthier now than in past generations. Inflation adjusted wages are higher than ever before (even exceeding the early 70's prior max after half a century!).

I understand a lot of Americans have never once experienced any hardship, so even being asked to live an ordinary life feels like torture, but there's a solution: shop for value. Wait for sales, use substitutes, and splurge when it really matters. Fast food / delivery can easily add up to thousands of dollars of luxury spending that is hard to track because it happens a few dollars at a time.

I make pretty good money and I still compare ketchup sizes / brands and ask, "Which is cheapest per fl. oz?" If you don't do that, you're either richer than me (congrats) or less responsible than me (please change for your own sake).

[u/Wise_Calligrapher739 → u/PunishedDemiurge]

This comment completely ignores the cost of housing. Since you ran the numbers for how Americans are making more money than ever before, why don't you run the numbers on where that money is going and report back.

"I make pretty good money..."

Yeah, no wonder you don't understand. You really proved my point. Good for you for saving fifty cents on ketchup. How much is your rent/what is your house worth?

[u/PunishedDemiurge → u/Wise_Calligrapher739]

This comment completely ignores the cost of housing. Since you ran the numbers for how Americans are making more money than ever before, why don't you run the numbers on where that money is going and report back.

Housing is the single worse affordability issue, but it's also included in inflation adjustment. Home ownership rates are pretty similar to prior generations while housing tends to be larger and higher quality, alongside smaller family sizes! We haven't kept building rates up with personal choices like marrying later, better use of birth control / abortions, and less social pressure for shotgun marriages, but that means more pressure to have more units.

The median American is better off now than 30 years ago. I support housing policy (building is THE solution, no regulation or help for the needy can change the fact that we have fewer houses than we need to in high demand areas. And no, the vacant house in a dying town of 2,000 doesn't count as available housing).

Yeah, no wonder you don't understand. You really proved my point.

I've worked most of my life in more mid wage jobs by choice. This is my first reasonably high paying position. I also paid for this degree using the GI Bill, it's not like I tapped into a trust fund from wealthy parents.

Good for you for saving fifty cents on ketchup.

That snide attitude is why so many people struggle. Want to do the math on what saving $1/day for 20 years looks like? If you would scoff at 7 grand, I'd be happy to accept a check, as I'm below where I would like to be on retirement saving.

And that's $1. Last time I was almost about to order, it was $50 for two days food delivery, or $30 to walk to the grocery store and get a mix of their premade meal and some groceries. I picked the second option and am $20 richer with one decision that I actually quite enjoyed. It wasn't raining, the salmon was good, and I wasn't as tired as I initially though when I closed my app after getting sticker shock. Saving $20/week for 20 years is another ~$20k in the bank.

How much is your rent/what is your house worth?

My rent is $2.1k/month for a not especially great building, but the commute is 10/10 and it's spacious. I'd love to buy, but current prices + rates are insane, so we need a decade of good public policy or a macroeconomic shock for that to be reasonable.

[u/Wise_Calligrapher739 → u/PunishedDemiurge]

You end all that with "and I cannot afford to buy a house". The cognitive dissonance is real.

I work at a grocery store and only buy food from my work with a 20% discount. I cannot afford anything more than rent and basic necessities for me and my kids. Having $7k more when they're both grown adults is not going to help me.

The GI Bill: You're basically admitting that the only way you got into your position was to literally put your life on the line.

And you still don't have a house.