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The decline is the direct result of "American" corporations abandoning America. At the same time, their meddling in the federal government has resulted in the taxpaying public subsidizing their exploitation of third world labor.
Unfortunately the big corporations haven't abandoned us completely -- they're still here trying to get us to buy their crap and trying to make sure we get plenty of credit to go into deep debt to do it.
They still want us as consumers -- but not as employees.
The truth is that we have never had it so good. Next to the way we lived when I was a kid, we live in LUXURY! Consider this:
THEN: a 2 bedroom house with an extra room used in the basement. 3 boys in one room, 2 girls in the other. That was my childhood house- about 1000 sq ft with no garage, no air conditioning and heat provided by a center floor furnance.
NOW: a 4 bedroom split level home, each child has his/her own room, 2 car attached garage, office and rec room on lower level, deck and storage shed. Full central air and heat. 2500 sq ft (and mine is considered small by standards here where 5000 sq ft houses are quite normal).
THEN: One family car (first a 1964 chevy wagon that would not start in really cold weather sometimes) and then a 1968 Pontiac car. 2 cars in a family was almost unheard of. If my mother needed the car during the day, she either drove him to work, he got a ride or he rode the bus. Also, if you had a wreck, you either died or were sewed back up. No air bags and few people used the lap belts.
NOW: Three family cars and my oldest kid has cars too. And few troubles with any of them compared to the bad old days and they are alot safer. When was the last time somebody called into the job late because of "car trouble"? Used to be the most common excuse!
THEN: If you were working class and you finished high school, you were expected to go to work or join the Armed Forces. College was for "rich kids".
NOW: College is the norm for high school grads.
THEN: You had one phone in the house with one phone number. And when your sisters constantly yapped and somebody called, they go a busy signal- no call waiting, no voice mail.
NOW: Home phones have all the features- call waiting, voice mail. You never miss a call. And you also have a cell phone and usually everybody in the family also has one.
THEN: We had one TV set, a large black and white Curtis Mathis that got 3 channels. And if the adults wanted to watch something, too bad for us.
NOW: We have 5 colour TV sets, 3 of which get 200 channels of satellite TV along with a DVR to record any and every program we want. Soon we will switch to DTV sets.
THEN: You had an AM car or transistor AM radio for "on the go" entertainment. At home entertainment was provided by vinyl records.
NOW: You have FM, AM, XM, Sirius, Ipod, CDs and lawd knows what all!
THEN: Laundry was done in a wash tub and ran through a ringer and hung outside on a clothes line to dry.
NOW: How many new homes have a clothes line in the back?
I could go on but you get the idea. I would not say the middle class is exactly in "decline". I don't see any evidence of it. Cars and houses get bigger every year!
THEN: A man with nothing more than a high school diploma could graduate, get a job, marry, buy a house he would own flat out in 15 years, and support a number of children on only his income.
NOW: Two college graduates working full time, having their children in day care can buy the same house and have it paid in 30 years -- maybe.
THEN: A typical car loan was 2 years for a new car. And like you said -- many 60's and 70's cars are still on the roads -- driven still -- and reliable.
NOW: A typical used car loan is 5 or 6 years. And repairs require a computer making them impossible to keep going after 5 or 6 years.
THEN: Kids wanting to go to college could work their way through, very often did.
NOW: College tuition and rooming costs require a second mortgage on the family home or graduation with $30,000 debt.
THEN: Children came home from school to a mother who also had time to attend PTA meetings.
NOW: It takes two incomes to make ends meet -- mom is working long hours and will be home late. Dad has been sent off on a business trip again.
Hmmm... everyone is maiking very good points here. An interesting fact, when I was about 20 yrs old I was making about $8.50 an hour with no college education (something I regret I never got) and at 40 I am making $2.50 more an hour. So in twenty years salaries have never risen to meet the cost of living standards. South Fl is a tourist industry state where many jobs are pating $6.50 an hour because they expect you to make it up in Tips.
Most people do not report these tips in thier taxes and when they retire the social security they receive is nowhere where it should be to make thier retirement comfortable. It is so sad to see people in thier seventies bagging groceries at the grocery store. When I reach seventy I should desire nothing maore than a lazy day sitting on my porch swing with a glass of iced tea!
tcar509
tcar - if things continue as they are - you will probably not have either a swing or a porch because you got sick and the health care bills took all you had and a lot more. This system is designed to concentrate wealth and "a comfortable retirement" for the less fortunate is not part of the deal.
Yikes! I try not to even think about getting sick, needing a surgery or even having to go into a nursing home later in life. Right now I have decent health care coverage for myself and my spouse. I am very fortunate. The important thing is to think about the future and plan for it. Even if I am not wealthy my fortune lies with my family and friends, something money just cannot buy.
tcar509
Do you think it is too much to expect to be able to have the same things your parents were able to have after 10-15 years of steady employment?
Let's be very clear: Young people want everything NOW - they don't want to wait, plan and SAVE for it - NOW. To be sure, retailers of all kinds have taken advantage of this attitude by making access to credit much, much, to easy.
But, it still comes back to the individual - it was THEIR choice to get the 60 inch flat screen plasma TV - no one forced them to. It was THEIR choice, to get the car with every option under the sun - no one forced them too.
Many have gotten themselves into financial binds due to their own stupidity.
Let's be very clear: Young people want everything NOW - they don't want to wait, plan and SAVE for it - NOW. To be sure, retailers of all kinds have taken advantage of this attitude by making access to credit much, much, to easy.
But, it still comes back to the individual - it was THEIR choice to get the 60 inch flat screen plasma TV - no one forced them to. It was THEIR choice, to get the car with every option under the sun - no one forced them too.
Many have gotten themselves into financial binds due to their own stupidity.
That's a convenient excuse. Now reality.
What was the median household income vs. cost of starter houses ratio 40 yrs ago, 30 yrs ago, 20 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, now?
You will find that the cost of a home in many regions does not the ratios of yesteryear. And it isn't unreasonable to expect that after a decade or more of working, that it be something at tenable. But in many regions, it is not. That condition did not exist 30 years ago, even in expensive places to live.
So either housing went out of whack with income, incomes didn't rise compared to cost of living, or BOTH. Housing is the number one reason why the middle class cost of living is declining. And that has zero to do with the superficial bling you cite.
What was the median household income vs. cost of starter houses ratio 40 yrs ago, 30 yrs ago, 20 yrs ago, 10 yrs ago, now?
You will find that the cost of a home in many regions does not the ratios of yesteryear. And it isn't unreasonable to expect that after a decade or more of working, that it be something at tenable. But in many regions, it is not. That condition did not exist 30 years ago, even in expensive places to live.
So either housing went out of whack with income, incomes didn't rise compared to cost of living, or BOTH. Housing is the number one reason why the middle class cost of living is declining. And that has zero to do with the superficial bling you cite.
Are you denying that young people want everything NOW? Are you denying that they don't go out and over extend themselves?
Are you suggesting that it is only the cost of housing that impacts them? That the extensive credit card debt, automobile debt does not affect them?
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Middle Class Decline
I try not to even think about getting sick, needing a surgery or even having to go into a nursing home later in life. Right now I have decent health care coverage for myself and my spouse. I am very fortunate. The important thing is to think about the future and plan for it. Even if I am not wealthy my fortune lies with my family and friends, something money just cannot buy. 
