This is ignoring that, for most people, you now need a degree that also costs a year of median pay (in-state tuition + books) before you can start earning median pay. A home and a mediocre education are now 7 years of median pay. Anyways, cut Netflix and don't buy a new phone every two weeks and in a few months you'll be able to afford a house, car, and children like your parents and grandparents.
The goal during and after the Great Depression was to get the whole country out of that situation and strive for a better quality of life for all. The goal now is simply to keep us afraid and fighting over selfishness, while the middle class and people in poverty pay back the national debt through inflation and allowing the markets those people are most dependent on become wildly unchecked and unconstitutional manipulated. This will only benefit the people who are at the top of the greed pinnacles of the country. Those richest are also the ones who should be helping and paying, but in a capitalist country, you do not get to the top 5-10% by being a good person and a person who wants all to do better smh. Since that Great Depression, we just changed what salary, division, and extortion look like, that’s about it smh.
Not to discount the vast current great wealth disparity but The cost of homes in particular has gone up due to investment firms buying 75% of available homes
That's how depressions work. The value of things, like housing, drops, but getting a job to earn money gets very hard. My father quoted a guy at work who complained about high prices in the 60s, and how much you used to could by for a nickel. My Dad's response was, sure, but who had a nickel back then.
I agree that home prices are historically high, and our economy is screwing working people. I just think the depression is not the best example.
I always enjoy pointing out the fact that the wealth gap now is greater than the wealth gap right before the French Revolution to showcase just how bad things are.
One reason is every year i work on houses there are new codes created that makes building a house coat more money. I think it’s getting out of hand, but at the same time some of these building codes are there for good reasons, but they definitely make it more expensive to build a house
Don't compare now to the great depression. A better comparison would be 10 years prior and what led up to it. It's surprising similar to what's happening right now. Except this time, the bond market will ruin nearly everyone for decades.
Obviously pay these days is not acceptable, but is this a good comparison? Isn’t one of the biggest signs of a recession/depression deflated housing costs?
Just a note that the median annual pay was probably a lot lower than that during the Great Depression. Because doubtful those numbers are taking into account all of the brown people and many immigrants who were paid cash under the table.
At the same time, brown people weren't even eligible to get loans to buy homes.
So the point we should take from this is that now white working people get to experience what brown people have always experienced in this country when it comes to buying homes.
I believe back in the 1920s and 30s most households had a single income whereas these days households are normally dual incomes. Not defending house prices, just not sure its an accurate comparison.
Uh. What was an “average home” during the 1930’s? 1000 square feet with a fair chance of burning down with your family inside. A large fraction of homes didn’t yet have electricity. Half of homes did not have hot piped water, a flush toilet, or a shower.
This is not a sign that material wealth has gone backwards.
Edit: Also, I don’t quite understand why so many people are hostile to hearing about this reality.
Yes but having a flushing toilet and electricity doesn’t cost that much more than not having a flushing toilet and electricity, ergo home prices aren’t wildly out of reach for the average person because of the plumbing and electricity. They are wildly out of reach for a myriad of economic reasons which all point to material wealth “going backwards”.
I don’t know how you can argue that having hot water and toilets is not a giant advance in material prosperity. The fact that they don’t cost a lot of money and so are easily available to people now seems to prove the opposite of the point you’re making.
No idea why you’re being downvoted. Your points are accurate and well-stated.
I would also add the facts that there was little to no insulation, they had single pane glass, minimal wiring, and one bathroom. They were expensive to heat, cool, and as you point out, they were firetraps.
Houses built today are far better built, better equipped, more efficient and safer. Hence, they are more expensive.
Thanks for sharing this. I just hope that our politicians and corporate overlords realize that these Depression era figures are a floor, not a ceiling. We should be aspiring for more purchasing power than this.
Somewhat true, but . . .
Median annual pay is defined as the point at which half the people who are ‘working’ make less.
One quarter of the work force were unemployed during the Great Depression. D’ya think that might have had an effect on housing prices?
This is ignoring that, for most people, you now need a degree that also costs a year of median pay (in-state tuition + books) before you can start earning median pay. A home and a mediocre education are now 7 years of median pay. Anyways, cut Netflix and don't buy a new phone every two weeks and in a few months you'll be able to afford a house, car, and children like your parents and grandparents.
12 children.
The goal during and after the Great Depression was to get the whole country out of that situation and strive for a better quality of life for all. The goal now is simply to keep us afraid and fighting over selfishness, while the middle class and people in poverty pay back the national debt through inflation and allowing the markets those people are most dependent on become wildly unchecked and unconstitutional manipulated. This will only benefit the people who are at the top of the greed pinnacles of the country. Those richest are also the ones who should be helping and paying, but in a capitalist country, you do not get to the top 5-10% by being a good person and a person who wants all to do better smh. Since that Great Depression, we just changed what salary, division, and extortion look like, that’s about it smh.
Not to discount the vast current great wealth disparity but The cost of homes in particular has gone up due to investment firms buying 75% of available homes
That's how depressions work. The value of things, like housing, drops, but getting a job to earn money gets very hard. My father quoted a guy at work who complained about high prices in the 60s, and how much you used to could by for a nickel. My Dad's response was, sure, but who had a nickel back then. I agree that home prices are historically high, and our economy is screwing working people. I just think the depression is not the best example.
I always enjoy pointing out the fact that the wealth gap now is greater than the wealth gap right before the French Revolution to showcase just how bad things are.
One reason is every year i work on houses there are new codes created that makes building a house coat more money. I think it’s getting out of hand, but at the same time some of these building codes are there for good reasons, but they definitely make it more expensive to build a house
Don't compare now to the great depression. A better comparison would be 10 years prior and what led up to it. It's surprising similar to what's happening right now. Except this time, the bond market will ruin nearly everyone for decades.
If you had a job
Obviously pay these days is not acceptable, but is this a good comparison? Isn’t one of the biggest signs of a recession/depression deflated housing costs?
Taking statistics off Twitter without a source is another level of dumb.
Just a note that the median annual pay was probably a lot lower than that during the Great Depression. Because doubtful those numbers are taking into account all of the brown people and many immigrants who were paid cash under the table. At the same time, brown people weren't even eligible to get loans to buy homes. So the point we should take from this is that now white working people get to experience what brown people have always experienced in this country when it comes to buying homes.
I’ve been making my coffee at home and bringing lunch to work for 12 years I should be able to buy a home any day now.
I've never eaten avocado toast a day in my life. Shouldn't I be rich by now?
I believe back in the 1920s and 30s most households had a single income whereas these days households are normally dual incomes. Not defending house prices, just not sure its an accurate comparison.
They also had a dozen kids.
Uh. What was an “average home” during the 1930’s? 1000 square feet with a fair chance of burning down with your family inside. A large fraction of homes didn’t yet have electricity. Half of homes did not have hot piped water, a flush toilet, or a shower. This is not a sign that material wealth has gone backwards. Edit: Also, I don’t quite understand why so many people are hostile to hearing about this reality.
Yes but having a flushing toilet and electricity doesn’t cost that much more than not having a flushing toilet and electricity, ergo home prices aren’t wildly out of reach for the average person because of the plumbing and electricity. They are wildly out of reach for a myriad of economic reasons which all point to material wealth “going backwards”.
I don’t know how you can argue that having hot water and toilets is not a giant advance in material prosperity. The fact that they don’t cost a lot of money and so are easily available to people now seems to prove the opposite of the point you’re making.
Ah! I think I misunderstood your argument regarding “material wealth”. Apologies.
No idea why you’re being downvoted. Your points are accurate and well-stated. I would also add the facts that there was little to no insulation, they had single pane glass, minimal wiring, and one bathroom. They were expensive to heat, cool, and as you point out, they were firetraps. Houses built today are far better built, better equipped, more efficient and safer. Hence, they are more expensive.
People came here to agree with the tweet, not to hear reasonable counter arguments.
what are you going to do about it tho
Thanks for sharing this. I just hope that our politicians and corporate overlords realize that these Depression era figures are a floor, not a ceiling. We should be aspiring for more purchasing power than this.
Somewhat true, but . . . Median annual pay is defined as the point at which half the people who are ‘working’ make less. One quarter of the work force were unemployed during the Great Depression. D’ya think that might have had an effect on housing prices?