Her viewpoints concerning stagnating middle income wages, growing gap between rich and poor have some merit. However the majority of people in past decades also endured paltry health insurance, retirement plans, and in fact, no allowances for child care. She attempts to explain the mythology about America consumerism as being something other then a lack of moral character, avarice, and greed,. Missing are such traditional American concepts as frugality, virtue, and dare I mention chastity. She portrays her own personal decision to become a single parent and to burden herself and child on her aging parents as a “creative solution”, and “recalibration of her life“. Is she really serious? And then furthermore becomes insolent enough to exalt a couple who deny their own child a house and so-called middle class comforts in order to sojourn to South America for six months, and for whose real benefit? She is audacious enough to tell the rest of us how we should understand our finances, and lower our own expectations while demanding increased big government support for childcare, healthcare, housing, and retirement programs. All naturally directed to irresponsible single parents like herself.

Growing up in lower middle-class circumstances at an early age I was taught the difference between wants and needs, and to take responsibility for my own actions. I was also made aware on how some of my more brainless decisions might have a negative affect on the rest of my family. There is a marked difference between people who are truly altruistic and those that are ethical egotists. And even more so between those that consider themselves to be individuals and those that are narcissistic.

But I also am aware that companies, corporations and government feel that they are less responsible for anyone. No health care, no retirement funds, no guarentee of any future at all. So maybe that is why there is need to “have it all now”, because no is expecting to be here tomorrow.

I saw the change when they started getting rid of older people simply because they could dump them for someone for cheaper pay, when they could fire you for no reason or create one to where you couldn’t qualify for un-employment, when rent was more than buying a house, when you were too afraid to hire the boy down the street to mow your lawn for fear of being sued if a rock kicked back and hurt him, (that hurt us as well as the kids who have had so many jobs taken away to where they never learn when they are young about working to earn money etc) Don’t see many paper boys and girls anymore. Not safe anymore. I used to babysit for 50 cents an hour….now thats even risky on both sides…..even at 12 bucks an hour now. (Seriously the going rate here for a highschool babysitter) You used to be able to fix your own car, there weren’t bans on washing your car in your driveway, you didn’t sue your neighbor because your kid fell out of there tree or skinned their knee on your sidewalk. I could go on and on and on with how the world is so different now and I still don’t have an answer…I did the same things my parents did and I got an education, which should have given me a leg up…..but they changed all the rules mid-stream and I never got the rule book. Like the person above….for every step forward…there’s something comming along to put you 3 steps behind. If costs are rising I’m not paying for what I did wrong….I’m paying to cover for the mistakes of others so the top dog doesn’t loose. (Like bank fees will go up, new standards to meet, higher fees, it’s not that it really costs more…they pass there losses down to those who do pay.) Doesn’t make any difference how much I cut back…..I can guarentee I’m going to pay more next year….whether it be from here or because of “global demand”. It’s going to be a hard fall for many who start already in debt because I know what a struggle it is now to just maintain and keep what I already own when I’m living within my means….and getting older with less job oppertunites and still needing to live. I don’t have credit cards and won’t buy what I can’t afford….but some person in the city can drive by and say I need a new roof and if I don’t do it in x amount of time….they can take my home because of housing codes. Even though it’s fully paid for. We all fight to have something and then you have to fight to keep what you own. Now is just wondering how to counter the moves and plan ahead before they change the rules again.

You should take a look at Elizabeth’s Warren’s numbers. She makes a good argument that it’s not actually the TVs and iPods (or even the food…which is cheaper now that 30 years ago) that’s causing the problem. It’s the big three: housing, healthcare, and education that have gone up in price all out of proportion to middle class salaries; and thus it’s families with children that tend to feel the squeeze the most.

Yes, people tend to buy bigger houses, but that’s not the whole story. The real premium is for houses in good school districts. I was lucky to find a 900 sq ft house for our first one. That 900 sq ft house with good school cost me as much as a 1800 sq ft house with a bad school would have. I paid more for the house because I was really buying schooling for our children.

I haven’t had a raise more than 1%/year in six years, and in that time I’ve had to take on health insurance premiums and quadrupled co-pays for health care. I know that I’m going backwards; and it sounds like I’m not the only one.

I don’t buy the idea of the cost of living increases causing problems for the American families. If you look at median income increases compared to the price of bread (consumer goods), the percentage increase over the years is in favor to our income increase more than the bread.

I believe the problem is the number of additional temptations that we indulge in. For example, growing up, our family didn’t have cellphones, internet, ipods, cable TV, DVD’s, etc. because we were not invented or available yet.

Tim Rosanelli

PS – I have a BA in anthropology. Hooray for virtually useless social science degrees.