Drew Sheneman for February 25, 2021

When I graduated from high school in 1962, my husband and I bought a three bedroom, two bath house and two cars within the next few years, on what he was making on a job he got right out of high school. Most of the guys I graduated with did the same. I didn’t work, few women did, and those who did usually chose to do so. Now, it isn’t really a choice for most women, unless they don’t mind living in poverty. When I decided to become a teacher, my first quarter’s tuition at Southern Illinois University was $79, and we rented any books we needed for $20. Anyone could go to college with just a part time job to pay for it, and without piling up a lifetime of debt. Since that time, the GNP has skyrocked and the American worker is acknowledged to be the most productive in the world. But, all of the value they are producing is going to the top 1%. who use that money to buy politicians who make laws that insure that they keep making most of the money, which they can use to buy more politicians, who will write more laws so they can make more money to buy more politicians and etc etc etc.The Middle Class standard of living is declining, and a college graduate hasn’t anywhere near as easy a time as we had with just high school. We produce the highest quality goods on earth, and we can’t afford to buy them.