When I graduated from high school in 1962, my husband and I bought a 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 actually 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 a state 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.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%. 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. Add the college loan payoff to that, and it’s a real struggle. We produce the highest quality goods on earth, and we can’t afford to buy them. A young person told me a while back that I couldn’t really understand why their generation was so angry.What I actually don’t understand is why they aren’t rioting in the streets.
When I graduated from high school in 1962, my husband and I bought a 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 actually 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 a state 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.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%. 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. Add the college loan payoff to that, and it’s a real struggle. We produce the highest quality goods on earth, and we can’t afford to buy them. A young person told me a while back that I couldn’t really understand why their generation was so angry.What I actually don’t understand is why they aren’t rioting in the streets.