"Typical work" is changing. It used to be possible to get ahead pretty easily. Work reasonably diligently (but not excessively so) in average income jobs and you could buy a house, accrue wealth, etc. You would have a lot more options on how you lived your life. Having a house with a paid off mortgage gives you enormous freedom, you can work for an average income that is well below what would normally be acceptable and yet still pay all of your bills (since you don't have rent). You could switch careers, become an entrepreneur, simply build your wealth, go on extended travel, indulge your hobbies, etc. Or, you could simply build a family, have the ability to spend plenty of time with them without having both parents working 40, 50, or 60 hour work weeks constantly with no time off, you could go on vacations with them, you could ensure their financial well being by being there for them when needed and helping them pay for college, their first car, their first house, etc, etc, etc. All of the typical "American dream" stuff that used to be possible in the mid-20th century.
Today a lot of that is not possible. People can't afford to have children because they are crushed under debt and burdened by low wages and high costs of living. They can't afford to indulge their hobbies, travel, take vacations, switch careers, or become entrepreneurs because it would be financial suicide to do so without having some sort of benefactor already.
People end up working diligently for years and decades with little to show for it. No personal wealth, no home ownership, no family, no personal freedom, no stature from career growth, etc. And it's not because the money isn't there, the economy has grown like crazy over the last 40 years, it's because the gains have been gobbled up by those who are already rich and powerful. CEO pay, corporate profits, low minimum wages, busted up unions, tax revolts.
When I was a child the old saying went "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", but it wasn't really true, the economy grew and even when the rich did get richer the poor still got richer even so. But in my lifetime that saying has become true. The rich get richer and the bottom half of the economy stagnates, and they get foreclosed on, evicted, driven out of work, made felons by the "war on drugs", etc, etc, etc, and their lives become more miserable. Our cities start acquiring barrios, slums, and shanty towns like barnacles, just like those in the 3rd world, just like those where corruption, iniquity, and injustice are the norm. Our economy creeps ever closer toward becoming a crony capitalist kleptocracy, if it isn't already. And the worst of all is that people think things aren't so bad because things aren't so bad for themyet. History is not going to look kindly on this era, nor will it draw as sharp a line between it and the more barbarous 20th century, 19th century, or even the middle ages. We have a chance to make the world a better place but only by acknowledging the problems that exist and moving forward with concerted effort.
Today a lot of that is not possible. People can't afford to have children because they are crushed under debt and burdened by low wages and high costs of living. They can't afford to indulge their hobbies, travel, take vacations, switch careers, or become entrepreneurs because it would be financial suicide to do so without having some sort of benefactor already.
People end up working diligently for years and decades with little to show for it. No personal wealth, no home ownership, no family, no personal freedom, no stature from career growth, etc. And it's not because the money isn't there, the economy has grown like crazy over the last 40 years, it's because the gains have been gobbled up by those who are already rich and powerful. CEO pay, corporate profits, low minimum wages, busted up unions, tax revolts.
When I was a child the old saying went "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", but it wasn't really true, the economy grew and even when the rich did get richer the poor still got richer even so. But in my lifetime that saying has become true. The rich get richer and the bottom half of the economy stagnates, and they get foreclosed on, evicted, driven out of work, made felons by the "war on drugs", etc, etc, etc, and their lives become more miserable. Our cities start acquiring barrios, slums, and shanty towns like barnacles, just like those in the 3rd world, just like those where corruption, iniquity, and injustice are the norm. Our economy creeps ever closer toward becoming a crony capitalist kleptocracy, if it isn't already. And the worst of all is that people think things aren't so bad because things aren't so bad for them yet. History is not going to look kindly on this era, nor will it draw as sharp a line between it and the more barbarous 20th century, 19th century, or even the middle ages. We have a chance to make the world a better place but only by acknowledging the problems that exist and moving forward with concerted effort.