That’s not entirely true. We had a brief period after WWII until the 70s when the middle class actually existed, the rich were taxed at 91%, and unions had leverage. This has eroded quickly since the dawn of neoliberalism.
Not a historian, but wasn’t that boom hugely from war profiteering and the fact that none of the bombs went off in the USA? Our factories were all spun up and ready to go while most of Europe was rebuilding. Oh, and the decimation of German and Japanese industrial or technical powers.
But to your point, many graphs showing how much wages have flattened disproportionate to production do show that the period in question was a better time for the average worker.
Yes absolutely. Also not a historian, but AIUI that’s probably the largest factor in the overall boom for the US economy at the time.
I didn’t mean to claim that the US was ever a peaceful nation. The best I could say is that the US sat out from the world wars until they had both (1) a way to sell war to the public and (2) a clear financial interest. Post-WWII, every US war has been a bullshit war.
I also don’t mean to sound positive about capitalism. My only real point was that for a brief period, (white) workers actually had an OK social contract with the ruling class. It didn’t last long at all in the grand scheme, and was probably a fluke, not real evidence that capitalism works.
Middle class does not exist, that’s a tool of the oligarchy to divide the working class into subsections, to give those higher up someone to look down upon. It reinforces individual over collective
That’s not entirely true. We had a brief period after WWII until the 70s when the middle class actually existed, the rich were taxed at 91%, and unions had leverage. This has eroded quickly since the dawn of neoliberalism.
Not a historian, but wasn’t that boom hugely from war profiteering and the fact that none of the bombs went off in the USA? Our factories were all spun up and ready to go while most of Europe was rebuilding. Oh, and the decimation of German and Japanese industrial or technical powers.
But to your point, many graphs showing how much wages have flattened disproportionate to production do show that the period in question was a better time for the average worker.
Yes absolutely. Also not a historian, but AIUI that’s probably the largest factor in the overall boom for the US economy at the time.
I didn’t mean to claim that the US was ever a peaceful nation. The best I could say is that the US sat out from the world wars until they had both (1) a way to sell war to the public and (2) a clear financial interest. Post-WWII, every US war has been a bullshit war.
I also don’t mean to sound positive about capitalism. My only real point was that for a brief period, (white) workers actually had an OK social contract with the ruling class. It didn’t last long at all in the grand scheme, and was probably a fluke, not real evidence that capitalism works.
We are in agreement
Middle class does not exist, that’s a tool of the oligarchy to divide the working class into subsections, to give those higher up someone to look down upon. It reinforces individual over collective