In Reply to: My question only had to with pre WWII* posted by DSCBruin on November 09, 2024 at 01:02:24
Let me speak to both eras.
> Didn't we enjoy a thriving middle class only for about 3 decades after WWII? Wasn't it an anomaly in the nation's history?
Yes, because the rest of the world needed products and we were the only ones that had an intact industry. Most of Europe/Asia was destroyed. That is no longer the case.
Two famous futurists made a bet about automation. One bet that it would allow people to work fewer days a week. The other bet that it would lead to mass inequality because people would work the same so there would be fewer jobs. The 2nd guy won.
In Japan they tried to spread the work around to more people by going from a 6 day work week to a 5 day.
The US tried to reduce the number of days an individual worked with Social Security and Obamacare to get older or more wealthy people out of the workforce. These all worked but could not beat out the constant efficiency of automation.
> Another anomaly was the Progressive Age in the early 1900s which brought the working class out of poverty, thanks to labor rights.
IMO a lot of that also had to do with stronger anti-trust laws that was enforced by T. Rosevelt. Unfortunately, monopolies are what we are seeing now almost everywhere.