I feel like youre missing the fact that even if the federal minimum wage were $35 per hour, absolutely no one working for that wage in the US would be able to afford to live comfortably at 50/30/20 (the thing you primarily take issue with) without working a second job.

Meanwhile, real actual minimum wages in nearly 10 states are still at $7.25 an hour. Let that sink in for a second. There are people close to getting paid literally 5 times less than what it costs to live anywhere near a base level of comfort. That doesnt even go into agriculture, where the federal minimum wage is even lower.

And Im not sure why you are so obsessed with this “boomer in the 70s argument”. Were comparing to the late 1950s when men alone were paid enough to support an entire family of four, which over doubles cost of living numbers. It was also a time when wealth was not concentrated within 1% of society.

I dont understand in literally any way the argument “we just have to do what we can”. Its literally unsustainable for many Americans to even try to do that.

Americans right now hold, collectively, over 1 trillion dollars in just credit card debt. On average each American holds over $6k in credit card debt, which would be over 10% of the average salary earner’s income ($61k). Again, just on credit card debt and nothing else.

In 1950, all debt owned by the average household equated to only 2% of their income. Two percent. And people were way worse off financially in 1950 than they were by 1958