The Death Of The American Middle Class

The End Of The American Dream (2011): With around 120,000 people declared bankrupt each month, many of the squeezed middle-class see the American dream slipping away. Subscribe to journeyman for daily uploads: www.youtube.com...
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"Our national myth is changing", explains author and journalist Thomas Hartmann. Whereas hard work was once seen as the route to prosperity in the US, nowadays the best most people can hope for is a lottery win. Three generations of farmers in Vermont ring the changes of the past fifty years. Doug Lyford remembers that his parents never argued about money: "There were five of us and we all went to college. No farmer could afford that any more". Disenchanted with the mainstream politicians, who have not done enough to help them, many are turning to the traditionalist Tea Party. For others, such as bicycle shop manager Anthony Laskaris, hard times are only to be expected: "this is the effect of globalisation: our living standards go down a little, so that others' can rise".
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[@commanderzero5811]

Here what I've learned from life. If you have a $100K income, live a $50K lifestyle, not a $200K lifestyle.

[@laurenzama9332]

You win

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

Bingo !!!

[@suesheification]

Who makes a 100k. Hahaha. Not anymore

[@dondressel4802]

Good advice

[@ppc7457]

@@suesheification hi tech engineers make 120k$ per year easily. more money is possible for them

[@lewisjeffreys9175]

How does a fourty year old lose 800k in the stock market. I am pretty sure he had margin loans, don't borrow to gamble.

[@gman76utube]

This guy’s not a “typical middle class” person in the US. He gambled away almost a million dollars? Who selected these people?

[@LouMontana-wc7nr]

He is a pig Republican and now he does not want to pull himself up.

[@cancel.lgbtq.6892]

Probably invest in single stock such as Hertz...

[@jeep19]

Trust me 😃 he believes the tea party is his salvation, regardless of there overt or closeted bigoted, racist views... and he'll blame brn/blk folks for all his white problems 😉👌

[@gregorysagegreene]

Yer, I know a lot of people got screwed. It was a real actual horrific period. But this guy was a very bad example. The 'stock market loss' was insane. Also, he was a total 'Joneses' guy, because he tells you after the fact that he suddenly now realizes that $1/2Mil is too much for a house. Given the state of gender in society in 2020, if you watch the eyes on that woman's face from back then, slim chance in hell she is with that fool now.

[@TheyRiseBand]

America still is the land of plenty... Plenty of debt...

[@Omonike88]

Good one! I like that quote.

[@avasmith235]

Plenty of Stupidity and Greed.

[@sengyang6780]

The land of opportunity everyone can become a tax payer.

[@Imnotyourdoormat]

roflol......

[@jaygill5582]

Land of the fee, home of the slave.

[@jerrysamuels1113]

The End Of The American Dream. It's called a dream because it isn't real. A dream ends when you wake up. Good morning.

[@jasonsaeger]

Good morning, Sunday morning!

[@frances3254]

And as I begin to 'wake up', seems like I have to stop blaming 'them'.

[@sunlongsun2071]

follow you step 😓

[@criticalcharge8172]

Wake up Mr. West

[@devilslayerthesaintofkille1317]

More like good MOURNING.

[@brendatrump5163]

I'll be damned if I go broke trying to put my kids through college and they can pay for their own wedding too.

[@jeaniemarczniec7755]

Way back in the day people got married in a nice dress at the hem of the parent. Everyone brought food and some brought records and there was the wedding. Cheap and everyone had a good time.

[@brendatrump5163]

@@jeaniemarczniec7755 Kids today expect too much for what we earn. If you make very good grades you won't need to pay for college and if you are making bad grades then you probably won't do well in college either so why waste my money, lol

[@brendatrump5163]

@@IndBro2 Yeah that's stupid because statistics show that half of marriages don't make it but a house won't leave you.

[@traskstoneworks]

@@IndBro2 Damn right, a fool and money are soon parted. But gramma now knows don't leave her estate to a fool! I hope she gives it to you, you will use like a tool to build more. We got nothing when we married.

[@greenearthblueskies8556]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cantalope67]

$120,000 a year which is $10,000 a month and he can't live off of it. I can't feel sorry for him

[@Republican_Extremest]

I initially wrote out this big huge thing. But I decided to delete it because I can barely afford to pay attention. Some people just wanna make ends meet I'd be happy with my ends being able to wave at each other. So I ain't gonna argue over this guy's 120k and fight with anyone else on where they went wrong or how if we has 120k what we'd do better. I can only care about my pockets. And no one else's.

[@jaster101finity4]

he is a MORON.

[@stoniewake125]

Yes but where does the person live and what’s the state of his past ... the smallest home in Maryland costs around 300k to start. In Arizona the largest nicest house can cost 100k soooo, standard of living is way different around the country

[@tola978]

$10k a month? In Massachusetts that's $7k after taxes. $6k after health insurance, life insurance, short term disability insurance,flex spending and 401k savings. $4k after mortgage is paid. $3500 after car payment. $2500 after groceries and gas cause $150 a week in groceries doesn't get much these days and $100 a week in gas doesn't go very far either. $2500 leaves you $625 a week if you are lucky enough to not have any student loans, credit cards, cell phones, friends, or a social life. If you're married that's a little over $300 each a week man. $120k is nothing in Massachusetts.

[@scorpionx7044]

As a Black person, I know our average pay is less than 1/3 of this white family, and you want me to feel sorry for them? Not going to happen.

[@benjaminday3868]

They spent their retirement money so their kids could party in college than come back to work in the pizza business.

[@GO-cz7cl]

lol, sad but true.

[@marcoAKAjoe]

Because they're foolish.

[@sthembisomthembu395]

Sad

[@threexladi]

@scott leachman Now that you're retired, you can read the greats of literature.

[@kidgreenhorn]

A smart phone bill is $1400 a year, fools. I think poor.

[@twister5974]

I would never make my parents use their pensions and work for the rest of their lives just so i didn't have to go into student debt. Freaking gross

[@robertchandler5055]

STOP WITH THE ART HISTORY OR COMMUNICATION DEGREES FIND OUT WHAT JOBS ARE REALLY HIRING AND REALLY PAYING YOUR SHEEPSKIN SHOWS YOUR LAST 2 YEARS NOT YOUR FIRST 2 YEARS THERE IS FREE SCHOOL OUT THERE FIND IT

[@jenniferharden2258]

KUDOS!

[@psylocibin9359]

Very gross

[@twister5974]

@@psylocibin9359 nice name!

[@ottomeyer6928]

sorry if you cant study then bloody well work and dont suck on your fingernails

[@stellamiller251]

I raised 4 kids on $34,000 all alone As a single mother I would appreciate even half of $120,000 From Canada 🇨🇦

[@amandayani997]

I am form Toronto. Me and my wife make $3000.00 a month end we are living in a better way. Thanks God

[@bradtitt7572]

Single mothers raise school shooters!

[@stellamiller251]

brad titt you’re probably like my ex husband who no doubt would say something like that while quitting his job not to pay child support and continue supporting hookers for his disgusting life

[@bradtitt7572]

@@stellamiller251 ew thats gross, sorry

[@hecticproduktionz9341]

@@bradtitt7572 simp

[@janiecel]

“You can feel richer if you want less.” I really like that. Something I need to remember.

[@tavoiaiono7885]

richness is not measured by money. THAT is the problem with people. You are already really rich with health, nature and love for each other. But you replace all that with money and cars and bullshit man made shit!!! So therefore you deserve you unhappiness until you truly recognise what is real.

[@jakekaywell5972]

I have my Studebaker and I'm proud of it. I can live on less, but I'm never going to lose that car. If I do, I would face the music and hurl myself off the nearest skyscraper.

[@jakekaywell5972]

@@tavoiaiono7885 I have my Studebaker and I'm proud of it. I can live on less, but I'm never going to lose that car if I have a say in it. If I do, I would face the music and hurl myself off the nearest skyscraper.

[@greenearthblueskies8556]

Is that why Tiny Houses are all the rage?

[@ARKANOSURANO-yr3qp]

Mismanagement of taxpayers' money ..... THEY GIVE A LOT OF MONEY TO OTHER COUNTRIES .... money that goes into the pockets of those politicians from countries like El Salvador, Colombia, etc. ..... instead of Invest in your own citizens.

[@christopherberg8273]

I have no credit, everyone I know tells me I need it. For what to get things I can't afford.

[@user-td7xf3gz4l]

Exactly Haha

[@lindsayschutz]

Actually, it does come in handy if you want to rent an apartment, get utility service, etc.

[@TheWolferinDenver]

@@lindsayschutz they just charge you a deposit if your credit is jacked up.

[@johnnydeep1599]

Secret of credit cards is to get them as many as you can then max them out get even with the criminal rapist backers.

[@TheNacropolice]

ITT: People who self sabotage by not having a credit card. Credit is not evil, you still need to buy food and other misc items. Use it wisely, especially those that have cash back are a no brainer. God I swear the Dave Ramsey crowd of "No Credit Cards" is just people who lack self control.

[@nstl440]

When I was poor I lived in abandoned buildings with permission of the owners, just to protect the building. Only paying for electricity and water etc. I drove a 30 year old vw rabbit on waste cooking oil. And that wasnt even real poverty.

[@oneilyork4023]

If me and my made $120k a year theres no way we would be broke no way!

[@Wealllovekaira]

oneil york depends on where you live. California? ABSOLUTELY not. Indiana? You’re fine.

[@sukisakain]

Susan Kelly If you pay in full each statement you don’t get charged anything, and you earn points. The best way to use a credit card is treat it like a debit card or cash. Don’t buy it if you don’t have a money to pay for it. I have 6 credit cards to which I charge everything for the points. I have an 822 credit score and no debt. But then I am very mindful and follows a strict budget, which I make at least weekly. My person opinion is that if you can’t control your spending, you shouldn’t have a credit card. 😊 Now, if I only had the same discipline towards my diet...😂

[@Imperial0666]

@@Wealllovekaira $120k in Silicon Valley is the same as making $45k in Northwest Indiana.

[@obadiahscave]

Right, and if you want to save. You must live like you make 60,000 a year. When you actually make 120,000 a year.. "that's how you get ahead"... GET HUMBLE OR GO BROKE..!

[@trailerkeller6760]

me 2008 school taught me: "I'm going to be rich, Wow $50,000 year that's a lot of money". me now: "Wow I'm going to be broke, and $50,000 is not a lot at all a year, and housing is fucking crazy expensive". I learned more from online then from actually finance class in school, or school at all itself.

[@rixille]

American education system does not teach its students important skills for surviving in this country, they just teach them boilerplate curriculum.

[@kaypendergast5676]

Exactly

[@traskstoneworks]

@@rixille They teach people to follow people with degrees and make sheep. I've met more educated idiots in my life than working people without educations. Oh yea, I've read Milton! and half the great books of the western world!

[@ARKANOSURANO-yr3qp]

Mismanagement of taxpayers' money ..... THEY GIVE A LOT OF MONEY TO OTHER COUNTRIES .... money that goes into the pockets of those politicians from countries like El Salvador, Colombia, etc. ..... instead of Invest in your own citizens.

[@msbeaz]

Let your children finance their own dreams. They will appreciate whatever it is they are striving for even more.

[@sueannnatter5295]

Yes that is what Suzi Orman recommends. You take care of your retirement and let the kids take care of their own college.

[@joanryder3842]

That would be setting them up for failure. You must be completely unaware of the current financial climate for young adults.

[@sueannnatter5295]

@@joanryder3842 I am not saying to not help them in ANY way...let them live with you rent free while in college or while saving for a house. If you take care of your own retirement than they are not burdened later on.

[@tejasmisra9115]

Getting your kids through college should be something every man should do

[@rons.6683]

A lot of pertinent and ‘spot-on’ comments here, but let’s be fair, folks. $120k is not the same in Boston as in Burlington, Iowa.

[@user-td7xf3gz4l]

Very true sir

[@klaralee98]

But you can live.

[@MiriamPrell]

...and it would be unlikely this family's income would be $120k in Burlington, IA. It would be more likely much less due to the types opportunities in the latter location.

[@RebelMonMon]

$120,000 a year and you’re struggling? GTFOH!

[@alohatraveler]

you're pretty much ignorant on the topic.

[@lakorai2]

Depends on where you live. $120k in Tenessee? Rich AF. 120k in San Francisco? You have 2-3 room mates and live in a community house. There is no way you will be able to afford your own home.

[@johnjones4502]

amazing display of common sense

[@karapana8398]

this is a talk of middle class, not working class.

[@wontbefooledagain9400]

When wages stagnated in the 70s that’s when the credit thing came in to play, they kept wages low and extended you credit, to keep you believing in the American dream.

[@donalddrysdale1657]

yes, exactly; and it was all part of an ongoing agenda in which we are clearly into deep now.

[@Gufberg]

I'm glad you're saying this because its the disgusting secret behind how neoliberal governments in US and aborad have kept spending high while letting wages stagnates. Just letting people go deeper and deeper into debt, increasingly making accept that they wont ever be able to pay off a mortgage, pay for their childrens educations etc. What has happened should be criminal.

[@drbassface]

yep, Credit. No increase in Wages. Then sent jobs overseas so we can spend our limited wages and credit on cheaper goods, so they don't have to increase worker's pay. Let's pray Pres Biden can get the $15 an hour through with Budget Reconciliation.

[@rixille]

Man that's awful.

[@1949coupe]

Since 1971, the dollar has lost 98% of its value. Since 2008, its gotten worse. The governement printing of money, the latest COVID package coming in about $1.9 Trillion, has eroded the value of the dollar and created an asset bubble. Even worse, the Governent lies and tries to get you to believe inflation is a mythical 2% or less. Anyone can look back at their life and see its a lie. For example, when I bought my first detached home in Toronto Canada for $215K in 1997, I was making $38K as a full time CPA student working in a Toronto firm. Property taxes were $1600, utilites $150 a month, a new VW Golf cost $19K taxes in (8%) and my last year tuition for commerce at UofT was $2300. Fast forward to 2020: the house is now worth $800,000, taxes are $6500, utilities are $450 a month, a new VW Golf with similar options costs $32K with sales tax of 13% and tutition is $15,000 a year BUT a CPA student now makes a $50,000 a year. There is no way a young couple could ever buy what we did in 1997 working the same jobs even with a side job. So, N. Americans are borrowing more to make up for the lost purchasing power to maintain the lifestyle they think they deserve. This has to blow at some point, but I've been saying that for 10 years. Unfortunately I think the aftermath of COVID may finally bring the house of cards down. A lot of people are going to get hurt, while we transfer more wealth from the shrinking middle class to the top 5%.

[@woulfe42]

Hold up, George is the owner of a franchise owner in multiple locations, and is still struggling? I think you need to change your accountant, cause people are stealing from you my friend.

[@infinitymfg5397]

I agree, I had a hard time empathizing with that as well. Once they stated those creds they should have given more details on how he got into that situation.

[@Healingandchoices]

Taxes are upwards of 60 percent on business owners plus other expenses. So started income is inclined to be pretaxed

[@andrewsanders6270]

One guy made 120k a year and in 4 months there deeply in debt ???? Sounds like a spending problem on that one !

[@robertdivany1627]

Absolutely true sir .you gat that right

[@cakeisyummy5755]

The Cost of Living is Extremely High.

[@jeep19]

They invoked reagan, as they always do as an era of prosperity for the US and the middle class! But reagan, republicans, and conservative policy's helped to create the problems they're in! Manufacturing, made in USA, jobs exported, and how the rich avoid tax liability (off shore) happened under reagan, and corporation became a person under bush and restructuring of taxes! The richest 1% pay less taxes than any one in the middle class!!! Trump gave the rich tax breaks in order that they would reinvest in there people, instead, they bought back stock to enrich themselves!!! But as the narrator notes, the racist hypocritical view of the tea party, republicans, and conservative white america blames Obama!

[@jotsingh8917]

Amen, add a bloated pig called Military Industrial Complex with the army of lobbyist and retired generals feeding at taxpayer expense, creating nothing. Today, the pillars of the American economy are weapons, drugs, oil and money laundering.It is the Golden Age of government malfunction that may end with the implosion of this country. When an empire is collapsing that's when they are the most dangerous. The USS Corona Titanic is sinking fast. Fasten your seat belt when the dollar lost the reserve currency status.

[@donalddrysdale1657]

the beyond mega-rich cult behind these paid actors(presidents) probably used Obama just to further place the blame in the wrong place, but isn't it the public that really is to blame because it's the people who have kept voting this tyrannical cult in. i think white people were used as a sub-controller group by the cult, and David Icke has pointed out that mass immigration has been one of their control tactics for centuries, though the so-called multi-culturalism of the 80s has backed fired on them. it is clearly ALL of us that they have always seen as less than if anything at all.

[@ianmuir3640]

Corporate America got the American public just where they want them ,forget the dream concentrate on reality

[@fstblk5]

Ian Muir The dream was obviously a delusion. My American dream is having the money to pay the rent, gas, groceries and utilities. I think some people took their status of middle class for granted, but the powers that be said not so fast. We in the upper 1% are going to get ours off the top and the rest of you can scavenge.

[@atwaterpub]

America is a prison.

[@freddelarsson4434]

If you can't afford something twice, you can't afford it at all - Jay Z

[@keith4154]

I live in Australia our middle class is shrinking fast. Our housing has been flooded and manipulated with Chinese money. A large portion of manufacturing has relocated to sweatshops off shore. Our unions are no better than the corporate giants and influenced by the far left. The country is almost ungovernable due to hung parliaments and weak self serving leadership.

[@jgdooley2003]

Whats scary is that a lot of Irish find Australia attractive and go there to live. But you have just described Ireland. Foreign vulture funds have now bought up a lot of the housing loans, ALL our mnfg is gone off shore and the political system is chaotic.Many Irish are returning home as they find costs in Australia very high.

[@andrewmorton395]

Same in the uk

[@georgesingh826]

I am a middle age guy,grew up in a poor country, but I always remember one thing my teacher always say, Any time expenditure is more than income,you are in great danger ! And I live my life on that motto ! I do hope you can do the same!

[@danmiller2940]

Well said. That one couple said they spent their retirement on their kids college. Who told them that was a good idea?

[@donalddrysdale1657]

sure, i don't own anything but at least i'm not in serious debt.

[@gagetomerlin9822]

Most of these people don't over spend though. What are you talking about?

[@udontknowme7798]

In China the middle class grow fast, wile in US the middle class is dying?

[@lugubriousmane1292]

The US manufacturing that built our large middle class, made it possible for even the poor and uneducated to have a family and a nice life, house, etc, and now all of those jobs are in China now.

[@SpaghettiKillah]

Middle class in China is not the same as middle class in US in terms of $$...by a huge margin.

[@nee-grow]

Yes because people were sold crony capitalism here without actually thinking about the ramifications of such a system.

[@davidalexoff1658]

I graduated high school in 1980. I worked for 4 yrs. at a furniture manufacturer in Ravenna,Oh. They had there since 1956. They closed in 1984. My first experience with un-employment. Ron Reagan was President.

[@walterkelly]

Six years since this was aired but they could have shot it yesterday because it's just as bad now. We are watching the great, productive, loyal, hard-working, moral, family-centered Middle Class is at the bitter end of their rope. We can't spend our way out of a Depression this time like we did in the thirties. As bad as it looks for this generation of Middle Class Americans, the next generations are in line to suffer far worse.

[@patsavage1245]

I'm 68 yrs, from Scotland.(Retired at 61)I came from a family of eleven children. My father was unemployed through ill health, my mother didn't work. I was in full time education from 5 yrs to 23yrs. The Gov't paid everything, including a bursary for my keep throughout. Thirty years ago, I completed a degree in computing, my employer paid for it. "Everyone" has free health care, prescriptions etc. We have free travel within Scotland for the over 60's. None of my family really want for anything. We still complain though. Figure that.

[@jianquanma]

you should feel proud for your country sir

[@robertdivany1627]

How can a country afford to pay for all that .I guess there is no corruption in Scotland. Because here in the USA 🇺🇸 .every politician is corrup to the bone

[@patsavage1245]

@@robertdivany1627 Politics is, by nature, corrupt. We pay through being taxed at source. The more you earn the more you pay.

[@VolksdeutscheSS]

Something here isn't right: with 120K/year even a family should be somewhat solvent.

[@karapana8398]

what sort of political animal are you?

[@VolksdeutscheSS]

A reasonable, thinking animal. These people do not/are not managing their money correctly. I see this all over NOVA.

[@balaia29]

120K.a yr is a decent salary. Not great but decent

[@VolksdeutscheSS]

Absolutely right. But you should be able to do something with this income. Again, this family is economizing incorrectly. Also, they have kids, so they should have deductions--i.e., be keeping more of their income than a single person would.

[@dknowles60]

They should be rich

[@ToniA5555]

Did this fool say they earn $120,000 a year? 3:10 This is some bullsh**!

[@carly829]

Right?? I am a single parent who makes a FRACTION of that, I have two jobs, no government assistance whatsoever, I own my home (well, i share it with the mortgage lender lol), but I never miss a bill. My debt is slowly dwindling. It's the attitude of "I want it and and I want it now" then pay later mind-set. If I made half of that on my own, I'd be doing amazing financially!! They have no reason to whine!

[@Scriptorsilentum]

NO SHIT. I live in a small half-ton truck with a cap on it and a couple of sleeping bags, camping equipment. i haven't had a home in four months. i'm surviving and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. if i made half of what these two make i'd be in seventh heaven.BTW, their dishwasher... they'd be further ahead to buy no name dish soap and do them by hand.

[@rodneynorris5281]

Thought that I was the only one hearing this. I have three kids and if we had that kind of money I'd be on top of the world lol.

[@chigasaki06]

And what state do you reside? They live in freaking Boston...living in Boston, NYC, LA, or DC aint cheap. I make what a lot of people would consider a "good" salary, and I'm not complaining. However, living in NYC, I cannot imagine buying a house here. Even in the shittiest neighborhood, you're looking at 400k easily! A decent neighborhood and it's easily in the 600k range. Hell, there's an abandoned house uninhibited for the last 7 years that looks like something in a horror movie on my block selling for $700k!!! I don't even have kids, so I can't imagine how limited I would be if I did. The cost of living in the U.S. is skyrocketing but salaries are stagnant. Politicians are absolutely corrupt in this country and they are only agents for the rich. They kill unions and create a narrative about "freedom" when the only freedom they are interested is the freedom for CEO's to do whatever the hell they want to do. Hell, I won't be surprised if the minimum wage is abolished.

[@acajudi100]

ToniA5555 Judi Grace StoryCorps. Thank you.

[@slowtaknow]

40,000-100,000 a year?.........i wish

[@sunnysunshine6271]

$120.000?????? Oh dear, as soon as I find time, I will shed a tear...smdh!!!

[@nicko.7446]

Right? I somehow get by on earning less than $25k in Southern California.

[@turtle2pond]

Yes 120K for both of them is 60K each and that is still alot for SILICON VALLEY (*_*)

[@benjerry6442]

This does seem a lot, but have you seen US prices for basic commodities? Water bills are horrendous, food is unreal how expensive it is. Internet is slow and expensive, healthcare is astronomical. This $120,000 for two people will soon evaporate. I was amazed at their income size when I lived there but as soon as I had to spend money on basic stuff I couldn't believe the prices. College fee's, dental, vehicle repair, furniture, it's all over priced. Food was the main shocker how can they charge those prices I'll never know.

[@luzfigueroa1550]

Sunny Sunshine l don't feel any simpathy for a family of 3 making 120,000 a year r u fucking kidding me with that?!

[@sunnysunshine6271]

Luz Figueroa I guess you don't understand sarcasm, since I said exactly the same thing smdh.

[@sallywilkinson4869]

Everyone of these cases is self inflected.$500,000 mortgage on a house.And the other family that can't live on $120,000 ? Give me a break !!!!!!!! What they all need to learn is to live within yours means and not be too greedy.The last couple could have bought a cheaper house

[@compwrecker]

At that time, they could afford the mortgage. Don’t your kids and family deserve the best you can afford for their and your future, education, life quality?

[@duggygee6387]

“You implement that NAFTA, the Mexican trade agreement, where they pay people a dollar an hour, have no health care, no retirement, no pollution controls, and you’re going to hear a giant sucking sound of jobs being pulled out of this country.” -- Ross Perot 1992

[@ManishSingh2k]

These people need better money management if they are unable to meet ends with $120K.

[@donovanhoover7265]

Cost of living is different all over, that was the whole point of the Boston bit. How prohibitively expensive big cities have become.

[@goofusmaximus1482]

In SF, 120k a year qualifies for low income housing.

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

What you missed here is the decrease in spending. The 1% does not spend money that creates jobs. The middle class of a 150 millions buys 3 shirts, jeans and cars and takes 3 trips pr year. THAT is what keeps geasing the economy! Make the wheels spin again. Start taxing big firms as Boeing, McD and other so they can contribute on state and federal level!

[@DaveS859]

Saving creates jobs, not spending

[@leonhenry4861]

yeah but most of the 1% have a business or employ staff so that's what governments want. The boss walks away with most of the cash and the employees pay the bill.

[@joshthegringo]

14:10 If you lost $800,000 in the stock market then there has to be more to the story than just "hard times". Even through 2008 the market rebounded and has gone up. Sounds like poor financial management to me.

[@deebow0865]

What's going on with the 120k.. ?Cut,cut,cut expenses !Eat beans and rice with your rice and beans!!!

[@rcworks9762]

Champagne brunches don't just fall out of the sky!

[@BETTERWORLDSGT]

Deebow 08 Man. I couldn't even imagine making 120 K a Year. best I ever did was 50 k. and I was good. By the time I retired I had 2 Cars. My pension is only a Fifth of that and I get by!!!

[@deebow0865]

Ik..that's about what I make now..44-50 k..I'm ok..i manage to save.ppl just wanna miss manage money and complain about what they don't have. Smh

[@AnaLuizaHella]

Beans and rice together? Are you crazy? Beans today, rice tomorrow.

[@chinojarjos]

They are talking about the American middle class while it is true that one can only eat a few things and make life cheaper that is not the middle class in the reaches country in the world if the American middle class can not make a good life the poor classes in the rest of the world are going to struggle even more. 90% of the wealth in the world is in the top 1% it is insane.

[@22ergie]

3:11 $120,000.00 a year?? You can EASILY live off of that! MOVE!!

[@lincolnpaul1814]

SmutnaJules007 rychwalska you’re stupid

[@2passportsandpostcards]

"You can feel richer if you want less." Hmmm, interesting theory. So hard for many to put into practice.

[@traskstoneworks]

Right on Irina! we are worth over two million and we live on around $1000 a month our biggest bill is property taxes followed by insurance!

[@jonathandeatherage9271]

Most upper incomes create up with debt, get outta this $spend, $spend $spend mentality!

[@washuuchan6644]

totally agree. can't feel too bad for someone who lost $800,000 in the stock market or a family who pulls in $120,000 a year. sorry. neither of these stories is indicative of the REAL middle class, those who are above the poverty level but are either JUST getting by or aren't quite getting by (if someone lost a job, they'd be homeless, without insurance, etc.). i can understand why i find the current "conservative" "parties" so appalling - it's that whole "poor me" attitude when you have insurance, organic food (anyone else catch the newman's own?), a nice house, running water, safety in a nice neighborhood, etc. etc. etc. if you made the conscious choice to gamble that away or you're not putting your $$ away responsibly ... it doesn't matter where you live, you're still going to gamble / throw that $$ away.

[@jungleejanwar1801]

Washuu Chan, that's correct...For a gambler even billions of dollars are not enough!!!

[@camman6912]

Jonathan Deatherage you are 100% correct Read the book The millionaire next door People who have money don't spend on fancy cars and nick nacks They put money into stocks bonds and precious metals

[@SMC01ful]

The problem is guys we have a culture of spend, spend, spend. Advertising and conformity are rammed down peoples throats. Blatant and shitty displays of wealth are all over the media. It's a deep worm hole.

[@annam817]

They pay a ton of taxes on their homes too. There are $500,000 homes by a small lake, not too far from me. The taxes are $20,000 a year.

[@firstlast_x]

It's really simple. The cost of living goes up, while your wage stays the same. So in order to maintain your life style you put yourself in debt. Solution: Make more Money or Spend Less. Your choice

[@CelestialWoodway]

Simplistic solution and not easy to do either.

[@Drchamomile]

Its understandable that these Americans who earn 120 K/year are struggling. Because of the capitalist system things such as healthcare, pension, Education, etc come at a price. Things which we in Europe enjoy. As a doctor in Germany I earn a bit more than 50 000 Euros a year and I enjoy a good life. The most important thing for me is that I have access to great medical care and a good pension & Education for my children is free, including University. When I dont have a job, I receive unemployment salary & my social costs are paid for. I get 3 years maternity leave, of which 1 year is fully paid (salary) , the other 2 years I receive part of the salary and a receive an allowance for each child monthly. How awesome is that!

[@spuriouseffect]

Hilarious! Capitalist system? You mean Socialist/Corporatist system. Healthcare skyrocketed under ObamaCare. And it was already high because of Medicare and Medicaid. And education is high because of Government loans. Any time the government gets involved, prices go up.

[@spuriouseffect]

Raymond Lim.... I have friends who live in DC, Chicago, Portland, Santa Cruz, and none of them make 120k a year. They live within their means, and don't buy 500k houses and matching BMW's. Your comment about southern States shows me just what kind of person you are anyway. Crappy.

[@Bvic3]

50k x 40 years = 2 million euros 100k€ to spend higher education would only be 5% of your life income. Quite a lot, but not absurd. What makes people bankrupt is the inability to plan. People spend all their earn. After 70 years without major wars to destroy slowly accumulated wealth, you have on one side middle class millionaires small savers and middle class debtors. People love to complain about the rich, but a large amount of wealth is owned by middle class small savers. French people collectively own 8 years of French GDP. That wealth means absurdly high housing prices and huge state and private debt as the money has to be stored somewhere. It's just that in a middle class neighbourhood, you have 1 family of savers with 2 million euros in assets saved slowly since WW2 and 10 families of spenders with 200 000€ in debt. This means on average 180 000€ in assets per family. Or 6 years of GDP. Or 3 years per adult in the family. The middle class owns on average 3 years of GDP. It's just that it's in the hands of an invisible middle class millionaire family who seem poor as they spend 50% of their middle class income. Then you have the same among those who earn a lot, but they have 20 years of GDP on average. And on average at the national level you end up with 8 years of GDP of assets.

[@davidschlessinger9945]

your system is like 10 million times better than ours

[@schuberc70]

what is it with Amerika and their communism Obsession..uhh the ghost of communism. Man, if you help someone accross the street you are a communist over there. What about Schools, traffic lights, roads etc. would you want those gone? The Problem is indeed communism as in Profits=privat and losses=tax Payer. If you can bring Reagan, Greenspan, Hank Paulsen, Angelo Mazillo, Richard Fuld etc. etc. into the equation, you have the answer. Such a shame that such a rich Country like the US is really a third world Country.

[@canabox7112]

In 1981 I made $xx I bought a new Camaro. Now I make twice that but a new Camaro is four times what I paid.

[@zpetar]

American dream is always one possession away. You have one bedroom? Why not two? You have two cars? Why not two? You have one laptop? Why not two? An of course you always need to be up to date. Always newest model of car. Phone. TV... And toys. LOL. People watch stupid TV shows where some guy spends thousands of dollars to buy some old jukebox and think they need it too. That's why 120.000 $ is not enough.

[@geraldbrienza4474]

And yet, these fools continue to vote against their interests.

[@oldsjunkie1]

To think that voting for or against one's interests in the good old US of A is possible is as foolish as these simpletons living outside their means and thinking it's someone else's fault. Don't vote. Rise up.

[@Imperial0666]

you have a choice between two parties that don't give a shit.

[@Imperial0666]

@Alan Rosenzweig Democrats are no better. both of these parties should be boycotted and then a revolution will start brewing.

[@Imperial0666]

@Alan Rosenzweig the only difference between the two parties is the rhetoric. it's more like controlled opposition. both of these parties are funded and controlled by billionaires. you have billionaires on the right vs billionaires on the left playing these political games for show. what we really have is a one-party billionaire oligarchy.

[@tomaspettersson4257]

Watching videos like this about the rising poverty and every 10 minutes or so commercial interruptions of new smartphones that costs about 1500$. It makes you think.

[@ViacheslavS-c5f]

Consumerism

[@tomaspettersson4257]

@@ViacheslavS-c5f Exactly

[@catdooley4616]

Lost 800,000 on the stock market. Sounds like rich people to me.

[@karapana8398]

middle class report!!!

[@MiriamPrell]

Proves anyone can be rich one day and lose it all the next (or over time). This could happen to anyone of course. Tells me I should never assume I can maintain a lifestyle I've grown accustomed to but instead plan for a minimalist yet comfortable life. I believe most would rather not think of the words "thrifty' or "frugal"--but that's how wealthy people stay that way.

[@marcoAKAjoe]

@@MiriamPrell very interesting

[@jeffkarrow6924]

Clearly, there's something wrong when minimum wage is less than what I made in 1980 when I was an unskilled laborer unloading flour trucks for $8.50 an hour.

[@alanmirell7448]

Poor baby can't have his pool anymore.

[@josephhowell8158]

Alan Mirell lol

[@kmvenezia4337]

Everyone on this video, ( with the exception of the bicycle shop owner and maybe the wine growers) is DELUSIONAL. While small biz is the way out from under the oppression of the multi-nationals, manufacturing is NEVER COMING BACK TO THE US. It's no longer outsourcing the middle class jobs that is the prob, that's done. The prob now will be automation. These people are always fighting the last war.

[@nunya9763]

My dad made about 70 thou a year and we lived pretty good in a nice condo. I make about 50 and I cant even afford rent by myself.

[@vladimirlenin843]

Was he living off the land or something?

[@DIVISIONINCISION]

You're doing it wrong. Start by reevaluating where you live. Sounds like you can't afford it.

[@shawnmichael6190]

Live back in the woods like me shoot deer grow vegetables and catch fish best time to cut firewood is Sub-Zero you don't even sweat

[@traskstoneworks]

Two years ago we bought our first wood splitter, 35 ton unit new for $1200 we're 69 and grew our own veggies, but still have to buy meat but have reduced our consumption of it! to many pigs around to kill deer illegally!

[@caliente6319]

i am sick and tired of people trying to make me feel sorry for somebody simply because they have a family and kids, as if somebody put a fuckin gun to your head and made you have kids. this belief that everybody has an inherent right to have children no matter how unfit they may be, is ridiculous and needs to go.

[@imcustomized]

I don't understand this recurrent theme of parents spending piles of money to send their kids to university, even when it means wiping out their retirement fund. Without wanting to come across as being boastful at all, I managed to graduate from two universities, and not one penny of the cost was paid by my parents; they simply didn't have the money. I did it by _working_ and taking as many courses as I could afford. It took longer that way, but it got done, my parents weren't cleaned out, I was nearly debt-free on graduating, and I appreciated every minute of university time -- never missed a lecture -- because it was costing me an arm and a leg. I want to end this with a pithy comment like, "Screw conventional wisdom," but how on earth is it _not_ conventional wisdom to buy what you can afford and work toward a goal? From what I've seen so far of this video, the people being interviewed are blaming everyone but themselves for their perceived hardships.

[@kimberlysteller2556]

imcusto the parents need to fund their home and future so there is security for the kids if they fail.

[@mhikl4484]

But most youths today do not know how to save. Not that they have much to save with the jobs that are available. Frugal is not a word most today understand and undergo; from youth to adult.

[@drakekoefoed1642]

"Education" costs more even if it is worth less. The oligarchy will take it all unless pitchfork day comes first

[@ms.m7995]

imcusto Agreed. I'm a Gen X'er and personally I don't know anyone whose parents paid for their college education. I paid for my own. It can be done.

[@Sir_BoazMutatayi]

imcusto That is why they all voted for Trump. The issue is always someone else ( immigrants, blacks, Mexicans )

[@SteveSnowman]

I worked for a major corp for 3 decades (till 2008) and my job finally was off-shored ; heck, I even got to train my replacements. I now work twice as hard for half the pay.

[@myronhelton4441]

At 7 minutes. These people cant make it on $120. 000 a year & have to send their kids to school. Move the heck away. Dont send your kids to schoo. Getsome kind of business to save on taxes.

[@ferretman6790]

‘The End of the American dream fall of the middle class” Me: *J A N K U S*

[@LouMontana-wc7nr]

YOU NAILED IT!! We started to sell all of our excess shortly after Trump was elected. Everyone thought I was nuts when I told them that Trump and the Republicans will destroy the economy. We are very fortunate to have cleared all our debt. I wish you the best of luck.

[@geofox9484]

These are low key some great documentaries on a vast range of topics i didn't know I wanted to know about

[@nicksofialakis1448]

The great US problem. To many corpo-wars, to many dodgy corporations administrating the country.

[@ci7280]

In the EU with 24.000$ people have a good life including holidays, education, 2 years unemployment support and complete health care and retirement pension. If with 120.000$ they are poor in the usa , is their fault: they have a corrupted social and politicsl system that kills its own people and they are proud of it, trying to spread it out in all the world. Than sink proudly! In the Eu this was possible from 1960s to 2020, now we are having issues because all the world is turning into an immense Detroit, thanks US. Hydration 1 liter at the hospital costs 1 euros, in usa 1000 $. There are no reasons for these overprices and when they blame china, that is just an excuse to cover up their own idiotic capitalistic system that puts in poverty 3/4 of the white population leaving 42% of their children surviving on food vouchers. My mum was a single mum with teacher salary. I have 3 masters and a bachelor in top universities and I had some surgeries as well: I HAVE ZERO DEBTS. If it is possible in EU why not in USA?

[@gregorysagegreene]

I had so much misery after 2008, and I had just been trying to recover from a divorce two years earlier when that recession hit, so I was totally unprepared. I didn't have that much, but I lost it real fast ... waiting, paying on all my bills for six months, hoping it would get better, and it never did. I had years of nightmarish adventure after that, and my life would never be the same as when I had earned $75K yearly prior to that. But with the job and career loss, I've never made it anywhere back near that level in 12 years. I lived in a field for months on end in all weathers, and there were years when my lofty annual income was less than $2.4K (the $185 amount per month they put on your Food Stamps card). It was an epic struggle, constrained by the fact that it really is a trap when you get pushed that far down. Some of the people on this video make me laugh at how 'poor' they are. Sure they had hard times, but it's all relative, and obviously quite a few examples were badly chosen - because although the difficulty of that time is valid - many of those people on here were just plain unrealistic. How can you say you are deprived ($120K), when six times as many peoples' value of hard luck ($20k) could easily fit into your income. I agree with the premise of rich vs middle class inequality - and it is a 40 year rape - but this video does it a great disservice by inadequate supporting references. Anyway, back to me. After almost five years of hell on Earth, culminating in living at a Truckstop in an old donated SUV while working as a cashier for Sears 14 hours and about $120 net per week, I finally had a modest breakthrough by word of mouth from a friend I had been living with at a homeless shelter. For four years (not two) from 2013-17 I studied and graduated from a Community College with three (not one) Associates Degrees, Honors, all with the ultimate goal of exceptionally distinguishing myself to any future employer. But the motivation was Obama's free money, which kept me gratefully in motels for most of each of those semesters. The price - $30K in student loan debt, but my choice, my bad. I figured I already owed so much in back taxes from 2008 to the IRS that in the worst case they could just come and cut it out as congealed blood from my veins when I'm dead. So how bad was a bit more going to be ? Anyway, in the 12 years since the recession I have still never economically gotten to the point where I could even consider setting aside the fees to file for Bankruptcy. So that's another way of understanding this. Now, another friend I had met at the Shelter as well told me some of his tale of woe from 2008 too. He related how the credit dunning letters kept coming after he fell on hard times. They would send him a threatening advice ... and he would just throw it in the bin. Then later he would get a request to have him pay a reduced total ... and he would just throw it in the bin. Next the letter would plead with him to just pay a little at a time ... and guess what - he would just toss that in the bin too. In the end they just gave up on sending him letters ... but he kept his sanity of mind. This is why I don't really care too much about my Student Debt, because it was leverage taken on out of desperation - not stupidity, like those people in the film did in their 'good times'. I'll own my mistake, but I know the world is so screwed up, that this was the choice I faced at the time. So yes, you can get beyond caring about Debt, and I will never get another credit card in my entire life. Despair and homelessness gives you these perspectives. Mother Theresa said that "Loneliness is the worst form of poverty." She was wrong... There are many things below that level - like cold, and wet, and security in your sleep, a n d death. Anyway, I got the 3 degrees, with honors ... and not in liberal arts, mind you ... and I did it in my early fifties ! But the trap of 'self-reliance' in good 'ole USA reared it's head again, and I came out of College without a home or the resources to propel my Education into where I wanted to go, let alone a half-decent job. I was in a precarious situation yet again ... the defining characteristic of modern America. At that same time I recall that I knew another man struggling in late 2017 as well, and he may have been the one who cooked your side-order breakfast at the Denny's while he secretly slept in a field down the street that Fall. Never to be outdone by the sheer horrors of desperation (I was afraid I might die in the cold in my field that Christmas), I took another friend's timely advice - a one way bus ticket to the far end of the State. There, I began an almost 3 year, and 3 company, journey all across the U.S. as a Semi-Truck driver. Truckin' may have been the thing that finally saved me ... because now, instead of being homeless, I was 'Homeless in a Tru-u-ck!' where at least I had somewhere decent to live and sleep while I was earning a little bit of money. Of course, I got put off during the Pandemic in May of 2020, and I'm on Unemployment with Trump's help as well right now. But I'm ok, because I can live with little, and I can leave mail unopened for months - or even years - at a time. When this craziness ends, I'll have that vocation to go back to (of which I earned a modest $37K last year - the first decent wage in over a decade), and I'll have my college qualifications and some lofty dreams to look forward to. Far from being middle class now, but realistic in today's America, it's where I, and we, have come from in being screwed over these past few decades.

[@Manx123]

It really is a shame that the Federal Government decided to give you student loans when it was so unlikely you would actually be able to pay it off, which is considerably causes higher education to be overpriced.

[@marieschulenberg719]

Our homes changed from being a shelter to being investments. Instead of paying down their shelter, homeowner’s borrowed against the equity in their homes to buy all their stuff. I never went to college until I turned fifty. By then, my home was paid off. I learned that a college degree doesn’t guarantee you a job. It’s all a fallacy. People need to learn how to become a minimalist and having a roof over their heads. Stop using plastic money!

[@natalebutler6346]

Try making it on less than 18000. A year then tell me about a struggle

[@hydrolito]

Get a room mate that pays to stay there just don't let them rip you off.

[@patriciaalexander9751]

Same here. But I'm doing it and not suffering to bad

[@TheMadisonHang]

@8:04 sounds like the most concise explanation I've heard at the same time, things have changed though, but i think that is a precise explination

[@chickendogful]

If you and your wife are making around 120,000 dollars a year and are still having a hard time , then you are not living within your means.You are living way beyond your means. I certainly have no sympathy for you .

[@robertsontirado4478]

People in the comments don't get it, if you make 120k or 20k the government will make it that 90% takes it back from taxes, fines, water bills, politicians work night and day to get every penny you make.

[@TacoGrande007]

14:27 Wife gives him "look of death" :-I

[@sallyjohnson5985]

Wife thinks, “LOSER!!”

[@alexzander1769]

Is it the American dream or the American reality🙄🤔 America will eventually collapse Trust and Believe... either you're rich or you're poor the middle class died long time ago

[@mickeylara2111]

When the "one percent" have 90% of all liquid asset and the working class only has 10% of all liquid asset, that isn't enough to stimulate an economy.

You are the 99%? Why? You are the problem! Not the "1%"! Did anyone steal anything from you?

[@mickeylara2111]

@Hoang Nguyen The 99% got rip off when the Wall Street "one percent" took 13 trillion dollars for the bailout money, this is money that could of gone in infrastructure development. That's to the kleptomaniac kleptocrats.

[@Victorseafog]

@ If you are in the USA you are certainly a prime example of a low information voter. There is a lot of information regarding the new tax cut for the morbidly rich last year for example that clearly shows the theft and corruption. You don't have to go back to the 2008 bail outs of Wal-street and the banks. If you don't want to research or believe it you are delusional.

[@abdullahhakan1]

My gynecologist, surgeon, laparoscopy, IVF, abortion implementing father in Turkey has been getting 1100 usd per month, my pediatrician mother gets 1000 usd per month after working for 45 and 35 years time at Turkish state Hospitals. They are 76 and 73 years old extremely highly educated 10 years at university. We are Nato country Turkey citizens living in the capital Ankara Turkey

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

People are criticizing the highlighting of a family income of $120K. But $120K is nothing nowadays, especially if you have children. Furthermore: How long will that person be able to work in that $120K job, before they can't take it anymore? Believe, that it is a serious concern. I was making almost $160K a year, but after a few years I burned out, and couldn't take the stress and negative health impacts. With a higher paying job, expect a harder job, more responsibility, and more stress. People don't understand the real causes of this economy. It is no longer a temporary thing. It is rooted in conspiracy. The financial elite that caused this economy, could give a rats ass about what they have done, and are laughing all the way to the bank.

[@cynthialewis8532]

He didn't have a job that paid $120k. That was the combined income between two working parents.

[@chamsali9289]

SkylineToTheSeaAndMe I quit a high paying job after working only 12 years because I couldn’t take it anymore. You are absolutely right.

[@mesutcufadar9299]

In USA system work for rich folk.

[@donalddrysdale1657]

it's because they are a cult with an agenda that have kept sucking the people in to vote them in over and over--it is clearly the public that has itself to blame.

[@thomasaquinas5262]

The middle class was based on professionals, industrial workers and management, and government workers. What has evaporated is the industrial component. Questionable trade deals sent jobs overseas. With them went 'good jobs' on the line or in the office. And, with them, went a big chunk of the middle class as well as the nuclear family. That's why it's called the post-industrial age.

[@shaserv]

Killing the goose that lays the golden egg. How stupid is that.

[@hydrolito]

They sent manufacturing jobs to China building up technology there, so basically gave away goose that laid golden egg.

[@nealamesbury1480]

I wish I was struggling on 120 thousand a year !

[@jango1970]

wow. At 14:15 narrator says, "the businessman lost $ 800,000 in the stock market and, as a consequence, his house. The investment of a lifetime, all gone." I'm sorry. That is not bad luck or proof of a faulty system. The man made a very risky decision and must accept the results.

[@dellahays9684]

Don know anyone that makes 100.000 a yr, in our whole family we are lucky to make 30,000 and that is a two income family very sad. I work in transportation and have for 10+yrs health ins and taxes eat up my py cks

[@DP-jy2ge]

Della Hays Why? $100k is nothing. That's the least a family needs to bring in. $200k is better.

[@abdulraja1151]

When you live beyond your means . Banks and insurance companies will own you . The state will raise your family . Don’t have kids if you can’t raise them . The perpetual burden of higher education is outrageous.

[@twackingrecordings69]

Wow 120,000 a year... Seems like there was some poor decision making things happening there if they couldn’t make it.

[@cwright54]

Its like that all over. Must be nice to make 100,000 a year I make 30,000 with over time Rent is 725.00 car payment utilities don't leave much for food no savings. Lunch? whats that? I cant afford lunch or breakfast. But I have my wife.

[@juanshaftpatel7488]

try not to be poor

[@jaygill5582]

Land of the fee, home of the slave.

[@lewisjeffreys9175]

Indeed

[@tommycollier9172]

Economic slavery

[@Cod4Wii]

Modern Day Slavery

[@therock8224]

@Owen Birr Good point, though that's how they ensure all the expressways are empty in China, by charging a fortune (around US$200 equivalent in toll fees for a 1000-1500km or approx. 600-900 mile journey).

[@jerrynavarro2404]

Yup

[@j.rothchild173]

My grandpa told me once, " What's the meaning of an expensive pair of pants if the pockets are empty"!

[@ARKANOSURANO-yr3qp]

Mismanagement of taxpayers' money ..... THEY GIVE A LOT OF MONEY TO OTHER COUNTRIES .... money that goes into the pockets of those politicians from countries like El Salvador, Colombia, etc. ..... instead of Invest in your own citizens.

[@scottaartsen8510]

This is a joke 120k and u broke, try living off 1100/month.

[@cherryrotella3714]

Scott Aartsen we want for far more than we really need.

[@drunkensailor112]

Try living in the usa with medical insurance costing you 3.000 a month.

[@muffintop420]

Yeah and you would have a lot more if the 1% weren't taking all of it and leaving you the crumbs. They like to make you think you are lucky to have what you have while they take it all and pay no taxes.

[@thegmack1019]

If you make 120k a year and you're "broke" You arent "broke" you're an idiot.

[@ChiDraconis]

@@thegmack1019 That would be my take on it;

[@redlegs7426]

There is no middle class anymore it’s either u rich or u not....

[@lobstermyname4477]

@Alex 20 you legit just copied a top comment word for word

[@donalddrysdale1657]

that's what George Orwell warned people would happen as far back as the 1930s, because he new some of the elite and their plans for us then--they have had an end game planned for 2030, and it's why they have developed this police state we are in now.

[@user-gz4ve8mw9l]

@@donalddrysdale1657 True, yet tragic, so many still in denial of reality.

[@MrTmenzo]

If that's your mentality then you're clearly struggling right now.

[@bernie9728]

If those are the only two choices, why would you not choose rich?

[@marymatthew1940]

This is one reason why my husband and I left Boston to expensive. We own a very nice home in North Carolina and we are happy now.

[@donaldwymer2791]

Yes, get out of Babylon...that's the solution. A Change of Attitude is essential. Change your Thoughts - Change your World. Stop buying the lie.

[@hardcandy7112]

Chicago population has drop 20% in the last 20 years , no reason to live in that cold Lake Michigan 2 below zero and drive by Shooting . Florida the Golden state .

[@kidneycarecoaching3766]

I live n NC also...

[@Pravda_Z]

I lived in Boston for 6 mos. in 1969. I lived in a rooming house on Brookline Ave, a 10 min. trolley ride to Old Town for $10/wk. I lived on day-old-donuts from a deli where my boyfriend worked across the street. Once a week I would take an Add-A-Man job for $10/day to pay my rent, allowing me to play music all day long. Life was so good back then!

[@Pravda_Z]

@@federicobacano6050 Yeah...vote against your interests like they always do in North Carolina.

[@robertjackson4121]

Young families think they can have $400k house $150k education a wife that thinks she can work part time but drive $100 k worth of vehicles and $24k child care ...

[@Imperial0666]

and the problem is they're asking $400,000 for houses that used to be $100,000 not that long ago.

[@obadiahscave]

Right.. people are living like they are doctors, while on working class wages...😂😂😂

[@GO-cz7cl]

There is no shame in living within your means. You're just setting yourself up to fail.

[@Ikaros23]

F K im glad im a salesman. There is always a fool that needs to show of « wealth», buying junk they dont need to impress people they dont know with cash they have not earnd.

[@nee-grow]

They're asking for things that are definitely within reach... in other countries and not the US but they have no intentions of moving

[@eara8426]

Don't send your kids to Universities, but instead send them to trading schools.

[@PumpUPdaBase]

Okay then who will be our doctors and engineers?

[@blu-rae864]

Chinese and Indian studying standards are higher than in the west. In South Korea, they spend an average of 15 hours studying daily. It's not so much about race as it is about studying.

[@eara8426]

@@PumpUPdaBase Unless you want to become a Nurse, Physician, Or Computer Scientist, don't attend a University if you are going to get a degree in Tuba or Lesbian Dance Theory with thousands of dollars in student loans.

[@YourLocalMairaaboo]

@@PumpUPdaBase the guys that got the grade-based tuitions? Also, a few plumbers and electricians are good too.

[@eara8426]

@Rosemarie Plant Yes, they can get a job before attending college, but don't let them work in those lower-than-minimum-wage-work-study positions. 😉

[@user-fu6cw9or9h]

Message from the future....it gets worse :(

[@jaygill5582]

Specially if you're stupid!

[@jameslatimer1432]

@@jaygill5582 smart people failed aswell Buddy not just the silly one you live in a con and you will get it sooner or later

[@jameslatimer1432]

@@jaygill5582 all by design remember that ,,!?

[@tomflendodo7297]

THAT'S WHAT JOE BIDEN SAID !!!!

[@UnCannyValley67]

4 months is now the past again. And the future is much, much brighter.

[@ivyteainn]

Someone who can't live on 120k a year has some serious spending habits

[@mattdeyarmin8552]

ivyteainn drugs are expensive

[@MJLeger-yj1ww]

That's for sure. And they will be sorry when it comes time to retire, because there's no way they can save enough for retirement, which costs much more today and few people realize that! They say retirement costs a million dollars today, few are going to be able to do that and retire at age 65 (or earlier, like some are) and they'll find out down the line, that they're finding themselves living at poverty level!

[@linmcc8342]

It depends on the number of people being supported. For some, medical bills are a real burden.

[@rik4raj]

It depended where you live

[@charleshoang6481]

They should move to Wichita, Kansas they can live comfortable in 40,000 dollars a year and there are plenty of jobs that pay forty thousand a year!

[@deepblue64]

us housing market is a joke. Most of these plywood houses have no real value.

[@dknowles60]

Wrong. A house is to live in.

[@jgdooley2003]

The BIG cost in a house in the US is the land on which it is built and the planning permission to build on that plot. Also the surrounding infrastructure and connections to services and their provision must be paid for. Then there is an annual set of taxes which must be paid to support police, schools etc. The actual structure of the house is but a small part in the whole equation. The US has some of the oldest timber housing in the world and for them it works. The other side of the coin is that some parts of the states suffer hurricanes and tornadoes which a concrete house will not resist. A cheaper timber house can be cheaper to build if knocked in a storm. Where I live in Ireland concrete houses are preferred because we have a damp climate which easily rots timber, we do not have the extreme wind speeds which knock structures so concrete is good here in Ireland but not in the US. We may have high winds but the extreme speeds common in the States. Also building labour costs in the US are very high militating towards a quick timber build.

[@Affenkatze77]

Funny thing is: there is a stereotype that americans think the People in Europe live in shity wooden houses - But it is the americans who live in shity wooden houses 😂

[@cheese3416]

True

[@pjotr8890]

You can see these houses are worthless when the slightest storm approaches and, eventually, destroys those homes like they're made of cardboard

[@terrybrady8588]

A better headline: the middle class is being sold out.

[@John_21601]

The American middle class has been under attack for AT LEAST 40 years.

[@ReasonsWhy5]

John Orban, yes because it seems the plan is to have a Nation of very rich people and poor people. But eventually it will all fall apart!

[@cynthiaayers7696]

And in all that time I went from a poor woman close to middle class now. That's because I started out living in the back of a truck, instead of ending up in one. And I never once used credit. This is the land of opportunity. If you are a man , you should have a house for your woman if you want one to move in with you or to marry and have a family. But doing it the other way around, is only building a house of cards.

[@jameswillett7186]

The standard of living in the United States peaked in 1973 and has been declining ever since.

[@coopsnz1]

Left policy globally , in Australia regulations and taxes increased on middle class and upper class 35 yrs

[@mikepeterson5199]

Started with ronald raygun.

[@kittybitch5964]

120k a year and you’re struggling. And here I thought I was doing pretty good at 56k

[@DIYLETSCREATE_MINIATURES]

And I at 20,000

[@suzanne48]

I live on less than $14,000. a year. It's a bitch.

[@OhSoGoated]

@@suzanne48 what do you do Sandra?

[@hydrolito]

My highest paying job was about 16 k per year and wife's was 23 k but we did not have both at same time. She has since died from cancer.

[@greenearthblueskies8556]

And homeless folk 😔

[@elpresidente3356]

"The reason they call it the American Dream, is because you have to be asleep to believe it." - George Carlin

[@user-td7xf3gz4l]

Not true

[@edwinblaine8255]

JJ - so very true.

[@marcelopena3537]

@@user-td7xf3gz4l ha

[@rickb06]

@adrian singh Just because its popular doesn't make it less true... Our standard of living is "supposed" to go up, not down and it is definitely going down.. A small handful of people are living well, the vast majority of us are doing more, working harder and have less free time compared to our parents and their parents. Life has become harder by an order of magnitude, as well as significantly more stressful. Families are going from the top of the proverbial middle class food chain to complete financial armageddon, there is no stability, you can't rely on your job and your boss wouldn't hesitate to throw you under the bus if it'd make him an extra buck or save his ass, there is no loyalty anymore- The world is fucked up and the only thing that can work at this point is war, if we can't live decent lives and have no true freedom, personally or financially, we have no choice but to fight for freedom again, because living like this, existing in a limbo between homelessness, constant fear of the infamous repo man and and a cell phone that never stops ringing, this is not how things are supposed to be, this isn't life, it is hell.

[@avasmith235]

@@rickb06 my standard of living keeps going down. The rich get richer and greedier. The lazy get lazier thanks to DemoCraps. Jesus has Always been the answer. We all die and give an account.

[@moewilson4605]

They chose the wrong couple to profile. $120,000 even if before taxes, is still a good salary. Some people get by on less than $20,000. This couple is not indicative of the majority of families. Having to make your own lunches. The horror! Lol.

[@1210ksmith]

Boston MA is a very expensive city to live in. $120k living in Dallas is comfortable, but $120k living in Boston or NYC is much different. The cost of living in some of America's largest cities are suffocating.

[@LadyMissNeptune]

beezle1210 I'm gonna have to pop that bubble. I live in NYC making 60k a year and I manage to get by and save just fine. With $120k I could fly to the moon and back! Not sure how 120k is not enough in Boston????? People must have real high standards of living there!

[@1210ksmith]

Perhaps. Everyone has their own varied comfort zones. In general, the cost of living in NYC and Boston is definitely much higher than Dallas. Unfortunately, Dallas isn't as exciting as those cities either.

[@joesr.shannavanausdall855]

This docu was made by Europeans. They didnt pick a " normal" American city nor a " normal " American family. You expected what from a docu made by foreigners?

[@paullee3660]

I guess that job does not require very good maths skills. That 120k is earned by 2 people. 60K each, the same as you. Plus they also have a family to support. There is also a need to service the debts built up from several months without work. Also, the point is, with skills, experience and many years of hard work invested in their careers, they expected a bit more out of life.

[@Mom_sBasement]

Turns out, Idiocracy wasn’t a movie, it was a documentary.

[@marcelleza]

Nailed it!

[@ApoloniaJones1976]

Mom's Basement Yep! I had similar thoughts while watching.

[@richd5476]

It's a prediction...

[@shinjaokinawa5122]

Hey Moms Basement I like your OC and Your Title.

[@cccsss9985]

It should be required viewing, because it sure is reality.

[@bendossantos783]

Rice and beans and beans and rice...……………….

[@LouMontana-wc7nr]

Ronald Regan broke unions and shipped jobs overseas. George W. Bush opened the flood gates on illegal immigration and destroyed wages and benefits. Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio destroyed the original Obamacare. Mitch McConnell stopped benefits for vets. Paul Rayn and Trump put the tax burden solely on the working families of America. Trump is going to kill the Social Security system for the sake of the wealthy.

[@MrHistory269]

Ahh yes Dave Ramsey my money Jesus

[@hydrolito]

Potatoes, chicken, and vegetables exist.

[@hydrolito]

@@LouMontana-wc7nr Joe Biden is planning to bankrupt coal and oil industry so no more electricity and driving.

[@LouMontana-wc7nr]

@@hydrolito Wyoming owns the coal industry. They legislated years ago for clean coal and let Obama take the blame, thank Dick Cheney for that one. While we are at it, fracking killed coal as well. Dick Cheney legislated to lift regulations and won, so Dick Cheney did it again. GWBush pushed the windmills and solar to make up for being such a fuk-up! My home is 100% solar and we have a natural gas furnace that only gets turned on for a half-hour in the mornings. Trump took Obama's economy (which was very fragile) and revved it into the ground. In September 2019 the economy began to collapse. The Federal Reserve was sending out $200 billion dollars a week to keep the banks afloat. They are still doing it today. Trump's economy was nothing more than his brand name and Wall street banked heavily on it. Trump gave the wealthy nearly a trillion in tax breaks and put the tax burden on the working class. The Powell memorandum, 1974, should be read and understood by all Americans. It is a conservative guideline to keep the wealthy in control of the masses. Conservatives keep their people under control with hate and fear. Socialism is bad but they keep getting bailed out. Socialized medicine is bad but they keep raising prices and profiting from it. YOU and your Trump-loving fool buddies are doomed. You are too stupid to see who is screwing you!

[@LabRat6619]

Why is this narrator so monotone, is he suffering the great depression?

[@christophercook723]

LabRat6619 They tried a female and it was even worse. My ex wife's nick name is 3 horse. Nag, nag, nag!

[@phreak761]

@@orianna9200 😂

[@jameslatimer1432]

@@orianna9200 same in the UK my friend takecare buddy x good luck ,,

[@jenniferharden2258]

STOP it!😂

[@oldishandwoke-ish1181]

Not easy to be cheery and upbeat given the subject matter....