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You can try. But you really can never bring back the past.
Would you really want to? Below is an interesting video....forget the political gist of the song, and focus on
the general gist of what it is saying about the Good Old Days. It does make some points.
For our time, what would need to be done for your average joe to have the same opportunities today as one would have had in the 1950s?
First, you would have to destroy the Chinese and European economies, then you'd have to re-start an arms race with Russia. But, most importantly, you would have to dial back the economy to levels at which a single wage earner, most likely a man, could afford to leave one spouse home with the kids, most likely a woman. The perfect nuclear family, Mom, Dad, and two kids. Unfortunately for you, the genie is far out of the bottle, the world economy is global, women want careers as much as men, rising cost of living is a consequence of first world societies. The opportunities of the 1950's are only history, the opportunities of the 2000's weren't even dreamt of then.
Another thing that would be important (as I'm assuming this post has to do with people having an easier time living a middle class lifestyle back then) is remove all of the expenses of today that are considered 'necessities' for even a lower class lifestyle that didn't exist or weren't considered necessities in the 1950s.
Cable television didn't exist: So we could remove ~ $75/month (for either cable or Netflix/Hulu, etc.).
Internet didn't exist: Remove another ~ $60/month
Cell Phones didn't exist: this would save $100/month for your average HH.
Most families were one car households: so that removes insurance costs for sure as well as gas and likely a car payment.
Eating out was considered largely a luxury: Today the average HH spends $233/month on restaurants, drop that to $50.
AC did not exist: That would save most people $50/month averaged out over the year.
Just those 6 items could save the average HH: ~$525/month assuming no car payments on a second car. Add in a car payment for a car and you are close $900/month or $10.8k/yr, which is 20% of the gross median HH income in the US and about 23% of the HH's take home (assuming a HH of 3 and a standard deduction).
Corporations were taxed at over 50% on profits in the 1950's (it's true - look it up). What did that mean? That meant that company's were effectively incentivized to invest heavily in R&D and in paying their workers, so in turn those workers on a higher income could go out and spend on the goods they and other companies produced. That's what built the strong middle class and had a profound effect on America's overall success. Of course all of that did happen to coincide with the lack of any major international competition (as many have already alluded to) mostly thanks to WWII, so both of those things had a major effect. Once the US had ramped up their industrial production for the war, it was also relatively easy to transition that to production of consumer goods, especially the automobile and associated products. Finally, policies like the GI Bill, VA and other loan programs made it possible for many to own homes where before it had not been as easy for many. That combined with unprecedented population growth led to a building boom and demand for more and more consumer goods, which also helped drive production.
Not what I want, just answering the OP's question. But no to slavery. Imagine being a low-skilled white man, trying to compete in a market where the market value of your skills is zero. Everything else I mentioned drove down wages or eliminated jobs for low-skilled white men, directly or otherwise.
They all worked in factories and were able to raise a family of 4 on that wage. That or they made a living in the military. If you knew anything about economics you would know the median wage has been dropping vs the rate of inflation for several decades now. We get more schooling to make less money on average than ever. We also work more hours, and pay more of our pay share to rent than ever before.
Interesting. I would argue, however, that the US would not be the same. With the above, we would no longer be a capitalistic society. Stifling growth by mandating US corporations only do business in the US is counter, to the very nature of what the United States is as a nation.
Medicine is part of the capitalism model Education is part of the capitalism model Infrastructure is a government responsibility which would likely need the capitalist model to complete.
Nah, I'm arguing that if we want to return to the US economics/politics of the 1950s, we have to reenergize some of the players who have shrunk since, & downsize some that grew like Topsy. I don't argue that US corps only do business in the US - that's completely counterfactual, & never did happen in our history, even (maybe especially) in our colonial history.
Medicine & education & infrastructure long predate anything that we could call capitalism - see the Greek city/states, Republican & Imperial Rome, China's various empires, Africa, India, Aztecs, Maya, Inca (in the New World) - just to name a few off the top of my head. There's Persia & the civilizations that arose in the Fertile Crescent, too.
Another thing that would be important (as I'm assuming this post has to do with people having an easier time living a middle class lifestyle back then) is remove all of the expenses of today that are considered 'necessities' for even a lower class lifestyle that didn't exist or weren't considered necessities in the 1950s.
Cable television didn't exist: So we could remove ~ $75/month (for either cable or Netflix/Hulu, etc.).
Internet didn't exist: Remove another ~ $60/month
Cell Phones didn't exist: this would save $100/month for your average HH.
Most families were one car households: so that removes insurance costs for sure as well as gas and likely a car payment.
Eating out was considered largely a luxury: Today the average HH spends $233/month on restaurants, drop that to $50.
AC did not exist: That would save most people $50/month averaged out over the year.
Just those 6 items could save the average HH: ~$525/month assuming no car payments on a second car. Add in a car payment for a car and you are close $900/month or $10.8k/yr, which is 20% of the gross median HH income in the US and about 23% of the HH's take home (assuming a HH of 3 and a standard deduction).
On top of all that, the average house size in America in the 1950s was only 1000 square feet. That is 60% less than the average house today.
Just think of how much money people could save if they simply went back to living in cramped spaces with their families.
Another thing that would be important (as I'm assuming this post has to do with people having an easier time living a middle class lifestyle back then) is remove all of the expenses of today that are considered 'necessities' for even a lower class lifestyle that didn't exist or weren't considered necessities in the 1950s.
Cable television didn't exist: So we could remove ~ $75/month (for either cable or Netflix/Hulu, etc.).
Internet didn't exist: Remove another ~ $60/month
Cell Phones didn't exist: this would save $100/month for your average HH.
Most families were one car households: so that removes insurance costs for sure as well as gas and likely a car payment.
Eating out was considered largely a luxury: Today the average HH spends $233/month on restaurants, drop that to $50.
AC did not exist: That would save most people $50/month averaged out over the year.
Just those 6 items could save the average HH: ~$525/month assuming no car payments on a second car. Add in a car payment for a car and you are close $900/month or $10.8k/yr, which is 20% of the gross median HH income in the US and about 23% of the HH's take home (assuming a HH of 3 and a standard deduction).
While there has certainly been lifestyle creep, A cell phone/internet also reduced the need for certain costs like cameras, calculators, alarm clocks, calendars, flashlight, photo albums, stopwatch, regular watches, bank checks, newspaper, road maps, planners, music playing equipment, books, some entertainment, etc. the list could go on and on.
While there has certainly been lifestyle creep, A cell phone/internet also reduced the need for certain costs like cameras, calculators, alarm clocks, calendars, flashlight, photo albums, stopwatch, regular watches, bank checks, newspaper, road maps, planners, music playing equipment, books, some entertainment, etc. the list could go on and on.
While I will agree with you that the device can replace all of those things, that has nothing to do with the service. The $100/month for 2 smart phones on a plan was an estimate for the cost of service, not the cost of the device. I have an old iphone at home that my daughter uses and it does all of those things, but is not connected to a wireless carrier. It just relies on my wifi.
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Leveling the playing field
