More than 90% of kids born in the 1940s out-earned their parents. That version of America is gone. For kids born in the 1980s, only half will surpass their parents. Social mobility didn’t slow. It collapsed.
The economic ladder was not only pulled up. It was burned.
You are now told to “work harder” in an economy where real wages have been flat for decades. But here is the truth: the dollar lost over 90% of its value when measured in gold since Nixon axed the gold standard in 1971. Median household income priced in gold has fallen off a cliff.
In nominal terms, household income might look flat or even slightly up. But in gold terms, it’s carnage. In 1980, the median household earned enough to buy over 20 ounces of gold per year. Today, it’s less than 2.
The game changed. The scoreboard didn’t.
The dollar you earn is not the dollar your parents earned. A dollar saved in 1971 had value. A dollar saved today decays faster than it grows. The fiat system now demands perpetual inflation just to stay afloat. That is why stocks go up, gold goes up, Bitcoin goes up, real estate goes up. The Fed prints. You rent forever.
In real terms, millennials are poorer than their grandparents were. Yet every politician, banker, and media mouthpiece insists the economy is strong and that you should just budget better.
Meanwhile, Wall Street loads up on hard assets while Main Street gets squeezed. The cost of housing, education, and healthcare has exploded compared to incomes. The American Dream didn’t die. It was priced out.
You aren’t lazy. The system is rigged.