Business survival is simple: Profit, or die. Government is less obvious but a reasonable measure might be Ronald Reagan’s famous use of: “Are you better off than you were?” Businessfolk lie to us at their peril; that is illegal, and punished. The politicians who have made that illegal have excluded themselves from that prohibition; their lies should embarrass used car salesmen and the pols think nothing about it–and to our own misfortune, no more do we. Considering this universal pattern, raises questions.
Here, following a short list of salient facts, is one such question for Democrats, Republicans and all others:
1. We and our kids seem less safe in our civil society than was true for much of last century.
2. A single worker adequately supported many families for nearly 2/3’s of the last century, after that, most women have had to work.
3. United States education rank 28th in today’s world; a few decades ago, it was no. 1.
4. The U.S. median household income has not returned to the 2007 pre-recession level and some 15% of Americans now live in poverty, per the U.S. Census Department.
5. The participation of Americans in the work force is at a 35 year low.
QUESTION: Have the lives and prospects of Americans improved significantly since 1970 and if so, do they seem likely to continue to improve?
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