In the 1970s/80s, an hour of minimum wage could afford you about 7 big macs. Now, it will not even buy you one. Real wages have dropped to an all time low, and it is harder than ever to account for yourself as a working class citizen. Circumstances for the average American have devolved to nightmarish levels, and it seems that it is only going to get worse.
It has been said that inflation is not a bad thing because median wages will increase alongside it. In practice that has not been the case. In 2014, when I was asking for $15 an hour, my rent was $740. Now that I'm getting $15 an hour, my rent is $2,400 and I need several room mates just to get by. Inflation is not a bad thing if wages increase in correlation to it, but if they DON'T, then it functions as a tax on our future. The vice is tightening, things are becoming miserable, and a growing number of our children and our future are turning to hard drugs and escapism as a way of coping with it.
The 1% has managed to enslave everyone else; people grow apathetic, and take drugs, because, really at this point, who cares?
