You Will Never Have Good Ole Days

...2022...

$8 average cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes

$6 average cost for a 6 pack of beer

$2.80 average cost for a McDonald's cheeseburger

$4.67 average cost for a gallon of gasoline

$7.25 minimum wage

...1962...

$0.25 cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes ($0.30 from a machine)

$1.25 cost for a 6 pack of beer (any brand)

$0.15 cost for a hamburger $0.20 for a cheeseburger

$0.18 cost for a gallon of gasoline

$1.15 minimum wage (valued in current dollars is $7.25 which I find rather amusing)
 

Does anything catch your attention here?

$1.15 in 1962 had the same purchasing power as $7.25 had in 2022...  and yet look at the other costs between those years

SIXTY YEARS later, someone right out of high school who goes to work for $7.25/hour has the same purchasing power as I did right out of high school...

That shit just does not make sense...

In one 8 hour day, I would earn $9.20

• On that Friday, I could put 10 gallons of gasoline in my car for $1.80, leaving me $7.40
• I could buy 2 six packs of beer for $2.50, leaving me $4.90
• I could buy 2 packs of cigarettes out of a machine for $0.60, leaving me $4.30
• I could go to McDonalds and get 4 cheeseburgers for $0.80, leaving me $3.50
• I could get two small containers of french fries for $0.20, leaving me $3.30
• I could pick up my date, and got to the drive in theater for $1.00/person, leaving me $1.30
• I could give her two cheeseburgers and a container of french fries, give her a pack of cigarettes along with a 6 pack of beer and we could enjoy ourselves for several hours
• After the drive in movies ended, we could go to Waffle House for coffee and doughnuts for $0.30, leaving me $1.00

In 1962, all gasoline stations had condom machines in the bathrooms.  The regular condoms were $0.25 and the more exotic ones were $0.50...  depending on how many beers my date drank that night would determine how many condoms I needed to purchase.

The point is that I could all of that on just 8 hours of work.  And, the compensation of work back then had the same purchasing power that a worker in 2022 had making $7.25/hour...

What is wrong with this picture?

Prices have increased but not wages

The people who own the companies and sell things to the general public have been taking advantage of you for 60 years and you have no idea that they have been screwing you the whole time...

Talk about ignorance...

Is this lack of education?

Is this the lack of retention of education?

Is this just the fact that you don't want to know?