I bet you never realized this was a form of inflation too!

[the count]

i can clearly remember the 60's and 70's when one guy with a decent job could maintain a family with 2 kinds in the suburbs with no problems. remember also (of course only guys like me in the late 50's or older will) when you pulled into a gas station and 1 or more guys filled up your tank, checked the oil and tire pressure? fast forward to the 21st century. you fill up your own tank, check your self into flights, scan your groceries at the supermarket. wow, isn't progress great, right? thats how it is being sold to us. in fact what you have here is a craftily veiled form of inflation! you are simply getting less service for your money. whenever your money buys you less, either because you have to pay more or you are getting less for the same amount, it's inflation. it only is not so apparent in the service sector. has anybody on CNBC or the mainstream media ever brought this to your attention? not that i can recall. it is always presented as a cost cutting measure by the industry. throw in all the constantly manipulated government statistics and you will begin to realize how the public is getting shafted.

 

[BoutTreeFiddy]

The example of gas attendents checking your oil and whatnot is actually the result of increasing minimum wage.

Checking out your own groceries is an option at most places. You can still stand in line to get rung up by an employee. I use the self checkout things if I'm buying two items, like tortillas and shredded lettuce.

But I agree with the one working man in the family thing.

 

[angelatc]

I drove out of my way for full service gas until the last station I know of disappeared in the mid-80's. But I think it was market forces at work. Obviously if enough people wanted to pay for a gas attendant to pump gas, the service would still be provided.

In Florida, self-serve stations were illegal, so it was actually government intervention driving up prices by forcing people to pay for a service they apparently didn't want. When they repealed that law, people swarmed to the lower priced option.

 

[hugolp]

I have always though that all the cheap stuff culture is the market adapting to the empoverisment of the people through inflation. Its quite sad if you think about it.

 

[olehounddog]

My 1st job at 14 y/o. 50 bucks a week for 8 hr days 6 days a week 0 benefits.
There are perks to washing some windshields. We would race to certain cars to see who got the windows. Unless the boss was there.
This was 1974.

 

[torchbearer]

20 dollars a day used to be a good wage.

 

[LibertyRevolution]

I like the scan and bag as you shop thing at the local stop and shop.
Waiting in lines is one of my pet peeves...

I also prefer to pump my own gas, check my own fluids, and wash my own windows.
I prefer not to pay for services that I can provide for myself.

But it is truly sad that you cannot raise a family on a single income in America.
Unfortunately, they prefer us to be working all the time, worrying about how to put food on the table and pay for childcare.
It keeps most people from having the time to think about how badly they are screwing us.
They also want both parents working, so the kids can be brainwashed in public schools and daycare.
In today's world children are only with their parents for like an hour in the morning before school, and from 5pm-9pm when they go to bed. So basically only 5 hours a day or parenting. And when does this parenting happen? When you just get out of work, and don't want to deal with it, and that's what happens to most kids. They get plunked in front of the TV and handed a bag of McDonald's while the parents try and get rid of there daily work stress, leaving the kids to be raised by "reality TV".

 

[LibertyRevolution]

Another thing that bothers me is minimum wage. What is the point in this if it doesn't keep you above the poverty line?

Here in CT, minimum wage is $8.25/hr, and still a person can not survive on minimum wage alone.
$330 a week - taxes ($75) = $1020/mo.
State assisted health insurance for an individual $307/mo.
That leaves you about $715/mo.
A crappy 1 bedroom apartment runs $550-600/mo.
So that leaves you $150 bucks left for the month. Which means you cannot afford to eat.
Which is why you will still qualify for food stamps, rent assistance, and childcare subsidy even though you work 40hrs/week here.

It seems to me the only people being helped by minimum wage are the companies that are getting all this state subsidy money.
It certainly doesn't help out the poor soul working 40hrs a week to still be poor.

I am now currently unemployed. We lost the contract that was going to keep us working over the summer, so a bunch of us got laid off.
I make $340 a week after taxes to sit home and collect unemployment.
So they pay me $90 a week more to sit home than I would make if I worked 40 hours week at a minimum wage job.

I wonder why so many people are on unemployment and state assistance here.

I think some people underestimate the battle that Schiff is in for here.

 

[phill4paul]

Too many people. Not enough production.

 

[Scofield]

But it is truly sad that you cannot raise a family on a single income in America.
Unfortunately, they prefer us to be working all the time, worrying about how to put food on the table and pay for childcare.
It keeps most people from having the time to think about how badly they are screwing us.
They also want both parents working, so the kids can be brainwashed in public schools and daycare.
In today's world children are only with their parents for like an hour in the morning before school, and from 5pm-9pm when they go to bed. So basically only 5 hours a day or parenting. And when does this parenting happen? When you just get out of work, and don't want to deal with it, and that's what happens to most kids. They get plunked in front of the TV and handed a bag of McDonald's while the parents try and get rid of there daily work stress, leaving the kids to be raised by "reality TV".

This is one of the most accurate descriptions of life in America that I've read.

 

[LibForestPaul]

I drove out of my way for full service gas until the last station I know of disappeared in the mid-80's. But I think it was market forces at work. Obviously if enough people wanted to pay for a gas attendant to pump gas, the service would still be provided.

In Florida, self-serve stations were illegal, so it was actually government intervention driving up prices by forcing people to pay for a service they apparently didn't want. When they repealed that law, people swarmed to the lower priced option.

Yes, that BS pissed me off! More welfare for the elites. Let some poor bastard pay more so that those Benz yuppies who don't want to pump their own gas get a free ride.

 

[LibForestPaul]

P.S. I do not mind paying for someone to pump my gas (especially if dressed for work). But they do such a shitty job, why bother with them.

 

[Koz]

I won't go to a self checkout line. When I get a discount for scanning my own items I will start, otherwise I will keep a cashier and bagger employed for the same price.

 

[specsaregood]

fast forward to the 21st century. you fill up your own tank

Haven't been to NJ lately have ya. It is illegal to fill your own tank, all full-service. And yet, regularly has some of the lowest gas prices in the nation.

 

[WaltM]

The example of gas attendents checking your oil and whatnot is actually the result of increasing minimum wage.

Checking out your own groceries is an option at most places. You can still stand in line to get rung up by an employee. I use the self checkout things if I'm buying two items, like tortillas and shredded lettuce.

But I agree with the one working man in the family thing.

you are right, it IS progress if there's less people required, but it's not progress if the same work costs more (which is what happened, but not because of inflation).