vitanola
I'll Lock Up
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Just the sort of corporate consumerist propaganda one would expect from a business publication. It's also a bit disingenuous when you consider that the "lowest priced no-frost" refrigerator freezer in 1956 was in fact close to the top of the line. You could get a regular refrigerator from Sears in 1956 for $149. Consider also that a refrigerator purchased in 1956 was engineered to be far more durable than one purchased today -- the low price of the modern unit is a function of shoddy cut-rate manufacture as much as anything else.
But much more to the point is that regardless of price, you can save even more money by not participating in modern consumerist society. Amazingly enough, it's entirely possible to live a completely satisfying life without a cellphone, a GPS, a digital camera, lightweight waterproof sportswear, high-definition television, or contact lenses, and a twelve-year-old computer you got for free from a box at the side of the road.
Also, note that the Census Bureau placed men's median income in 1956 at $3,600, and that a man working an assembly line job in 1956 typically made 75% of that median income, whereas a man working an assembly line job today typically makes 125% of median income. Compare the market basket of items including housing, schooling, child care and health care that a $3,600 income in 1956 could purchase to that which can be purchased today
with a $42,000 income and the picture is not nearly as rosy as the propaganda from Barrons suggests.
Of course the estimable Miss Maine has already highlighted this point sufficiently, I think/