By popular demand, one last map to examine the absurdity of the American economy.
If you saw my map from yesterday that was up most of the day, please see the corrected version below. I done goofed hard on copying a column of state names. The original post has been corrected, but I will also post my previous two maps on this post for easy comparison.
Edit: the red map, for anyone unaware, is based on current individual state minimum wages and not the current federal minimum wage
I think what most of us are saying is that the way those people were living back then was unsustainable and an unnecessary level of wealth. The 50/30/20 comfort level is unsustainable and requires exploitation. Sure, we're all being exploited now, but to have $20k annual disposable income would surely mean exploiting someone else (e.g., developing nations)
How would more money flowing out of the US and into the rest of the world, rather than sitting in billionaire accounts, not improve the lives of people around the world? How would US wages being appropriately high not drive up wages around the world, considering Americans are generally paid well above any other workers?
Your argument of exploitation makes no sense. Sustainability is a fairer angle, but an issue that could be solved by having plenty of government money researching innovation. Money that would come from people spending money and paying taxes, from their higher wages. Rather than money being parked in billionaire bank accounts…
If anything, the current system by which we Americans get paid shit relative to what value we create is generating exploitation around the world