Wait, are "times tough", or are we in a "great" position, economically? I can't keep up.
But in all seriousness, this all boils down to a simple truth:
Low and middle-class workers today are in far worse positions than our parents' generation(s).
We can't afford homes. We can't afford childcare. We can't afford healthcare. Many of us can't even afford food consistently.
That is where we are at, bottom-line.
Arguing about percentage gains among certain groups belies the fact that this is a shitty economic system, that funnels money upwards.
Do we sometimes claw back a few steps? Sure. But praising the 2 steps forward, while ignoring the previous 10 steps back, just comes across as caping for it.
One particularly depressing graph is home ownership among Millennials. As of 2019, that number sits at 43.3%. But in the year 2000, that number was 20%. The oldest millennials were born in 1981, which means they were 19 years old in 2000.
So at minimum, HALF of the Millennials who own homes now, were rich kids who had their homes bought for them as highschool grads. And that was just the ones literally born in 1981-82. How many of the new millennial home owners are just rich kids who were younger millennials?
This economy is fucked.
I'm sure boiling frogs appreciate when you reduce the heat by a couple degrees, but it doesn't mean they're in a good position.