It’s theater. So yeah.
At the end of the day they all keep getting richer. We all keep getting poorer and life goes on. Bread and circuses. Wish it was different but doubt I’ll see it in my lifetime
And I’m not sure who the hypothetical Americans who are so thrilled with the economic state of the country are that you keep speaking of... but I will say this.
The people who are thrilled about the economy are those who were already upper middle class or wealthy ( ie the world I was born into), the middle class, working class and poor (the world I chose and currently inhabit) are definitively NOT THRILLED. Guess who’s got the bigger numbers? I’ve shown you proof of this umpteen million times but instead of reflecting on any of the evidence provided you instead choose to “trump-et” these hypothetical thrilled people a couple times a week. Why? Does it serve you some purpose to distort reality or only present one limited side of it?
Everyone I know in their 50’s and older - save a couple of my husbands relatives who had real shitty luck during their lifetimes - is thrilled! They had stable jobs with health insurance and vacations and pensions and they have solid investment portfolios at this point in their lives that are booming due to targeted tax cuts that benefited a small slice of the population - the slice that didn’t even NEED IT. The only thing they aren’t happy about? Prescription prices because their socialized Medicare doesn’t cover that.
Everyone I know in their 30’s and younger - not thrilled. Barely getting by despite advanced degrees and specialization areas. Living paycheck to paycheck with no stability. The few I know that own homes had those homes bought for/ or substantially subsidized by their parents who reside in the first category given.
You know when I’ll get to that first category and how? It won’t be because of my hard work or intellect, no matter how hard I work or how much I bring to the table. I’ll get there when my mother or my husbands father kicks the bucket and I’m hoping that doesn’t happen until way way in the future cuz I’d rather be poor or struggling.
Even now I’m working on a masters degree because the degree I have (it’s not renaissance art or some silly crap either) is no longer valuable at all in a post recession world. I spent three years investigating my options, costs vs estimated returns, job market, skills and personality affinity. And when I finish next year my hourly rate of pay will be substantially higher. But it will still be an HOURLY RATE OF PAY. No benefits. No insurance. No vacation. No pension. Nothing. And that is literally the best job available in my geographic area. Every couple of weeks I think about saying fuck it and settling for an aides job in the school cuz atleast I’ll have benefits. But $10-12/hour? When I asked a girl I know what her paycheck was after deductions I quickly reconsidered.
When you make statements that the economy is so great, despite being told numerous times this isn’t the case for a huge segment of the population, you are basically telling people like me that we are worthless in the grand scheme of things.