Wages stopped going up in 1973. Had they continued to go up as they should have, the average wage would be about $90,000 a year. What happened? The first thing is that Richard Nixon went off of the gold standard in 1971, allowing the thoroughly unconstitutional Federal Reserve Bank to inflate without any brakes, since the paper dollar was completely unhooked from gold.
Things didn't get all that bad with inflation until Alan Greenspan (whom I've heard described as the "biggest asshole in the universe") became head of the Fed and spent 20 years destroying the dollar.
Another thing that happened about 1974 is the oil crisis. Since then, we have sent trillions of dollars to our enemies in the Mideast for their oil. That money should have stayed here.
Back in the '50s the annual growth rate was about 4% a year. Now we are down to an anemic 2.25%. This loss of productivity is due to government crushing the economy with inflation, regulations, destructive laws, etc.
Had we maintained a '50s growth rate of 4% that alone would have made the average salary about $90,000 year. Take away the rest of the crushing burdens, and I've seen some economists estimate it would be about $100,000 a year.
We've also sent trillions of dollars to our enemies in China, hollowing out our industry. Those who think this is a good thing do not understand basic economics.
What all of this means is that if someone cannot make a decent living, it is not their fault, no matter what the chattering classes say. Certainly many intelligent people can make a good living -- those with IQs of about 120, which is less than ten percent of the population.
The average IQ is 100. People with such IQs aren't even going to be high school graduates. They are going to be janitors with welfare benefits.
Of course none of this can continue. There will be an economic collapse, as had always happened in the past. The only question is when.
But I don't believe it's all that far away. All you have to do is look what is happening with those who are reverted to barbarism