Folks, America is crushing. There is not other conclusion. In a blog post I made yesterday I talked about this. Definitely check it out.
But on top of that comes this lil’ ditty:
Now, I take this with a grain of salt, of course. How are these earnings being made? Are they from one time expensing? Or are they likely to be consistent? I”ve no clue, and to be honest, I’m not that interested in researching to find the “truth”. I believe in the capital markets and I buy the index which represents the performance of the capital markets and move on with my day.
But, of course, there will be naysayers. Looking at the comments to that post you can see why people aren’t having babies anymore:
Person 1: “Babies are so great!”
Person 2: “Yeah, but what about (insert doomsday scenario here)”
Reminds me of that Saturday Night Live skit “Debbie Downer”, which is pretty funny.
One of the negative Nellies complaints that crack me up more than anything is this line of thinking.
I hear this ALL THE TIME. In fact, this is a guy who was spot on during the Plandemic but still falls for the ole trope that the dollar is declining in value.
How anyone can’t see the silliness in this stuff is crazy to me. Did you earn a dollar in 1913, put it into a mason jar and then try to use that same dollar in 2026 to buy goods? If the answer is yes, then okay, you’re correct, THAT specific dollar indeed has lost its purchasing power. But given the answer is obviously no, this graph is simply irrelevant.
You are buying things today, with dollars you earned…today. Meaning the value of your dollars you are using, again…TODAY, have more than kept up with inflation. it actually costs less dollars to buy a basket of goods relative to wages/earnings/interest today than it did in 1913 and everyone inherently knows this. If you doubt me on this, I highly encourage you to read my book “Relax and Retire, Debunking Inflation Fears”.
The most ironic thing about the whole “the dollar is dead” narrative is that:
A. it’s blatantly not true and
B. You think it’s bad here, look at this!
Over the last ten years, the dollar has increased against the vast majority of other currencies, to include the one that some believe will soon displace us; China.
The logic behind the “China is ascending and the US is declining” crowd is just dumb. Sorry to be so blunt. But it is. Facts are there is no nation better positioned for future dominance than the US. By all means, name the country that will overtake us in the next 50 years. Again, if you say China, I’m just going to laugh. So who else?
Can politics trip things up? Sure. A crazy loon Democratic Socialist could become President. But why don’t we cross that bridge when we get there instead of being overly worried about something that hasn’t happened and probably won’t even happen.
Oh, I can hear the peanut gallery still muttering the same tropes: “Young uns today can’t afford NOTHING and that’s why we’ll be socialist in ten years!” Sorry, that claim doesn’t work on me.
That’s the house my wife and her 8 brothers and sisters grew up. 11 people. 2 AC window units. In Virginia.
That’s the duplex I lived in when I was in high school in Silver Spring, MD. To be honest, I can’t remember if we had central air or not. But I do remember our first night there we found a rat colony living behind the stove. It was exciting taking a broom and trying to slapshot them out the back door as they tried to scurry away. Good times, good times.
So, in a time where everyone has central air, sleeve tattoos, highly functioning communication devices, obesity is a major problem, jobs are abundant and interest rates are still on the lower end, count me not very impressed with the hardships of today’s youth. Sorry.
Maybe instead of all the whining a bit of gratitude is needed for how good we have it here. But that’s just me. I guess I’m a Boomer now. 🙂
Blessings,
Josh