And speaking of food, the USDA says that over 47 million Americans lived in a food insecure household in 2024. That's 1 in 7 people. In the world's richest country that prides itself on being the land of opportunity.

Where? And what's the size of the household?

It's one thing to make $50,000/year as a single young person sharing an apartment with 2 other people. It's another to be a family of 4.

> Don’t exaggerate what is required for a decent quality of life in America. It doesn’t benefit anyone.

"Decent" is subjective, but we can look at hard numbers.

After taxes, $50,000 will be somewhere between $39,000 and $42,000 in much of the US. That's $3,250 to $3,500/month. The median rental price of a 1 bedroom apartment in the US is about $1,500. A 2 bedroom is somewhere around or north of $1,800. That means the median 1 bedroom apartment already eats up almost 50% of your after-tax income at the lower end.

According to BLS, the average spend on groceries in the US is now over $500/month. The average cost of a used car in the US is now over $25,000. A set of new tires will run you $400 to over $1,000. The average cell phone bill is $140/month.

Do I need to keep going?

Numerous studies show that over half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and almost three-quarters of middle income earners say their wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living.

What doesn't benefit anyone is to pretend that tons of people aren't struggling.