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[elias7]

This message was self-deleted by its author (elias7) on Sun Aug 28, 2022, 03:28 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[DURHAM D]

1. This is offensive. nt

[FalloutShelter]

6. THIS

[jimfields33]

26. It sure is. No way was weekly take home 800 dollars a week in 1973.

That is wrong.

[Blue Owl]

2. Not to even mention today's higher interest rates, penalty fees, etc. the lenders charge

[redstatebluegirl]

3. I am a boomer and am more than happy that the many

students I advised over the years will not have to suffer to pay their loans as we had to do.

I grow weary with the boomer haters here.

[rsdsharp]

20. Me too. I paid off my $26,000 in loans. Had it been 10 times that much,

a level of debt many people have, I wouldn’t have been successful. I certainly don’t begrudge these folks getting a minor break.

[redstatebluegirl]

29. The students I advised were in a five year program

that required another 3 years of internship before they could be licensed. Many of them were first generation students and had to work and borrow to make it.

What people do not understand is when I went to school states were still funding a large part of higher ed. Now it is a very small portion leaving the rest to be paid by tuition, fees and a percentage of research grants.

Those of us who work in Higher ed are not getting rich. Raises are few and far between. One problem is the business model many schools are using. A Vice President or Director for everything! I swear we have a VP in charge of the men's room! A bunch of them are former state politicians who are term limited. All of the. Are overpaid and under worked!

[onecaliberal]

4. K&R

[FalloutShelter]

5. Know what... I'm a "Boomer".

I am also a Feminist, a political activist, A liberal and a Democrat and I and my "Boomer" friends, of which there are plenty right her on DU, would kindly ask you to stop shitting on "Boomers".

[DURHAM D]

19. Amen

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. Thank you.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. Trashed.

[Ocelot II]

8. That average weekly wage of $873 for 1973 must be adjusted for inflation.

If I'd made that much in 1973 I'd have been in heaven; I was making more like $400 a month.

[Timewas]

15. Yes

$873 was more like a months wages, i was in fact making 500 month working 48 hrs a week...

[Retrograde]

17. Starting salary for computer engineers

in 1974 was $11-12K, and it felt like riches back then. And that student loan? Didn't have to pay it back until you had some time on the job, and even then it was about 3% interest.

[DURHAM D]

16. I just pulled out my 1973 tax return.

I averaged $154 a week. I worked two jobs, one was a waitress, so I made a little (but not a lot) in unreported tips. Fortunately I did not have any student loans.

I think the $873 was arrived at by using the salaries of doctors and lawyers only.

Oh, and a decade later we bought a house and the interest rate was 12.5%.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Agreed

After my BS, while in grad school I worked at a nearby national lab facility. In 1976, I made $7,800.
That's why I left after 7 months. I job with a multinational, only half way to an MS and 3 years from a PhD, paid $12,900.
Yeah, that was '76, not '73, but I made under $250/week.
I literally knew nobody that made $873 except for the directors that ran that research division. And they all had 20-30 years of experience.
If, as you suggest, that $873 is adjusted, it doesn't make the point the other factors do.
I do accept the rent number.
I lived at home & paid my parents $125/month for R&B. That was about what new studio or older 1BR apartments cost, so the "board" was free.
But, that average salary doesn't seem right.

[Tree Lady]

9. Just got off family video call

Where this was brought up. I said the democrats couldn't get the price of college down so they are helping out.

[miyazaki]

10. $873 a week in 73' ???

That's bank baby!

[BComplex]

11. That's obviously an error. There's no way. Maybe $230/week.

At a good job!

[FrankBooth]

12. LOL

The average weekly wage was $873 in 1973? LOL. No it was not.

Accuracy is important. Do better.

[Brainfodder]

13. GenX here, very hgh inflation last 40 years on most things.

Lived it and noticed.

[gulliver]

14. I don't think anti-Boomerist propaganda should be banned here, but it is unethical

Most people who read stuff like this will see it for what it is, tripe. So, I'm fine with it showing up here. A counterexample of wisdom, critical thinking, and political adroitness can be as helpful as an example. This OP-tweet provides that counterexample.

[haele]

18. Well, in 1973, wages were closer to $500 take home for most people.

But other than that, pretty spot on.
Mom (secretary, errr, admin assistant) took home $500 a month and Dad (substitute teacher/adjunct teacher working on his Master's degree) took home between $300 and $500 a month depending on the amount of work he could get. Once he got his Master's in 1975 and got a full time teaching job, he took home $750 a month. His tuition, fees, and text books (discounted because Mom worked at the University) generally worked out to an average $400 a quarter at University of Washington, but once he graduated, he didn't owe anything. 4 years it took for him to get makeup credits from the credits that didn't transfer from his UC Berkeley BA degree and his Master's degree completed while working, but he did it working jobs and raising a family without taking on extra debt.

Most people worked closer to minimum wage with little to no commission or bonus money back then, also. But benefits (pension, life, and halfway decent healthcare) were cheaper.
Groceries, clothes, utilities, and gas tended to be cheaper based on income also.

And you didn't need to have internet access, a computer and/or a smart phone to be able to get a job, much less do your job or take care of business.

That's an extra burden Boomers also didn't have when they were starting out.

Haele

[EYESORE 9001]

21. This boomer says nothing of the sort

It’s just another attempt to divide us - this time along generational lines. Don’t fall for it.

[elias7]

22. Apologies to you and all; I was just trying to point out the insane inflation

Did not mean to crap on myself and other boomers. I meant those “other” boomers

[EYESORE 9001]

33. Boomer status is not a valid way to determine how one stands on, well, anything

There’s no way to pigeonhole a population of 78 million people into agreement on any issue whatsoever.

[SalamanderSleeps]

23. Question.

Why are some self-identified "Boomers" so incredibly thin skinned?

Just asking.

[JanMichael]

24. It said Boomer not Boomers. 1973 was specific.

Also I discovered that my University that I graduated from in the early nineties went from $1,400 a year for 30 credit hours to $7,000 a year for 30 credit hours in 2013 (the state chart that I found only went to 2013).

In addition I didn't have to buy a computer, I didn't have to have a smartphone, I didn't have to have internet service I'm sorry broadband. My car which was 3 years old cost $1,500 used with 30,000 miles.

Minimum wage is either the same or slightly higher but so is electricity water rent food insurance blah blah blah blah blah.

And I'm about 4 years off from being a boomer so I'm an older Xer.

Remember all the stuff in the late '80s and the early nineties about slacker xers and f****** losers we were? Who do you think we're throwing those insults?

[Wingus Dingus]

25. Meaningless stats unless all are adjusted for wages and inflation over time.

I mean, when my grandparents were young in the 1920's and 30's bread cost a nickel a loaf, but they made 100 bucks a month (or something like that).

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. I'm one of the Boomer generation

In 1976 tuition for one quarter at a Community College in Washington State was $83

Adjusted for inflation that would be $432.18 in today's dollars.

Currently it costs $1320 a quarter to attend a Washington State Community College.

The higher cost of tuition is something I've been griping about ever since 1981 when our then Republican legislature and governor doubled the cost of tuition for state colleges.

My state has not elected a Republican governor after that. Then Republican Governor John Spellman lost his bid for re-election 1984.

Blaming the boomer generation for what was done mostly by Reagan Republicans is intellectually lazy.

[SalamanderSleeps]

32. Exactly!

You are my new role model.

[llmart]

30. These sorts of threads aren't helpful.

Stop blaming boomers for everything! DU is full of aging boomers like myself and we support President Biden and his plan, so why try to divide us?

[ProfessorGAC]

34. According To This, Average Annual Wage Was Under $7,600 Per Year

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_Indexed_Monthly_Earnings