This message was self-deleted by its author

[whathehell]

176. Well, actually, you said this:

"That enabled factory workers to do very well for a time. Still, factory workers in 1955, while employed, were not necessarily doing well, except maybe in the auto industry".

Beyond that, you seem to be feeling a little defensive about what I said, and that really was not my intention.

As for your last paragraph, I guess I'm just not getting your point. Certainly there were reasons for the post-war

boom, but that in no way "invalidates" the fact of it, nor does it mean that the situation of those years was entirely

dependent on external factors, such as the post war world, the lack of competition, etc. For instance,

you cite things like the G.I. Bill and college loans; those things still exist, but the G.I. Bill, for instance,

has been been gutted since World War II but there's no reason we couldn't restore its original benefits.

We could, and I believe we have, also eliminated that bank middleman for college loans.

Again, I guess I just don't understand what you're trying to say. In your last paragraph, for instance, you

list "belief that, if you sent your kid to college, he or she would automatically have a better life than that of yours in the factory".

That's true, but that "belief" was based largely on reality. At THAT time, one could go to college and have a much better life than

one's factory working parents. Millions of kids born to blue collar workers did exactly that during that time, my family

and that of my spouse being the closest and best examples I can give you. The kids in both my and

my spouse's family all went to college, some beyond, and we all do, in fact, have much better lives than our

factory working parents. After serving in the Peace Corp after college, my spouse went on to Graduate School and now earns well

into six figures. My sister graduated from a state college, went to law school, and is now a superior court judge.

It's probably worth noting that this didn't happen overnight, of course, as we are all boomers now in our sixties.

Like I said, you seem to be of a differing view on the situation, but I'm honestly just not sure why or for what reasons.