European Tribune impresses me as the sort of blog that would be rather enamoured with Mother Jones... a publication, by the way, that used to plausit joyfully ahout a socity without tradable money or a way to save. I'm pretty sure they used to have "central bong" installed.

Nonetheless, the same sort of person that would suddenly go from demaning logic to seeing the apocalypse in a tortilla if it seemed politically expedient are back with the thousandth repetition of this absurd notion that if mapped out - would indicate that the economy has been in continuous contraction since the stagflationary 70s, when they seem to stop becuase they're getting sentimental about their first girlfriend.

To illustrate just how stupid their idea are, even if real (not relative) wage growth was what they say it is - 0%, inflation would erase 99% of your income in 2 decades.
The last I checked there were FEWER people having to make the choices that come with meagerness, not more.

Twenty years ago, hbeing middle income meant possibly treating your kids to ice cream on sunday. Now the much smaller number of people who are sub-middle income would have to make such a choice. Objectively, the rising of the tide raised all of the boats, so the only way you can make the guilt-tripping argument is to try to get people to forget about actual material need, and focus on the envy of relative wealth.

Purpose? A subjective emotional bludgeon. ANyone using it has as the very last thing on their mind the well being of anyone in need.