[kalek]

Another young-ish reader here, first time poster. I was born in ’83, right around the X – Millennial boundary. I have been reading TAE for many years now, and other like-minded websites (The Archdruid Report, The Oil Drum when it was active, Zerohedge). I much appreciate hearing the perspectives on the wealth and mood of America in earlier decades from people who were there. I am worried that opining on peak wealth will just show my ignorance about history.

I am intrigued by Ken’s idea of wealth. It highlights a time where there was an overlap of high levels of absolute wealth, and a still upward pointing trajectory in further increases in technology, consumer choice and health. I get the sense that the negative side effects of rapid development were either not recognized, or believed to be manageable – something that could be conquered like the moon or the fields in the green revolution.

It seems people are happiest when they are getting wealthier fastest (the rate of change) rather than at the highest objective level of wealth. It’s when the gains in wealth outrun experience and expectations that we feel rich.

I hesitate to say my generation has it rougher than the previous ones, at least here in Canada. I may never own a paid-off home or get a pension, and many of my peers are burdened with college debt with no prospects to pay it off, but many of us would feel much poorer if transported to the 50s or 60s: Large families packed in small houses sharing a single bathroom (the horror! 😉 . Wood or coal heating, no hot water, electricity or television in the home were common conditions. My mother tells me about how her family did intensive gardening and used an outhouse.

Today we have little fear of getting drafted. Personal storage units are a multi-billion dollar industry. Few kids are used as ‘child labor’ on a farm (I actually think getting kids to do such work is a good thing in moderation). So I’m not sure if wealth has decreased or if it is just different.

A problem is how goods and conveniences morph over time from luxuries to necessities, and we enjoy them less. It is not only a matter of personal comfort. There is social stigma against going without running water, power, a cell phone, etc. Standards are institutionalized. Cities are built in a sprawling manner on the assumption everyone will have a car. The authorities can take your children away if you raise them in ways that were common in earlier decades. There are a number of forces conspiring to make you feel stressed about losing something that was optional not so long ago.

Even though I have done better than my parents as far as money, I feel unease about at the future. It’s like cresting the high point of a roller coaster, with that weightless feeling of dread.

I am looking forward to the article on energy and wealth, and hope it will lead to more first-hand stories.

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