wages are not going up (at least not here). Covid among many other factors have kept wages stagnant. They've been stagnant for the last half decade. But the cost of living went way up around 2014-16, then started to level off. Now the cost of living is going up again, faster than the norm.
So what happens when the cost of something goes up and your income doesn't increase proportionally? You make a cut somewhere to offset. Where are you gonna make the cut(s)? That--is the question. Those cuts could mean no more taking the kids to school make them walk. Or make them take the bus. I mean come on, I live like 2 blocks from 2 schools, I walk over to both for their different programs (baseball, volleyball games, car shows, all kinds of stuff), yet my neighbor who lives even closer than I do, load up both of the girls in the Suburban, drive them a block and a half to school, SIT in traffic for 10-45 minutes until they get close to the front door, drop them off, then drive past the house to the other school to go to work. Daily, twice a day. In the summer afternoons I guarantee that Suburban doesn't shut the a/c off, and sits in traffic forever...up to 2 hours that I know of. That Suburban might be seeing 2 mpg if she's lucky. Fill it up twice a week at $60 each time. The line of giant SUV's sitting at school between 245 and 330 is mind boggling. The school system has buses, and they run. My brother drives one of them. His route, it's a 71 passenger bus and there are maybe 20 students on the bus every day. Fill it up. People talk about wasteful spending? smh
There are so many ways that people can be more efficient, but it's not convenient for them so they don't do it. Sooner or later they're going to have to figure it out.
"we" pay $200+ for TV when an OTA antenna is $20 initial and $0/mo. Some people smoke a pack a day. $7.50/pack 7 days a week 365 days a year adds up to, what, $2700 and change in a year? Vacation money!! We pay $500+ a month for electricity because we can't turn the heat down or the a/c up a little "because it's inconvenient". My GF is guilty, we butt heads something bad over the heat and a/c temps. The other neighbor keeps the a/c on 65 in the summer and wonders why their electric bill is $650/mo. Duh!! (I keep mine on 75-79 in summer and 66-68 in winter). We take 4011 showers a day and use the dishwasher to wash 2 dishes because it's inconvenient to do it by hand and we certainly need to stay "clean". Then we make 50 trips a week to the grocery store for bread, milk whatever....when if we'd put it on a list, or add it to a pickup list over time, then dump it/pick it up once a week, we'd save a ton of money just in fuel. We eat at Chik-Fil-A at lunch every day, at $8-$10 a pop--when we could make up a sammich and eat at work, for $2/day. Trust me, this stuff all adds up because I'm living proof that you CAN live cheap and happily, but only if you put your mind to it! Most of us haven't or won't. My GF is one of those that won't, but she's going to have to figure it out quick if she's gonna be hanging around here.
back on topic, what certain leaders have proven in the past is that they may not have the power to ban or take something away, but they can make it much more expensive by taxing it, or forcing companies to do certain things, which trickles down to the consumer as a price increase, to the points that we can no longer afford to use whatever it is, forcing us to use alternative products. That is "their" end goal. If the liberals want electric cars, they can manipulate the markets such that fossil fueled vehicles will become so expensive that nobody can afford them, all the while increasing the incentives to buy alternative fueled or electric. One of many examples. Bullets and firearm related items are another example. Cigarettes are another. Tax it heavily for income but not too much so that people are more likely to quit using them. I think many don't (or refuse to?) understand how all that works.