There's a chapter in the book where he talks about the economics of being a biker/drop out/artist circa 1970.
A biker could work six months as a union stevedore and earn enough to stay on the road for two years. A part time waitress could make enough to support herself and her musician boyfriend.
Or, to put it another way, in 1960 minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the cost of the average home was $11,000.00. A burger flipper could get hired on high school graduation day and be a home owner in 20 years without ever getting a raise.
Reminder that median means "half of the samples are above this point and half of the samples are below, which means exactly what was stated in the OP "half of America"
I fully support the ideas from OP that corporations need to pay people better and wages need to at least attempt to track economic gains, but we can send that message while telling the truth and citing our sources to prove that the message is legit.
It appears that the claim that half of Americans make under $35,000 is not accurate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median personal income in the United States for 2022 was $40,480 (FRED - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA646N). Additionally, data from DQYDJ shows that at the 40th percentile, income was approximately $58,001, suggesting that less than half of the population earns under $35,000 (DQYDJ – Don't Quit Your Day Job - https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-household-income-percentiles/).
Furthermore, the median household income was reported to be $74,580 in 2022, a figure that significantly exceeds the $35,000 threshold (Census.gov - https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-279.html). This indicates that the median individual and household incomes in the U.S. are both higher than $35,000, disproving the initial claim.
"Our merchants and masters complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price and lessening the sale of goods. They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people.”
― Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
“But if I pay my workers more, then I won’t get to have my third house and second yacht, and I’ll have to get rid of my secret second family. And think of the poor shareholders.”
Shower thought: What if the journalists drawing attention to these problems are using twisted headlines to get the message past the same corporate masters? That the very voice of media is under the same yoke, struggling to get the word out?
Edit: So you change "Wage theft at all time high" to "Millennials claim fast food too expensive" to at least get people talking.
The figure referenced in this tweet is likely referring to the 2021 net compensation chart we saw making the rounds a few weeks back. Indeed, it's correct, ~50% of all Americans made less than 35k per year in net total compensation in 2021.
In 2022, that figure rose to ~40k. So the trend is going in the right direction, at least. And IIRC, the chart does include teenagers, college students, people working part time or underemployed, etc.
The media isn't asking these questions because they don't know the answers, they're asking because people are a lot more likely to think there isn't a clear answer when they see people asking the question over and over. If there's a clear answer, then people who want to believe that the younger generation is just lazy will have to come to terms with the fact that they're wrong, or worse yet, leave for another news channel that lets them keep denying it! No, they're going to keep on asking questions and letting the viewer answer them on their own, filling in the blanks to validate whatever biases they have.
Yeah but I'd also start start asking why you're still voting Trump and believing he can be anyhow beneficial to your cause, or is that the other half making >35k a year who evidently then must have subconsciously self-organized like a swarm to unanimously vote for him?
35k I assume of dollars per year? Which is roughly 2900000 roubles month. I have another question: why the fuck everything is so expensive? 2.9M ₽/month is a lot. You can buy flat every few months in Moscow. Something is wrong with your economy and policies if THAT considered small.