There is only one true measure of prosperity: the purchasing power of an hour's labor / wage. It doesn't matter what the wage or price numbers are, what matters is: how much can you buy with an hour's wage?
This is proof-positive we're not just poorer now than we were 40 years ago, we're much, much poorer.
Armies of well-paid apologists, apparatchiks and propaganda peddlers--economists, pundits, statisticians, influencers--spend their entire careers pushing a big shining lie; we're more prosperous now than ever before. This is demonstrably false, as the truth--that we're much poorer than we were 40 or 50 years ago--would disrupt the status quo in which the few at the top get to control the narratives and wealth as long as the masses believe the propaganda that we're all better off.
This is the reason why the four-decade collapse of the purchasing power of wages must be papered over with propaganda and gamed statistics. If we accept the reality of our declining standard of living and well-being, then a few reforms will be recognized as insufficient; we'll awaken to the necessity of a Reformation, not just a handful of standard-issue policy tweaks.
Inflation statistics are easily gamed. So are statistics such as median wages. Official inflation is gamed by various statistical tricks (hedonics and what's in the price basket) to understate the real-world decline in purchasing power.
There is only one true measure of prosperity: the purchasing power of an hour's labor / wage. It doesn't matter what the wage or price numbers are, what matters is: how much can you buy with an hour's wage?
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......How many hours of work does it take to buy essential products and services now, and how long do the products last? By this measure, we're poorer, much poorer. After paying for essentials, we have less disposable income available to save or spend on non-essential stuff.
In the mid-1970s, I was having lunch with two older buddies. One was a public school teacher (he taught science) who'd served in West Africa in the Peace Corps, the other was an ex-Marine officer who'd served boots on the ground in Vietnam. Both agreed that if anyone was serious about achieving anything that required money, they had to save 40% to 50% of their net pay. Anything less indicated they weren't actually serious.
With even an average measure of frugality, this was entirely possible. It was well within reach. How many wage earners today save 40% - 50% of their net pay? Sure, some do, but how many do so without help from the family, special discounts or subsidies, or earnings in the top 10%? Not many. And this is proof-positive we're not just poorer now than we were 40 years ago, we're much, much poorer.
If we refuse to accept reality, what are the chances we'll be able to fix what's broken? Delusion and wishful thinking are not successful survival strategies.