As I was driving home this afternoon I made a left turn and heard a tell-tale squeak from the front tire indicating that it’s low on air. At least, I think that’s what it means. I don’t know anything about cars except how to fill the gas tank, and as a New Jersey native I’m resentful even of that.
I wish that I lived in an era when gas station attendants still performed all kinds of maintenance tasks for free: changing the oil, checking the tire pressure, filling the wiper fluid. The only time I’ll check my wiper fluid is when I turn the wipers on and nothing comes out. I’m pretty sure it’s stored under the hood somewhere.
It occurred to me that people in the 50’s had it easy in a lot of ways that might not be obvious if you’ve been indoctrinated with conservative cries about the modern “nanny state.” Take the recent mortgage meltdown. It used to be that you didn’t worry about whether you could afford a house. A stern banker behind a high mahogany desk would slam down a big rubber stamp that either said, “APPROVED” or “DENIED”. If he approved and you didn’t blow all your money on space-age appliances or cars with huge fins, you’d be okay. And it wasn’t possible to end up with 10 grand in credit card debt because credit cards didn’t exist.
Today people are expected to perform all kinds of social and economic calculus that they never were before. Back when you had a corporate pension you didn’t plan for retirement, you just showed up for work every day. Someone with only a 6th grade education could manage that just fine. Now ask that same person to understand a balanced, moderate-risk, diversified 401(k) portfolio. Even if they pick an appropriate investment strategy they’re still being asked to take on risk that their parents never did.
Sure, there are some risks we are no longer as free to assume. The other day I filled out one of a those internet quizzes about how long you will live, based on actuarial data (answer: 104 years old). There were about 5 questions related to smoking, from the basic, “Do you smoke?” (no) to “Have you ever been a smoker?” (I don’t think one clove every two years counts) to “How often are you exposed to second-hand smoke?” To that last one I answered, a little to my surprise, “Never.” These days, in Massachusetts, that’s true.
Unlike the 1950’s, we are expected to take on more responsibility about our sexual behavior. This is one thing we’re doing right. Again, contrary to the right-wing hysteria, teen pregnancy rates have been lower than they were when my parents were growing up, especially during the free-love Clinton 90’s. Today’s teenagers are sophisticated, and putting on a condom is easier than picking a mutual fund. Sometimes more information is better.
I’m trying to pinpoint an overarching theory to account for these social changes. The regulatory loosening that brought us “creative” mortgages are well-known. Nobody told gas stations to pare down their services but clearly that’s part of a general trend away from customer service and towards rock-bottom prices. People already drive 10 miles away to buy gas that’s 2 cents cheaper — no one will see the value in having their tire pressure checked every month in exchange for pricier gas, even though that will ultimately save money in the long run.
Maybe it’s assumed that everyone is educated enough to take on mortgage financing, retirement planning and ever-more-complex tax codes. The middle of the twentieth century was no doubt a better time to be a skilled blue collar worker: unions were strong, pensions were secure and there were plenty of jobs. Most of those jobs are now overseas. The U.S. has instead become an information economy. That’s great for me — here I am, blogging. I can do my taxes and have a sensible mortgage and I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay at retirement. I’m also a complete idiot because I don’t know how to fill a tire. Nobody should be expected to know everything.
