DON’T BE BRAINWASHED ABOUT AFFORDABILITY. FOLLOW THE NUMBERS, NOT MOUTHS. GAS IS CHEAPER TODAY THAN IN 1955.
DON'T GO APE SHIT ON ME UNTIL YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBERS!!
Want to understand affordability? LOOK AT HISTORY.
America didn’t build a higher standard of living by making everything return to yesterday’s prices.
Earnings grew. Productivity improved. Technology gave us more for our money.
Here’s a simple example nobody ever talks about:
Take gasoline at 39.9 cents a gallon in 1955 & a car getting just 6 miles per gallon.
Adjusted for inflation, that gallon cost approximately $4.96 in today’s dollars.
Now compare that with a car getting 30 MPG. It travels FIVE TIMES farther on the same gallon.
You’d have to pay approximately $24.80 a gallon in that 30-MPG car to match the old car’s inflation-adjusted fuel cost per mile!
Suddenly, 39.9-cent gasoline doesn’t sound so cheap.
Don't like that example? Fine, I'll give you another one!
1955
Median family income: $4,418.
10,000 miles ÷ 6 MPG × $0.399 = $665 annually.
$665 ÷ $4,418 = 15.1% of income.
Today
Latest available median family income: $110,500 for 2025.
Latest national regular-gas average: $4.269 per gallon, October 26, 2026.
10,000 miles ÷ 30 MPG × $4.269 = $1,423 annually.
$1,423 ÷ $110,500 = 1.3% of income.
That’s approximately 91% less of the family’s income going toward gasoline for the same distance.
FOLLOW THE NUMBERS, NOT THE MOVING MOUTHS!
HISTORY. CONTEXT. PURCHASING POWER.
The number on the pump doesn’t tell the whole story. Neither does the number on your paycheck.
If your earnings rise faster than your cost of living, you gain ground. If your cost of living rises faster, you lose ground.
Yes, lower costs wherever possible. Encourage competition. Improve productivity.
Look at how living standards improved over generations. The goal is to afford MORE with what you earn.
Politicians can promise lower prices. They can’t simply command them into existence.
Increase EARNINGS. Increase PRODUCTIVITY. Make your money go FURTHER.
THAT’S affordability.
And in the age of AI, SI, IA, or whatever the hell you want to call it, we have new tools to save time, reduce costs & create income.
USE THEM.
If one thing costs more, look for something else you can make cost less to help offset it.
It’s like flying a plane. You keep adjusting to the conditions to stay on course.
You don’t control every headwind. But you still have to fly the damn plane.
Trust the numbers, don't swallow the bullshit!