In 1996 I brought home (net) $53,000 USD. The year after I bought a 1450 sq ft home on 10.5 acres with 2 24×24 outbuildings for $50,000.
Last year I grossed $47,000. Last month, I bought a 1250 sq ft house on 1/2 acre for $162,000. Both houses are in roughly the same condition.
There is lower wages, less freedom, more regulation and a higher tax burned, richer rich and more people on the streets since any time since westward expansion.
Look around, leadership in the last 25 years has without a doubt, ruined our country.