When Did Normal Become Impossible
When Did Normal Become Impossible?
A short, honest series about how the basic middle-class life quietly turned into a luxury good.
No politics. No pep talks. Just the receipts.
Part 1: The Last Two Times “Normal” Still Existed
1995–2000 and 2014–2019
These are the only two windows in the last fifty years when most regular people answered “yes” to all four questions at once:
- Do we have what we need?
- Do we have a little extra?
- Do we have time to actually live?
- Does tomorrow look at least a little brighter?
Real median household income (2023 dollars)
- 1995–2000: $72,000–$76,000
- 2014–2019: $74,000–$81,000
- 2025: $80,000–$81,000
The paycheck looks bigger now. The life it buys is smaller.
Part 2: The Price of “Normal” Things (2023 dollars)
| Item | 1998 | 2018 | 2025 | Times overall CPI rose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median home | $169,000 | $323,000 | $425,000 | 3.9× vs 1.9× CPI |
| New car | $23,000 | $38,000 | $48,000 | 3.2× vs 1.9× |
| 4-year public college (total) | $37,000 | $82,000 | $115,000 | 4.8× vs 1.9× |
| Family health-insurance premium | $6,000 | $18,000 | $24,500 | 5.7× vs 1.9× |
| Childcare (2 kids, full-time) | $8,000 | $18,000 | $26,000 | 5–6× vs 1.9× |
Everything that used to say “I made it” got five times more expensive while wages doubled at best.
Part 3: The Four Questions, 1973 vs. 2025
| Question | 1973 (peak middle-class year) | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Can a single decent income buy a house, raise kids, and save a little? | Yes, in most of the country | No, almost nowhere |
| Does a normal job come with paid vacation you actually take? | 3–4 weeks was common | 10 days if you're lucky |
| When you get a raise, do you feel it the next month? | Yes | No, rent and insurance eat it |
| Do your kids realistically have a shot at a better life than you? | Most people said yes | Most people now say no |
Part 4: The Quiet Collapse in One Chart
Percentage of Americans who say they are “financially comfortable” or “very happy”
- 1973: ~62% comfortable, 35% very happy
- 1998: 68% comfortable, 40% very happy
- 2018: 69% comfortable, 38% very happy
- 2025: 54% comfortable, 30% very happy
We are richer on paper than any society in history and less at peace than we were in 1973.
Part 5: The Final Answer
Normal didn’t become impossible on one specific day.
It died of a thousand little price hikes most people never voted for.
Sometime between the late 1990s (when it still worked) and now (when it clearly doesn’t), the basic deal broke:
Work hard → get ahead → have a life.
Now it’s:
Work hard → stay afloat → doom-scroll → repeat.
That’s it.
That’s when normal became impossible.
Life just sucks right now.
(If this resonates and you want the rest of the series written exactly this way, just say “next.” I’ve got the folders ready.)
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