The U.S. Has Not Been Taken Advantage Of Since WWII

There’s a pernicious myth gaining traction that the U.S. has been taken advantage of by other countries since WWII, especially since the end of the Cold War, and that we’re less well off because of it. Actually, given the sobering realities of human nature and the countless conflicts that have plagued mankind from time immemorial, we and most of the world have lived through a golden age over the past 80 years. May we make as much progress in the next 80 years as we have during the last eight decades.

Whatever some may think, the U.S. has benefited mightily from the institutions we created and the economic and military arrangements we pursued after WWII. To state the obvious, mistakes, a number of them tragic, were made. But the overall upward trajectory of human progress has been remarkable and without precedent in history.

In 1950, about two-thirds of the world lived in dire poverty, defined as $2.15 per person per day (in today’s dollars). By 1990, that had fallen to about one-third, even though the global population had more than doubled from 2.5 billion to 5.3 billion. Today, with the number of people well over 8 billion, less than one-tenth live in dire poverty.

During this time, Americans experienced dramatic improvements in both their standard of living and quality of life. From economic prosperity to technological advancement and medical breakthroughs to expanded civil rights, the past eight decades have witnessed changes that would have seemed almost miraculous to citizens emerging from the Great Depression and wartime rationing.

Perhaps the most visible improvement has been in economic well-being. Median household income in the U.S. has more than doubled in real, inflation-adjusted terms since 1950, rising from approximately $31,800 to $83,730. That number doesn’t include fringe benefits. A family health policy now costs over $27,000. If we ever got our healthcare act together, about $20,000 of that would go into spendable income, pushing typical incomes to well over $100,000. The increase in purchasing power has translated into vastly improved living conditions. In the immediate postwar era, many families struggled with basic necessities, with over a third living on less than $20,000 inflation-adjusted dollars annually. Today, Americans enjoy unprecedented access to an ever-wider array of consumer goods. Free markets turn luxury items and services into things just about every working person can afford. The most dramatic example is the hand-held device, which has evolved into a virtual supercomputer that three decades ago would have been bigger than today’s residential house.

Regarding housing, quality has improved dramatically. The cramped, often substandard housing common in the 1940s has given way to larger and better-equipped homes. Modern houses feature central heating and air conditioning, multiple bathrooms and updated kitchens—amenities that were rare or nonexistent for most families in the immediate postwar period. The average size of a new single-family home in 1950 was about 983 square feet. In 1990, it expanded to 2,080 square feet, and today it’s between 2,400-2,600 square feet. Homeownership grew significantly during the suburban boom of the 1950s and 1960s, allowing millions of families to build equity and wealth. The housing-affordability crisis today is the result of government error and will be rectified.

Medical advances have revolutionized life expectancy and health outcomes in the U.S. In 1945, life expectancy hovered around 65 years; today it exceeds 77 years. The development of antibiotics, vaccines and advanced surgical techniques has virtually eliminated many diseases that once killed thousands annually. Polio, which terrorized parents in the 1950s, has been eradicated in the U.S. Heart disease and cancer, while still big killers, are now often treatable or manageable conditions rather than automatic death sentences.

Access to healthcare has expanded significantly, particularly with the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, providing coverage for elderly and low-income Americans. While healthcare challenges persist, the quality and scope of available medical treatment far exceeds anything available in the immediate postwar era.

The technological revolution has fundamentally altered daily life. In 1945, telephones still had party lines in many areas, and long-distance calls were expensive luxuries. Today, smartphones put instant global communication in everyone’s pocket. The internet has democratized access to information, education and entertainment in ways unimaginable to previous generations. Tasks that once required hours—from research to shopping to banking—can now be completed in minutes from home.

Transportation has evolved dramatically as well. The Interstate Highway System, begun in 1956, connected the nation and made travel accessible to ordinary families. Air travel, once reserved for the wealthy, became commonplace. These improvements have enhanced both personal mobility and economic opportunity.

Quality of life improvements extend beyond material prosperity. The civil rights movement dismantled legal segregation and expanded opportunities for African Americans and other minorities. Women gained greater economic independence and legal equality, transforming from a workforce largely confined to traditional roles into one participating across all sectors of the economy.

Higher education, once the preserve of the few, became widespread. The GI Bill enabled millions of veterans to pursue higher education. The problem with our colleges and universities today isn’t access but quality and cost. Again, these issues are generating pressures for reform.

For all the challenges we and the world face today, the overall direction since World War II has been one of astounding progress. Americans today enjoy longer lives, greater comfort, more opportunities and broader freedoms than their grandparents could have imagined. The transformation represents history’s most successful period of sustained improvement in human welfare.

Today, if we don’t understand and appreciate how far we’ve come—and why—we stand in danger of pursuing policies that could throw us back to the kind of conditions and blunders that created the Great Depression and two world wars. Together these events nearly ended western civilization, a possibility made even more frightening today by the existence of nuclear weapons.