The buses and subways were about .15 to .20 cents. Usually the same as a slice of pizza. Cigarettes were about .45 to .50 cents a pack. Gas was roughly .28 to .30 cents a gallon. The rent my parents paid for our apartment on twenty seventh avenue was $165.00 a month on the third floor with no elevator.  I kicked in 5 or 10 dollars weekly depending on how busy it got at the office. And remember those beautiful Malibu's, Mustangs and GTO's they were usually $2500 to $3500. We later moved to Holbrook, Long Island in the winter of 1969 and bought a Levitt Home for $25,000 dollars. 

 

     I notice today that if you move the decimal point over one spot to the right not much has changed. Buses and subways are $1.50 to$ 2.00 around the same as a slice of pizza. Gas is roughly $2.80 to $3.00 a gallon. Cigarettes 4.50 to 5.00 a pack. Rent $1,650 a month. A good car 25,000 to 35.000. The difference however  is good luck finding a house on Long Island  for $250,000. Also if you take my minimum wage job as a kid I was making $12.50 an hour. Back then however we weren't even on the tax charts, and only one parent had to work. The fear of getting sick was limited to whether or not there was a cure not wether or not there was any coverage.

 

      I feel for the parents of the inner city today who try to earn their way when rent is $10.00 an hour on a forty hour work week before  taxes.  If your a single parent your really in trouble. The free trade benefit of so called lower prices doesn't help with the cost of rent, heat, car insurance, food, travel expenses, day care, health costs or electricity. By allowing Illegal's to be exploited for the purpose of driving down wages this policy also depletes the services and benefits intended for struggling tax payers . Not enforcing the laws and not allowing enforcement of the law has made life impossible for those who in spite of all their disadvantages choose to do what is right, work hard and play by the rules. Then when you think of what occurred this week in Newark you see that crime is a result of this corruption. So much talk about fighting crime but obviously crime is a result of corruption. Then they blame the problems of society on the powerless of society.