JimH wrote:
First show me folks who work 90 hours/week for only an annual income of
$25,000.

Even Micky D's pays more than the minimum wage. My son will be making
$10.50/hour plus painting houses this summer, plus another $1.50 for
every hour he worked if he does not miss work (except for vacations).

Your son lives at home and eats out of the family fridge. Big
difference. Even if you charge him a token amount for room and board,
that doesn't compare to trying to make it on his own with a $420/week
gross income and paying the actual expenses. Your son is lucky he has
his family to fall back on, and lucky that he doesn't have to work for
$8-9 an hour like many others do in this WalMart economic model.

Steering back toward the main topic of this thread; your son is a
perfect example of a hard working person who will never be able to
afford a boat (unless he makes more money in the future). Still, more
people than ever before do have *big money* to spend on boats, as well
as other luxuries. My point is that for those at the top things are
great and getting better, but for those at the bottom things are not so
great and prospects aren't very bright, either.
The number of folks in the "middle" is not increasing as fast as the
numbers on the extreme ends.