Yea its what happens when the rich run the country and decide they want to get richer and keep other people from becoming rich themselves. College degree costs since the 1970s have gone up from 14,000 per year to over 100,000 per year on the masters degrees and higher from the good/only schools that matter here in USA. Cost of living has also gone up to its highest ever point vs median wage ever. Class separation (poverty to middle class to upper class) has also gone up to its highest; So much so that if you are below the top 40% of the middle class annual income bracket you are actually living in a state of poverty. This is made worse by the fact that every one in USA above the upper 30% of the middle class not only DOES NOT PAY most taxes, they ALSO start getting sizable tax credits (taxes pay them instead if them paying taxes) at that level. Also thanx to the baby boomer generation; the methods used to start industries and companies back in the 1970s and before that time are now mostly ILLEGAL or now require ridiculous amounts of licensing fees and initial starter costs while back then in 70s and prior not only did most of the methods used cost very little, some of them cost nothing. Example: McDonalds: The guy started by selling burgers out of his back yard to people at cook outs/parties. This is now completely illegal unless you are a licensed food vendor who has been inspected by a health inspector and is part of at the very least a business or limited liability corporation. The vendors license cost varies You need the cooking apparatus to be licensed as a food stuff delivery method (you actually need an 8000-15000 dollar license to get a food cart or truck licensed to serve people) You need a business plan and cost to inventory and maintenance all set up and OK'd by a bank Then you need to be under a licensed company or LLC which you also have to pay for And if its a food truck you need a commercial drivers license to operate a vehicle that is owned by a commercial enterprise. Career wise you cant even get a career with out at LEAST trade schooling or an associates degree. Other wise unless you know some one who knows some one or start your own business; You won't make more than minimum wage period. If you do make minimum wage you also need to be put on welfare and medicare otherwise you WONT have enough money for food and a place to live. So yea USA is pretty F'D up right now and its getting worse each year due to rising price of petroleum vs it's now shrinking supply and our refusal to switch our industry to at least a renewable resource to power and fuel it. (Methanol and ethanol are both renewable resources made from plants which can be grown anywhere thanx to greenhouses by the way, so far brazil is the only nation in the world to actually switch to using chiefly one of those)