The Silent Depression
Many in America’s media and ruling class can’t stop telling us how great we have it in this economy. But what economy are they living in?
The other day, I read about a viral trend on TikTok where users share stories about their money problems (i.e. being unable to afford things) in this economy with #SilentDepression in their posts.
Unlike the Great Depression which was widely acknowledged and reported on during the decade of the 1930s, these TikTok users believe we are experiencing a Silent Depression that many in the media and America’s ruling class are failing to recognize.
The author of this piece acted like any claims of a Silent Depression — or even just a poor economy for that matter — are absolutely absurd!
According to the headline economic numbers, we have the strongest job creation and lowest unemployment rate. Even the inflation rate is coming down from its 40-year highs.
And we repeatedly hear this all the time from America’s elite and those in the media wishing to sell us the narrative that happy times are here again!
Are average Americans feeling the “boom” from this “booming” economy?
Short answer: No!
Long answer: Hell, no!
For example, 62% of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck, making it the “new normal” financial lifestyle for most households in the country.
Furthermore, that number rises to 80% for those earning less than $50,000 a year.
However, it isn’t just lower-income Americans struggling to make ends meet. For instance, a whopping 42% of consumers earning more than $100,000 a year also report living paycheck to paycheck.
And for members of Gen Z —who tend to make up a majority of TikTok users — 66% report living paycheck to paycheck.
Therefore, with so many different income classes struggling in this economy, it’s no surprise that #SilentDepression is trending so much on TikTok.
Those users are simply reporting their reality.
Why are so many Americans living paycheck to paycheck?
Let me try to make this simple for some of our highly educated elites struggling to grapple with why so many feel so poorly about the economy.
- The rate of inflation may have dropped from 40-year record highs, but prices have not dropped.
- Consumers are still feeling the pinch from the big price hikes that have occurred since 2021. Again, consumer prices aren’t coming down. They just aren’t going up as quickly as they were the past few years.
- To make matters worse, the Federal Reserve has been forced to raise interest rates to combat sky-high consumer prices. So, everything from auto loans, to mortgages, to credit card debt is also much more expensive for borrowers.
I’ll also add that the fact the country is running $2 trillion deficits during an “economic boom” is also quite unsettling to millions of Americans nervous about our ballooning national debt. We worry about rising taxes in the future to cover unfunded liabilities.
The reality of the #SilentDepression narrative
For the minority of Americans privileged enough to be doing so well in this economy, it doesn’t feel anything at all like a “Second Great Depression” — let alone a subpar economy. But given the numbers laid out in this article, I think it could be said they are living in an alternative reality.
President Reagan used to say: “When your neighbor is out of work, it’s a recession. But when you’re out of work, it’s a depression.”
Therefore, since the overwhelming number of consumers are living paycheck to paycheck, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone why they feel so pessimistic about the economy — even going so far as calling it a Silent Depression.
To them, they are struggling in silence as the country’s elite live it up and let the “good times roll.”
I know we aren’t living in an economic depression like the one the country endured through nearly a century ago. Instead, large majorities of Americans feel depressed about the current state of their finances.
And as one of those struggling Americans, I can speak for all of us when I say, we could use less snark and more heart from the media and members of the country’s ruling class.