Modern Life

lol. Shows what I know about Reddit, then.
Still, I have seen it before in a different form. It seems we keep reinventing our jokes.
On Facebook, you often see reworded (often copyrighted) material, even from way, way back presented as the latest joke. I guess it's always new to someone.

I don't think someone from the 1950s would consider many Americans who are said to be living in poverty to be poor. Based on the government's data from 2005, the average poor person has a car, air conditioning, color TV, DVD player, cable, a washing machine, and a dryer. Additional government data from 2003, shows that 92.5 percent of poor households say that they have always had enough food to eat in the four months preceding the poll that was taken. On average, poor children at age 18 are taller and heavier than soldiers who fought in WWII.

http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2011/pdf/bg2575.pdf

I would think anyone, past or present, would be shocked to know that half of all Americans are too poor to qualify to pay taxes.

That top marginal rate applied to a very small number of people who made in excess of $3.3 million in today's dollars and loopholes and deductions turned their average income tax rate to 31%. Now, the top marginal rate hits anyone making $400,000 and the average income tax rate for that population is 25%. In addition, most business income is now subject to the individual income tax. In 1954, the capital gains tax was 25%, it is now 20%. Granted, that's 20% less that it was but we should also take into account that it's double taxation. Perhaps the man from the past would be more interested to know that more than half of America pays no Federal income tax and that welfare spending and the national debt have increased dramatically.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ib_19.htm#.UYGoXiPG-tq
http://blackburn.house.gov/uploadedfiles/jec_republican_staff_analysis_historical_tax_rates_rhetoric_vs_reality.pdf.pdf

Ted, that's Snoo, the reddit mascot.