(Originally published in Greater Democracy)

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

This is a question that gets asked during just about every election, and the answer usually seems to be more, “Do you want the current administration to remain in power?” People who do want the current administration to remain in power, cite examples of how they are better off, and point out that the places where they are better off are not a result of the current administration. Those who want regime change site examples about how things are not as good as the were four years ago, and how the things that are better are not a result of the current administration.

For a couple illustrations, look at http://www.macnet2.com/index.php?id=P521 which talks about progress of the iBook and from there about their children, etc.

A slightly more rigorous analysis can be found at BuzzFlash. It has a few graphs about what has gone on in the country economically.

An Op-Ed piece in the Herald News explores how people respond to this question observing, “most of us learned early in life that other people generally don't want to hear our hard luck complaints. Publicly, we try to put a positive spin on even the most negative situations. But privately, where we feel free to say what is truly in our hearts, our reality is often not so genteel.”

Rob Walker has another interesting take on this in his comments about Thomas Frank’s book, One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy: “So, are you better off now than you were four years ago? Did you buy Cisco on a dip? Did you get an angel investor to fund your startup, or retire 10 years early, or otherwise live out some previously unthinkable New Economy fantasy?”

Jock Gill took another tack on this question and expanded it into ten questions worth exploring. He asks:

1. Do you have more money in your pocket today than you had 4 years ago?
2. Do you have better healthcare than you did 4 years ago? Is it costing you less?
3. Are your older parents and relatives getting better and more affordable care and medicine than they were 4 years ago?
4. Do you have more job security than you did 4 years ago?
5. Is your retirement more secure than it was 4 years ago?
6. Is your children's education better and more affordable than it was 4 years ago?
7. Are your family finances stronger than they were four years ago?
8. Are you more confident about your children's future than you were 4 years ago?
9. Is the world we live in cleaner and safer than it was 4 years ago?
10. Are we leaving our children a better world for their children?

Britt Blaser has put this into a good PDF file. that is useful for starting more informed discussions about whether or not we really are better off.

I think we do need to think about whether or not we are better off today then we were four years ago. However, Jock’s final question, “Are we leaving our children a better world for their children”, is the question that most resonates with me, and I believe that by asking these questions, we can help make this a better world.