.

See what happens when you pay some dull pill $15.00 to flip a burger.
Although I believe that gross indebtedness has become America's favorite sport.

I know by where you speak! Recently I was compelled to buy 100ea. 250-3000 Hornady cases for
$.90 apiece.
Look at the price of Prime rib steak!!!! roger

On the flip side you have entry level rifles today like the Savage Axis and Ruger American for relatively low prices.

It don't have nothing to do with paying someone a living wage to flip burgers. Tho the elitist yelling Republican radio hosts want to convince everyone of that.

What amazes me is the amount of people that have and keep buying all these high dollar toys.
I strongly suspect that many of these higher end firearms related products are purchased on credit. And that it is not an unencumbered money situation.
Some products are worth what they cost . many are not. A $7,000 Mark 8 . Not . A $2,800 Tangent Theta or Vortex Razor ll HD . Probably. A SS Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley 5shot in 480 Ruger or 454 Casual for $1,000 or there about . Thats worth it .
A $7,000 Ski Doo Tundra LT . maybe . a $30,000 UTV . NOT EVEN CLOSE !
I would say that a $2,500. Mausingfield action is worth it .

But, the old , sell to the masses, eat with the classes still pretty much holds true. Winchester got too high priced and went thru reorganisation. Not sure what Dakota's status is . I think Kimber did a smart thing by coming out with their Hunter model. A 700$ rifle as opposed to a $1,400 one will sell well if it works well.
The SWFA rifle scopes are about the single best value in rifle optics. Actually quite amazing! I would bet there are 75 or more Vortex Viper PST scopes sold for every 1 S&B PM ll.
But, with products like thermal imaging optics becoming more common and the insane price for a new vehicle like a pickup. Somebody has to be making money somewhere.

I remember paying $1400 for my (2008?) Matthews bow....$3k-$4k for my Canon SLDR....I think my rifles have been some of my cheaper purchases.

My Snap-on scan tool was around $6,000.....toolboxes start at $5,000.....just for a hunk of lockable painted steel.

I'm not sure where it will end. But I would like to add a Swarovski spotting scope to my optics collection but find other things to purchase before spending the $3k on it.

Oh and a LabRadar Chronograph

ahmen!!

Almost every shooting item you can buy is demonstrably cheaper now than it was 40 or 50 years ago. I bought a Leupold Vari-X 3-9 in 1965 which was priced at $89.95. Run that through the inflation calculator at http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ and you'll find that the same amount in today's money is $492. But today you can by a Leupold VX-I (probably a better scope) for $250, or about half price. A Remington 700 BDL was about $150 a half-century ago. Now it is considerably less than the equivalent $1,160 in today's money. IMR powder was $3.95 per pound, or $30.55. Even with the recent components scare you can buy it cheaper today. So quit crying in your (bargain) beer and enjoy the fact that the price of most manufactured products is the least it's ever been.

Now, it may be true that there are still foolish people who spend foolish amounts of money on foolish things. If you want to pay $3,000 for a rifle scope that is better suited to astronomical observations than to hunting, be my guest. And if your bass simply refuse to bite if your boat cost less than $40,000, then that's a problem you'll have to solve on your own. So, if you're unable to make .250 Savage brass from abundant and never cheaper .308 with a pass through the die and a quick trim, then you may have to pay whatever the going rate for brass that is waiting its turn for a "seasonal run".

But don't get on your high horse and blame some starving college student trying to make ends meet by flipping burgers for trying to get enough out of his job to occasionally be able to buy one of those burgers for his own supper. It ain't got nothin at all to do with the price of a jet ski, much less a Holland and Holland double rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:
It don't have nothing to do with paying someone a living wage to flip burgers. Tho the elitist yelling Republican radio hosts want to convince everyone of that.

What amazes me is the amount of people that have and keep buying all these high dollar toys.
I strongly suspect that many of these higher end firearms related products are purchased on credit. And that it is not an unencumbered money situation.
Some products are worth what they cost . many are not. A $7,000 Mark 8 . Not . A $2,800 Tangent Theta or Vortex Razor ll HD . Probably. A SS Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley 5shot in 480 Ruger or 454 Casual for $1,000 or there about . Thats worth it .
A $7,000 Ski Doo Tundra LT . maybe . a $30,000 UTV . NOT EVEN CLOSE !
I would say that a $2,500. Mausingfield action is worth it .

Ever hear of inflation? It starts at the bottem and works its way up. It starts with unearned raises. And a "living wage" is a myth put forth by slackers and union types. I have worked with people for 20 years that were always one more pay raise away from a living wage.

quote:

Ever hear of inflation? It starts at the bottem and works its way up. It starts with unearned raises.

Now that's really dumb. You're blaming people making less than $15,000 a year for the management of monetary policy? What, no Central Bank (Federal Reserve) involved? No fiscal impact of governmental taxes, budgets, surpluses, and deficits? I never realized that the busboy and the poor devil with on the roof with the hot mop were dictating monetary policy and eroding the value of the $100 bills buried in your sealed PVC pipe under your porch.

But I learned a long time ago that the arbitrary number you assign to the currency that is necessary to buy something is not nearly so important as where that number falls relative to the number on the currency that comes into your possession on a periodic basis. In other words, the income of Americans today is MUCH higher compared to the cost of the recreational goods they choose to buy. Our economy experiences its ups and downs and not everything is always cheaper compared to everyone's income, but most things from TV sets to small rifle primers are cheaper to the average American than it has ever been. These ARE the good old days.

George Meany said many many years ago "it ain't what you make, it's what you can do with it" Sage intellect for a union boss.
However, the idea of working part time, flipping some burgers to earn some money to buy a used car while you're in high school has gone away. It went away when they decided that flipping a burger should pay a "living wage".
When it's decided that a kid flipping burgers should be making $15.00/hr, what does the plumber making $20.00/hr have to say? He now, of course, wants $30.00/hr. And considering his skill sets compared to someone that is hired at 9am and is trained by noon, he deserves it. But then, what about the next guy up, and so on. So, yes the guy at the bottom that has been given false expectations of his worth does drive it.

I shoot extensively and have for a lot of years. A son and a pastle of hunting grandsons whom I furnish rifles and reloaded ammo also require a lot of bullets-brass-powder-primers which I consider it a pleasure to do. With this in in mind I have been anal for the last fifteen years about find and buying the components as cheaply as possible both locally and nationally (thank goodness for Nosler and it's sales of blems and first runs) I have accumulated enough to last my bunch a lifetime. It helps that I love every bit of it, particularly seeing the young ones maturing into fine shooters and hunters. It is also good I could afford to do it and realized that they would not have to worry about the dollars, just enjoy the shooting and hunting. I certainly would not want to start from scratch today as Alf says. Good Shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
When looking at the state of the union of the shooting world I see a interesting and worrying trend...... the price of products !

Looking over the new Leopold scope offerings.... their new Mk 8 scopes..... $7000 and change for a scope ? Who is going to buy this ?

But it does not end here ! Leica's new range finders, bino range finders and binos ! we are looking at anywhere between $3000 and $4000 per item ! And it does not end here, just about every maker has their high end offerings and their prices look no different !

we see Rigby making as strong showing but at the prices for their standard offerings ? who is going to fork out that coin for a rifle ?

We see ads in the magazines for new and what appears to be at face value premium brand product, whether bullets, brass or other shooting products and the prices are up there way way up, beyond what I believe a broad shooting public can bear !

And it does not end there, Hoyt the bow makers now have high end bows that when kitted out with sights etc set a shooter back some 2 grand.

A new Carbon Hoyt up here is Canada without add ons or taxes will set you back $ 1800 and change !

Trap shooting numbers are on the decline ! young shooters are not flocking to this sport and the main reason is the cost of good trap guns and ammo.

Every day we hear of small gun shops and even bigger ones shutting down.... the reason product is priced beyond affordability !

I can see a major reset coming and I fear some companies will not survive

I'm with you. Of course with the price of an African Safari or goodness an Alaskan brown bear hunt they are almost all out of reach for your average hunter. My most expensive rifle with scope is my 500 Jeffery, under $3000 but much work and anxiety until it was right. My best bang for the buck is the BDL in 270 I bought in Texas for $300 with Redfield base and rings and a 3x9 Redfield scope in 1967. Got many many heads of game with that and my son still uses it. If the boys were out of college would I spring for a Tanzanian buffalo hunt you bet. It's all relative

I have spent the past few years stockpiling bullets/primers/cases for the calibers Lora and I use, but reality has set in and being retired with the economy in the shape it is in, I realize that at my age hunting is going to become less important in my life, especially big game hunting.

There are three or four hunts I hope to get in before my health and physical shape give out on me, but from my perspective, hunting at least is simply getting expensive enough that I fear a lot of folks are simply going to get priced out of the picture.

A good number of conservation organizations have youth and university events. The youth events show children getting exposed to the outdoors, which is important. But the University chapters show young adults dedicating their time, and their generally limited money, to the future of hunting. If you get to feeling slightly cynical about the future of hunting, go meet some of these men and women. It helps the optimism.

While it's certainly true that we have less chances to shoot and hunt, and the high end is getting pretty high, here's some things to consider:

My $140 Nikon binoculars are better than my very good 40 year old Bausch and Lombs, which were mid range at the time.

$300 can get you an accurate rifle

An 870 costs less today than 15 years ago (not as good either, but it's still a bargain at the price)

High end ammo is very pricey. But the low end 223 and 308 is pretty good for general purposes and affordable.

Trap and skeet are dying, but sporting clays, f-class, 3-gun are all growing

FFA and 4H are going strong

There are more entry level pistols, ARs, over-unders and bolt rifles than ever. Selection is as strong or stronger than it's ever been for over the counter guns up through the semi-custom.

Sears, Kmart, target, Montgomery Ward...all gone or no longer selling guns and ammo. But there are Cabela's, bass pro, sportsmans warehouse, schnees, gander mountain...plus the internet mean there are still more options to find hunting gear

Times are changing. Retail is struggling. Hunting opportunities are shrinking, prices are dropping, and rising. But the sky isn't falling yet.

No doubt there are a lot of truely GREAT products available today . And if a person saves up like we always used to have to. Some things are just out of range of some income levels.

A LOT of it has to do with the "I want it now" generation that has crept into most lives. They all want it new and they want it now. I do not accept that premise.

I belong to the wait until it is cheaper mindset. It is like the auto industry. Anyone that buys a NEW car, or truck, at $50,000 is just nuts, IMHO. At the least, wait a year and let the fact that some schmuck threw away $10,000 by just driving it off the lot work to your benefit. I KNOW I am cheap, but I have NEVER paid more than $18,000 for a vehicle and would never pay $50,000 for one. That is as much as my daughter paid for her first house last year.

Same with rifles. Yes, I did splurge for a couple customs that I will never get my money out of, but the last several rifles I bought were used and considerably less than new price. Cameras are the same way. Wait a year for one that has everything you want on it today and it will be as much as half price next year.

And FORGET me ever buying a new Snap-On tool. I refuse to pay $90 for a standard 3/8" ratchet when I can go to an auction and pick one up for $20-$30, and that is IF I decide I just have to have a Snap-on

There is a sucker born every minute, and those are the people that have us in the shape this is in. If no one bought at the asking price, the price would either go down or the company would go out of business.

Just my cheap-ass thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
And then I look at Side by side UTV's and we see prices running up to $30,000 for a fully loaded Can Am and a kitted out Ranger 900 going the same !

I can't believe the cost of the UTV, and I don't get it either. I can buy a used 4X4 truck for far less than the price of a new UTV and get a hell of a lot more work done and have a heater and possibly working A/C. Anyway, to each there own but I'm not going to be buying a UTV any time soon.

To be fair, someone should be paid the value that his/her labor produced. the problem is in determining what the product of the labor was. The previous method of calculating was piecework and commissions however it has been replaced by an hourly wage, which has little to do with someone's productivity. So the kid can be paid $15/hour to stand at a grill whether there is one order or ten thousand; or he could be paid for the amount of burgers he/she flipped, regardless of the amount of time involved.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray B:
So the kid can be paid $15/hour to stand at a grill whether there is one order or ten thousand; or he could be paid for the amount of burgers he/she flipped, regardless of the amount of time involved.

Flat Rate Sounds like a dealership

Im still shooting Leupold scopes bought used at pawn shops and gun shows for $150 to $225.00 mostly mk2s, 2x7x28, love that 28" glass...its compact...I buy 3Xs but they are up around $200 these days used...4X are about the same...I hope the hundreds of game animals Ive shot are not offended..

A $3000 to $7000 scope for the hunter tells me the only difference in men and boys is the cost of the mens toys..MY scopes have proven themselves over time, I have no complaints.

[QUOTE]Originally. So, if you're unable to make .250 Savage brass from abundant and never cheaper .308 with a pass through the die and a quick trim, then you may have to pay whatever the going rate for brass that is waiting its turn for a "seasonal run".

/QUOTE]

Generally I've held you in high esteem for your accurate and helpful postings. Your demonstrated knowledge has been top shelf.
After many years of making one case from another starting in "57" with 8mm cases from 06 cases and through the years with many of my wild cats and others, I heartily disagree that making 250-3000 cases from .308 cases is an easy and simple proposition. It can be done but it ain't simple.
roger

Just for what it's worth. I'd buy a second-hand Leupold scope in a second if I found one that (would or does) fit my needs in a heartbeat, even if it were twisted into a pretzel. Why? Because of this:

"With the Leupold Full Lifetime Guarantee, if your Leupold product doesn’t perform as promised, we will repair or replace it for free, whether you are the original owner or not—forever (excludes electronic components)."

quote:

A LOT of it has to do with the "I want it now" generation that has crept into most lives. They all want it new and they want it now.

A LOT of it also has to do with the Instantaneous Gratification/Success at ANY cost attitude that has became so pervasive among a large portion of Americas population at least.

It seems like so many of todays hunters are more interested in showing off how much they have spent on gear and less interested in actually learning how to be a hunter and the responsibilities that go along with being a hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray B:
To be fair, someone should be paid the value that his/her labor produced. the problem is in determining what the product of the labor was. The previous method of calculating was piecework and commissions however it has been replaced by an hourly wage, which has little to do with someone's productivity. So the kid can be paid $15/hour to stand at a grill whether there is one order or ten thousand; or he could be paid for the amount of burgers he/she flipped, regardless of the amount of time involved.

The piece work deal is just an even greater rip off to the person doing the work than a decent hourly wage is. In piece works inception some theiving , chiselin, piece of trash has figured out what someone would work for per day and made that the try to reach goal . And adjust the price per piece accordingly.
If the business owner would adjust the price to give the employees a chance to actually make a good income. Or at least a living income. .Then piece work can be a good thing for the person doing the work . And the business owner.

"rip-off" is the Americanized translation of the Bolshevik "exploited". Figuring out a desired end goal of wage is merely the purchaser of labor calculating the potential intersection of labors supply. All the talk of a "livable wage" is just that- calculating what an adequate source of labor would be willing to sell their labor for in exchange for an amount of money that they consider fair. As such it has nothing to do with a labor's product, which should be the determining factor in the pricing. Prior to the industrial revolution and the sequentialisation of labor input and use of capital, the pricing was much simpler. With the reliance on the mixing of labor and capital, the calculation of the value of a particular piece of labor gets to be as hard to price as to determine the value of a part of a gasoline motor. When all of the parts are together and operating exactly how much of the engines output is due to the spark plug? or the piston? or the octane rating of the fuel? So business owners have abstained from such efforts and simply relied on the intersection of basic supply and demand.

Society, we have done it to ourselves.

If you can't afford it,don't buy it,or wait a year until you save some money or can buy it cheaper.

"If wishes were horses then beggars would ride."

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
When looking at the state of the union of the shooting world I see a interesting and worrying trend...... the price of products !

Looking over the new Leopold scope offerings.... their new Mk 8 scopes..... $7000 and change for a scope ? Who is going to buy this ?

But it does not end here ! Leica's new range finders, bino range finders and binos ! we are looking at anywhere between $3000 and $4000 per item ! And it does not end here, just about every maker has their high end offerings and their prices look no different !

we see Rigby making as strong showing but at the prices for their standard offerings ? who is going to fork out that coin for a rifle ?

We see ads in the magazines for new and what appears to be at face value premium brand product, whether bullets, brass or other shooting products and the prices are up there way way up, beyond what I believe a broad shooting public can bear !

And it does not end there, Hoyt the bow makers now have high end bows that when kitted out with sights etc set a shooter back some 2 grand.

A new Carbon Hoyt up here is Canada without add ons or taxes will set you back $ 1800 and change !

Trap shooting numbers are on the decline ! young shooters are not flocking to this sport and the main reason is the cost of good trap guns and ammo.

Every day we hear of small gun shops and even bigger ones shutting down.... the reason product is priced beyond affordability !

I can see a major reset coming and I fear some companies will not survive

I work in advertising, and I deal with this kind of thing every day. There is a class of buyer who will happily pay top dollar for everything. Most of these folks are Baby Boomers--they have the experience to think they know what they're doing, and they have the money to buy anything they want whether it makes sense or not.

We also have to bear in mind that Americans are most of the market, and most Americans only get to hunt a few days a year. They spend the rest of the time thinking about hunting, watching TV shows about hunting, buying stuff for hunting they don't need at places like Cabela's, and posting about hunting in places like this. So the manufacturer's job is to keep people thinking about THEM, not the competition.

Take Leupold for example. The mainstays of their line are not the products priced over $1k, but the products priced below that. $500 is still a big chunk of change for most folks, and those products are every bit as good as Leupold's top-end offerings of just a few years ago. The more expensive products help keep people paying attention to Leupold so they don't defect to Nightforce or US Optics. The logic goes like this: I'll buy a $500 Leupold today to get me through until I can afford a $1k Leupold, which will tide me over until I can afford a $2k Leupold. As long as they're thinking about Leupold, they're not thinking about the competition.

In a way, the cheaper rifles help companies like Leupold: it doesn't matter how many Tikka T3s or Ruger American rifles are out there. As long as they all wear a $500 Leupold, then there's hope that one day the people who own them will put a $1K Leupold on a Kimber, or a $2k Leupold on a Hill Country custom.


Okie John

There used to be a couple fairly popular saying floating around, but have not seen or heard either of them lately.

"The person with the most toys when they die Wins"! and "It is not the number of toys but how much they Cost that Matters"!

I see it quite a bit being a part time hunting guide, clients show up in camp toting all sorts of gear/gadgets that they have accumulated to make them a better more proficient hunter, the incongruity being we are setting in an enclosed fiberglass blind with a heater setting a known distance from a timed feeder, throwing corn at set times, waiting for a deer ort pig to come out.

It does not happen all the time and I don't mind listening to them talk about their latest and greatest new find, but I look back on when I started hunting and the changes in emphasis on certain aspects of the sport.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
There used to be a couple fairly popular saying floating around, but have not seen or heard either of them lately.

"The person with the most toys when they die Wins"! and "It is not the number of toys but how much they Cost that Matters"!

I see it quite a bit being a part time hunting guide, clients show up in camp toting all sorts of gear/gadgets that they have accumulated to make them a better more proficient hunter, the incongruity being we are setting in an enclosed fiberglass blind with a heater setting a known distance from a timed feeder, throwing corn at set times, waiting for a deer ort pig to come out.

It does not happen all the time and I don't mind listening to them talk about their latest and greatest new find, but I look back on when I started hunting and the changes in emphasis on certain aspects of the sport.

At elk camp this year, the guide was very careful to tell everyone to keep their scope on the lowest possible setting because they might jump something close and wouldn't have time to change the power.

I said, "That will never happen to me", and everyone kind of rolled their eyes. Then I said, "Because I'm using a fixed 4x", and they all looked at me like I was crazy.

But I got the biggest bull out of that camp that year, so I guess it worked.


Okie John

I have told those more than once on here, but I developed a hatred for variable scopes when I was doing my guided Javelina hunts in Pecos county.

Javelinas are to me the most wonderful game animal to actually hunt. They lend themselves to stalking, learning how to use the wind to sneak up on the animals in fact In feel that they are the best, first game animal for a beginning hunter.

When corresponding with potential clients, I would explain that shots potentially could be in feet, not yards.

Anyone hazard to guess what kind of target is presented at 30 to 40 yards on a 50 pound animal, when the hunter is looking thru a scope set on 9 to 12 power?

I am not a technophobe, but over the past two decades it seems too many people have bought into technology that is beyond their abilities.

quote:

Originally posted by Cold Trigger Finger:

quote:

Originally posted by Ray B:
To be fair, someone should be paid the value that his/her labor produced. the problem is in determining what the product of the labor was. The previous method of calculating was piecework and commissions however it has been replaced by an hourly wage, which has little to do with someone's productivity. So the kid can be paid $15/hour to stand at a grill whether there is one order or ten thousand; or he could be paid for the amount of burgers he/she flipped, regardless of the amount of time involved.

The piece work deal is just an even greater rip off to the person doing the work than a decent hourly wage is. In piece works inception some theiving , chiselin, piece of trash has figured out what someone would work for per day and made that the try to reach goal . And adjust the price per piece accordingly.
If the business owner would adjust the price to give the employees a chance to actually make a good income. Or at least a living income. .Then piece work can be a good thing for the person doing the work . And the business owner.

Cold Trigger:

I have some engineers that work for me that are paid 55% of what we charge the customer. If they want to make more, they can do more work. If they can be more efficient, they can do more, so they have a vested interest in making our software (which they use for their daily work) better. They make more and I make more (actually at this point I just hire more employees, but you get the point). I don't do that for software developers but try hiring one of those for peanuts - ain't happening.

There-you all hit my Crusade button. Pay Latisha Burgerflipper $15.00/hr. That comes to $32k/yr. I'll go for that when we start paying our military a comparable wage. Do you realize that E4 and below who is married qualifies for food stamps? So no, they do not pay this kid "a living wage". You are down range on a combat patrol and you have this young troop walking point. You want Latisha to get paid more than what you are paying this guy? Get off my back! Burger flipping is a 1st. job for a high school kid to learn about the working world. With any luck, he/she will be motivated to apply himself to go on to bigger and better things. Heck-look what they pay an E5 or even E6. Crap--Look at what an O3 makes.
http://www.goarmy.com/benefits...e-duty-soldiers.html
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quote:

Originally posted by cdparker:
There-you all hit my Crusade button. Pay Latisha Burgerflipper $15.00/hr. That comes to $32k/yr. I'll go for that when we start paying our military a comparable wage. Do you realize that E4 and below who is married qualifies for food stamps? So no, they do not pay this kid "a living wage". You are down range on a combat patrol and you have this young troop walking point. You want Latisha to get paid more than what you are paying this guy? Get off my back! Burger flipping is a 1st. job for a high school kid to learn about the working world. With any luck, he/she will be motivated to apply himself to go on to bigger and better things. Heck-look what they pay an E5 or even E6. Crap--Look at what an O3 makes.
http://www.goarmy.com/benefits...e-duty-soldiers.html
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Amen!

quote:

Originally posted by cdparker:
There-you all hit my Crusade button. Pay Latisha Burgerflipper $15.00/hr. That comes to $32k/yr. I'll go for that when we start paying our military a comparable wage. Do you realize that E4 and below who is married qualifies for food stamps? So no, they do not pay this kid "a living wage". You are down range on a combat patrol and you have this young troop walking point. You want Latisha to get paid more than what you are paying this guy? Get off my back! Burger flipping is a 1st. job for a high school kid to learn about the working world. With any luck, he/she will be motivated to apply himself to go on to bigger and better things. Heck-look what they pay an E5 or even E6. Crap--Look at what an O3 makes.
http://www.goarmy.com/benefits...e-duty-soldiers.html
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Mid level NCOs are woefully underpaid. A 1SG is the COs right hand man.

I have issues with $15/hr for other reasons. My first job paid $1.50/hr, but I got to see how a business ran. I saw the owner of the pizza joint have an epiphany one day when he realized he was making pizzas for $2.65/hr - which is what he paid us for that job. Taught me some valuable lessons:

1. You make money when you can leverage the labor of others
2. Focus your efforts on the big picture

Here is another observation...

Cable guy came over the other day because our phone lines were messed up. I started to bullshit with him about football; he is a Bears fan and I am a Packer fan. He told me he used to live in Green Bay, but was working at McDonalds and couldn't make ends meet, so he applied to some tech school and learned a skilled trade. If McDonalds paid $15/hr, he might still be there; now he has a better livelihood. After all, I can flip my own burgers, but I couldn't fix the phone problem he did.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:


I have issues with $15/hr for other reasons. My first job paid $1.50/hr, but I got to see how a business ran.

My 1st job paid $1.50 an hour too, but gas was $.28 a gallon, a nicely equipped new car was < $4000 and the steel mils in Pittsburgh paid $2.79 an hour.

When I was still able to practice medicine at my clinic in rural Idaho, Every vendor, and my employees all got paid before I did.

Some months. my CMA got paid a lot more than I did. So, I got a sniping program, and began buying most everything off of fleabay. I bought fly rods that were top of the line ten years before; those worked great. Once worn Polo shirts for work often cost me just $5.00. Etc,. etc.

My latest kick is switch barrel rifles. The concept is the same as buying one Abel fly reel, but having three spools; you have a rig that is optimized for the type of fishing/shooting you plan to do on any given day. Half the fun is gaming the system.

It seems to me the world is in a strange place owing to years of trickle-down economics, globalism, loss of full-time work and the coming of robots (the Luddites weren't wrong, just 200 years ahead of their time!).

The rich have had the benefits of all these things and stashed excess income where the tax man couldn't find it - but are now wondering why the economy is slowing and their shares are floundering.

The reason, I suspect is that if ordinary people already have most of the widgets they need or, having had no pay rises for yonks, can't afford to buy any more, then economic activity will stagnate and price deflation may result.

Believe it or nuts, your reports of prices rising may actually be a sign of some life in the system.
Maybe s/h firearms will return to be the investments they once seemed.