I’m a big fan of Ben Stein. I think he’s the kind of conservative that isn’t afraid to talk about the real world, in the sense that he’s not an idealist who pretends that America doesn’t need fixing. He talks about America — warts and all — and doesn’t cater to special interests.

Stein writes in the American Spectator about the current state of the American economy, and I couldn’t agree more:

The average wage of the American worker adjusted for inflation is lower than it was in 1973. The only way that Americans have been able to maintain their standard of living at the middle and lower ends has been to send more family members to work and to draw down savings or go into debt or both …

Here’s what else is new and exciting (or terrible) in money: there is real poverty among the soldiers who fight our wars. There are fist fights to get children into $30,000 a year kindergartens and pre-schools in the right neighborhoods in Manhattan. There are 40 million Americans without health care insurance. There are almost 40 million baby boomers with no savings for retirement. There is a long waiting list for Bentleys at the dealership in Beverly Hills.

There are soldiers’ wives selling blood to buy toys for their kids. There is a man selling non-functioning body armor who threw a $10 million Bat Mitzvah for his daughter.

Go read the whole thing.