Memes

Correct, until unregulated capitalism stopped acknowledging the human and saw people only as assets to be squeezed for profit, like cows to be milked until they run dry then slaughtered. Wages have largely not kept up with inflation while at the same time corporations turned necessities, like housing and healthcare, into profit centers. They observed the inelastic demand and lack of government oversight and are continuously raising prices on those necessities to maximize profits, knowing that people have no choice but to pay it or die. Capitalism without regulation just results in exploitation of the working class by the rich and greedy.

My grandfather had to buy dollars from a arab student(which was illegal), ga to the capital, find a foreigner who will agree to go into the special shop(which was only for party members and foreiners to enter) to by a JVC cassette player.

Yes, progress!

My grandparents worked 16+ hour days toiling away on a farm doing hard labour for like 60 years. They ate meat and potatoes for nearly every meal because grocery chains weren't a thing for them (and they didn't get a fridge until the 60s anyway). A bunch of their family members died of the Spanish Flu and other illnesses that we've since cured. That includes both my grandma's parents when she was maybe 10. The highest-tech thing they owned until they were in probably their 50s was a 13-inch black and white TV that got like 2 channels with its bunny ears.

If you're saying my biggest issue is that the house I bought cost double or triple than they would have paid in inflation-adjusted terms, I'd say I came out ahead.