The Day Nixon SCREWED the Middle Class | How 1971 Changed Everything

The 1971 decision that quietly dismantled the American Dream and destroyed middle-class prosperity forever. 📚On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon made an announcement that would forever change the American economy—and most people had no idea what hit them. In a televised address that lasted less than fifteen minutes, Nixon ended the gold standard, severing the dollar's connection to physical gold and dismantling the Bretton Woods system that had provided economic stability since World War II. What followed was the quiet destruction of middle-class prosperity. A dollar from 1971 now has the purchasing power of just twelve cents. Housing prices skyrocketed relative to wages. One income could no longer support a family. Savings became a losing strategy. Debt became the new financial wisdom. And the gap between the wealthy and working class exploded. This deep-dive documentary explores the Camp David meeting where Nixon and his advisors rewrote the rules of money, France's secret Operation Empty Pockets to repatriate gold from American vaults, the stagflation nightmare of the 1970s, and the permanent economic transformation that explains why your paycheck doesn't stretch as far as your parents' did. 💡 KEY TOPICS COVERED: • Nixon Shock economic policy and the end of Bretton Woods • Gold standard history and why it mattered for monetary stability • How France's Charles de Gaulle predicted the dollar crisis • The Camp David meeting with Treasury Secretary John Connally • 1970s stagflation, inflation rates, and purchasing power collapse • Why one income no longer supports a middle-class family • Housing affordability crisis roots in monetary policy • The transformation from savings culture to debt culture • Income inequality acceleration after fiat currency adoption • Practical financial lessons for navigating today's economy