system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
In 1980, the US GDP per capita was $28,133. Today, the GDP is almost double that. Why doesn't it feel like the average American is twice as rich as we were 40 years ago?

These are real figures.
gpt
GDP per capita doesn't measure the income of the "average" American, it is a measure of average income. The US income distribution has become significantly more right skewed (i.e. a larger share of income goes to the richer half than before) and both median wages and the wages of the poor have not kept up with increases in GDP per capita.

However, there's also the possibility that how rich one feels is more about how they compare themselves to their neighbours rather than to themselves across decades. Also, comparisons of living standards over long periods of time are difficult: how many 1980s computers would you trade for an iPhone? Is that even a sensible question?