I salute everyone on their apparent ability to pay. As nixxon2000 said, you have to consider your local market. Here, $100+ dues would be very high. Just thinking of our officers alone, three are retired, and three are young and under employed. It would be tough on them. It's not as much a matter of what you think Masonry is "worth" as much it is you can't spend what you don't have. Of course it is a Masonic virtue to help your brother, and we regularly vote to commute the dues of elderly brothers' who are in bad physical and financial shape. But if half of the members are regularly paying twice the dues because others can't, that goes beyond helping, aiding, and assisting.
As for how much dues cost way back when compared to now, yes they were considerably more expensive. I call your attention to the fact that at the time, Freemasonry was quite elitist - and I suspect that in a number of other countries it still is. As great as our founding fathers were, they were mostly wealthy/upper crust. It is said that Freemasonry is the only place where a prince and a pauper can meet on the level. Well, I suspect that wasn't really the case up until the post WWII boom. Do we want Freemasonry to be elitist going forward by pricing it beyond working people?
It's easy to say "if it's worth it to you, you'll find a way" when you have money. That's the song of politicians born into wealthy families as they pass laws impacting Americans, whose shoes they've never walked in. Can I and would I pay more, yes, thankfully. I am blessed with a good job, and so is my wife. I just remember being young and struggling. That's why I will do a lifetime membership for as many bodies as possible sooner rather than later so I don't have to worry about it when I retire. I had a Past Grand Illustrious Master tell me that exact thing the other day, how glad he was that he did lifetime memberships, or it would be tough on him now paying all his dues in his 70s.
Our lifetime memberships are 20x whatever your dues+per capita tax is. My Chapter and Council lifetime memberships were $600 for both. When I do my Lodge lifetime membership this year, it will be about $1300; then I won't have to worry about it. About 10 years ago, the the same Past Grand Illustrious Master advised me to do a lifetime membership then. I would have loved to, but there was no way I had what then would have been about $1100 to spend. It would be paying for itself by now. It didn't matter how much I wanted to do it, or how I thought is was worth, that was dang near what I brought home in a month.