I was troubled to see a New York Times article today called As Middle Class Fades, So Does Use of Term on Campaign Trail.
The article goes into how campaigns are shying away from the term ‘middle class’ because the wording “now evokes anxiety, an uncertain future and a lifestyle that is increasingly out of reach.”
I’ve been saying for more than a year now that the middle class is dying in America, if not downright dead in many areas. One of the main reasons for this is that we sacrificed our middle class to create the Chinese middle class, and I saw the effects of this firsthand over the five years I lived in the Middle Kingdom. You see, we stopped making things here, and we started making everything there. When you don’t ‘make things,’ then a lot of people don’t have a job.
It’s called an economy, and you produce goods and services and others in that economy buy those goods and services. Unfortunately, we’ve gone to the global economy in such a way that benefits are only felt by the ultra-rich while the misery and collapse of the generational dream are felt by most.
It’s a huge failing, and it’s a failure of America. It’s America failing, plain and simple, and it’s not taking barbarians at the gate or an influx of others to do it – it only took a few backroom deals in the 90s so that the financial sector could finally give the killing blow to the American worker. Unfortunately they never followed through with a coup de grace so the pain has lasted for years and years.
The article goes into how campaigns are shying away from the term ‘middle class’ because the wording “now evokes anxiety, an uncertain future and a lifestyle that is increasingly out of reach.”
I’ve been saying for more than a year now that the middle class is dying in America, if not downright dead in many areas. One of the main reasons for this is that we sacrificed our middle class to create the Chinese middle class, and I saw the effects of this firsthand over the five years I lived in the Middle Kingdom. You see, we stopped making things here, and we started making everything there. When you don’t ‘make things,’ then a lot of people don’t have a job.
It’s called an economy, and you produce goods and services and others in that economy buy those goods and services. Unfortunately, we’ve gone to the global economy in such a way that benefits are only felt by the ultra-rich while the misery and collapse of the generational dream are felt by most.
It’s a huge failing, and it’s a failure of America. It’s America failing, plain and simple, and it’s not taking barbarians at the gate or an influx of others to do it – it only took a few backroom deals in the 90s so that the financial sector could finally give the killing blow to the American worker. Unfortunately they never followed through with a coup de grace so the pain has lasted for years and years.
We could make a stand against this, but not with our current crop of yahoos and belligerents. The campaigns for 2016 are racing around, trying to figure out how to win the vote of the folks making between $35,000 and $100,000 a year, trying to figure out what they want to hear.
Wow, $100,000 sounds like a lot to me, but those people have more problems than anyone. Mortgages, student debt, car payments, healthcare costs, insurance, not to mention the retirement they didn’t save for. Yeah, 85% of this country has less than $25,000 saved up. Those people are hanging by a thread.
If you’re making $35,000 a year you have a bit more fluidity to your situation. First of all, you own nothing, so moving is simpler. Here we see the rise of the migrant and shiftless generation again, like the Dust Bowl days. Most young workers are in this category and will be for life. They’ve spurned the ownership society, as they’re so burdened by debt and a lack of earnings that owning anything ‘big’ is just out of their reach.
So we have some serious dilemmas, and if you’re in the middle there, you’re not feeling any better.
Life sucks!
So why, why in God’s name, do we allow this situation to continue? The balance has been disrupted, and there will be hell to pay. For the life of me I can’t understand why the ultra-rich allow this house of cards to continue, because when it falls, it’s really going to hurt them a lot. Remember, those remnants of the middle class are so shiftless that they can roll with the punches and move and find another crappy job with no problem. They live in misery now, so throwing on more misery is manageable.
The ultra-rich, however, have never known misery. They’re the ones we need to worry about, they’re the ones at increased risk for suicide, drug abuse, and marital problems. Rich people are depressed twice as much as everyone else. When you live at the top of a house of cards, there is no stability and there is no security, but there sure is a lot of stress and anxiety.
The ultra-rich in this country are a mess right now, perhaps in an even worse state than the “middle class.” They know they’re on the edge too, and that means their actions are particularly damaging and particularly alarming. They needlessly put us at risk, and they themselves aren’t even feeling the benefits anymore. I mean, interest rats at 0% for a decade? Who is this helping anymore?
Wow, $100,000 sounds like a lot to me, but those people have more problems than anyone. Mortgages, student debt, car payments, healthcare costs, insurance, not to mention the retirement they didn’t save for. Yeah, 85% of this country has less than $25,000 saved up. Those people are hanging by a thread.
If you’re making $35,000 a year you have a bit more fluidity to your situation. First of all, you own nothing, so moving is simpler. Here we see the rise of the migrant and shiftless generation again, like the Dust Bowl days. Most young workers are in this category and will be for life. They’ve spurned the ownership society, as they’re so burdened by debt and a lack of earnings that owning anything ‘big’ is just out of their reach.
So we have some serious dilemmas, and if you’re in the middle there, you’re not feeling any better.
Life sucks!
So why, why in God’s name, do we allow this situation to continue? The balance has been disrupted, and there will be hell to pay. For the life of me I can’t understand why the ultra-rich allow this house of cards to continue, because when it falls, it’s really going to hurt them a lot. Remember, those remnants of the middle class are so shiftless that they can roll with the punches and move and find another crappy job with no problem. They live in misery now, so throwing on more misery is manageable.
The ultra-rich, however, have never known misery. They’re the ones we need to worry about, they’re the ones at increased risk for suicide, drug abuse, and marital problems. Rich people are depressed twice as much as everyone else. When you live at the top of a house of cards, there is no stability and there is no security, but there sure is a lot of stress and anxiety.
The ultra-rich in this country are a mess right now, perhaps in an even worse state than the “middle class.” They know they’re on the edge too, and that means their actions are particularly damaging and particularly alarming. They needlessly put us at risk, and they themselves aren’t even feeling the benefits anymore. I mean, interest rats at 0% for a decade? Who is this helping anymore?
When I got the Missoula City Council tonight and practice my public speaking, I’ll bring up ignorance. Perhaps the people in charge don’t know what they’re doing. They’re certainly ignorant of the consequences of their actions, that’s for sure, and just because you hear something on the news about results, that doesn’t mean you know anything about it.
A lot of the people in charge don’t know what’s going on and don’t know what to do. A common trait of those that know little is to surround themselves with a lot of people, sycophants that know even less than they but will never admit it and will always hold back those in charge. Bubbles are created, safe and insulated and free of the cares of the outside world.
That’s what we have in America in this the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Sixteen. It’s a helluva mess, and no one on the horizon has an inkling of what to do about it.
You Might Also Like
Income Inequality in Montana and the End of the Middle Class (Mar 31, 2014)
Thoughts on the Middle Class Getting Screwed Today (Dec 18, 2014)
Why Does Cliff Larsen Want to Hurt the Middle Class? (Jan 10, 2015)
A lot of the people in charge don’t know what’s going on and don’t know what to do. A common trait of those that know little is to surround themselves with a lot of people, sycophants that know even less than they but will never admit it and will always hold back those in charge. Bubbles are created, safe and insulated and free of the cares of the outside world.
That’s what we have in America in this the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Sixteen. It’s a helluva mess, and no one on the horizon has an inkling of what to do about it.
You Might Also Like
Income Inequality in Montana and the End of the Middle Class (Mar 31, 2014)
Thoughts on the Middle Class Getting Screwed Today (Dec 18, 2014)
Why Does Cliff Larsen Want to Hurt the Middle Class? (Jan 10, 2015)
