I'm middle class, and so are the majority of people I know. None of them are suffering, most are building (or built) homes, they drive nice cars, go out weekly and live decent lives. Where are all these people who are middle class and suffering? Maybe the definition of middle class has changed, and those who are poor don't want to acknowledge it!
2007-03-12 09:50:56 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
I am sitting on my butt in my quarter million dollar home, when I should be out working. Middle class-dom is treating me very well, feel happy with my family. Life is good my friend. We are lucky to be in this country, because this same thing is waiting for you all if you make the right decisions and are willing to work for it.
2007-03-12 10:23:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Well, yes, most people know mostly people in their same class -- you live in a better-off area, shop there, hang there, and the people you work with mostly work the same level of job.
You can't jump to the conclusion that the entire country is just like you.
The reasons people say the middle class is disappearing is that more and more people have to hold down multiple jobs just to make it.
The cost of living (especially health care, but everything) has risen much higher, and wages have been stable, and for many, many people fallen.
A lot of people have lost decent jobs and now have to work crappy jobs, and have no bennies.
Yes, there are more millionaires, but for each one of them, there are a thousand people who were comfy who are now struggling to not be thrown out of their homes.
That people have been falling out of the middle class into the lower is very well documented.
Began during Reagan's reign.
Been continuing ever since (though more slowly under Clinton), and has sped up considerably under Bush.
You don't say where you live, but I bet there are areas near you where people are NOT comfy, and are having to make such decisions as take their kid to the doctor, or pay the water bill.
2007-03-12 16:36:27 · answer #2 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump both think it is shrinking. They espouse that everyone become independently wealthy because, among other things, the baby boomers are retiring, and the sheer number of them is going to put a far bigger burden on Social Security than it can handle, and as such severely reduce the numbers of the middle class.
I've only read about half the book, so I can't make a complete synopsis. It's called Why We Want You To Be Rich.
The reason they want you to be rich, they say, is because with this effect about to hit, we can look only to ourselves for financial help. Looking to the government for financial help will be a losing proposition.
I'm sorry I can't give a more detailed look at it. I only managed to get into it halfway, as I say.
2007-03-12 11:02:26 · answer #3 · answered by replicant21 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you're right about the definition of "middle class" changing. They are now more accurately defined as the "working poor". I used to consider myself "middle class" but over the past 6yrs. (granted divorcing someone who doesn't feel the need to pay child support, did not help) I definitely consider myself "working poor". I have a wonderful day job running the family business. However, I have had to take on a second job bar tending to make ends meet. It shouldn't have come to that.
2007-03-12 10:00:37 · answer #4 · answered by T S 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yep, they don't want to acknowledge it, the rich get richer and the poor get poor as they carry the load, which by the way is getting very heavy. Once the poor faulter, then it will be time for the so called middle will continue to fall. I agree there are infact people in the middle class or call themselves the middle class are in reality in the poor class.
2007-03-12 09:57:05 · answer #5 · answered by 5-Stars 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
because those that are considered middle class are accruing a massive amount of consumer debt. They could not sustain themselves for three months without an income. Their savings are small, and their bills comsume nearly every thing they earn. Their earning power may well be over 100 thousand a year but unless they have enough savings available to them to provide for an emergency three months they are really poor instead of middle class. MIddle class is not about what you have, it's about how well you can maintain it. Wealth is not about what you have, or how hard you work, but how well your money works and how well you manage that money.
2007-03-12 10:08:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think true middle class is beginning to dissolve, some becoming upper middle class (earn over $80,000 a year) while others become lower middle or lower class.
Some one else pointed out that more people are becoming more successful, but the money has to come from somewhere, so someone must be losing out.
2007-03-12 10:06:02 · answer #7 · answered by Ashley 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hon , your not middle class , your upper middle class .
I'll bet most of you make over a hundred thousand a year ?
How much are you in debit , to live the way you do ?
2007-03-12 09:58:33 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
So your definition of middle class is anyone who isn't homeless and who owns a car?
2007-03-12 09:55:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Because the cost of living is rising faster than the median pay rate.
2007-03-12 09:54:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋