Freedom Rider: Middle Class Means Working Class

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content%2Ffreedom-rider-middle-class-means-working-class

Economic disparities are more dramatic in the United States than any other developed country, yet most Americans have no idea what economic class they belong to. Class war rages, but the losers don’t realize they are under assault, or by whom. “Workers in the private sector who are themselves vulnerable, applaud the effort to race to the bottom, instead of fighting against it.”

:snip:

Americans love to think of themselves as middle class. For decades, polls have shown that 90% of the population will refer to themselves with this meaningless phrase. We know of course that there are millions of poor working people in this country, but if anyone asks how they define themselves, the words poor or working will not appear in their self-identification.

The term middle class should disappear from our lexicon, and the sooner the better. Regardless of educational attainment, income, or assets, anyone who depends on a paycheck to maintain their lifestyle is a worker. A white collar, college educated worker who makes six figures is still a worker. If that high income disappears, that individual is in very deep trouble. The sooner Americans begin thinking of themselves that way, the better off they will be.

Working people are under attack in this country in ways that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. The American mania for middle class aspiration has helped to make this dire circumstance possible, and will cause workers to feel enmity with other workers when they should feel a sense of common cause.

More at the link --

[Mimosa]

1. So true.

The stable middle class families who had some savings and extended families to help in hard times just don't exist today.

[Jkid]

2. But by his argument....

Middle class = Working Class
Upper class = Middle Class

Oh god...the real middle class is the upper class. Now every time they say middle class, they meant the people who are rich. Everything makes sense now...

[sarcasmo]

3. The new Amerika, working class, upper class.