My mother said this 4 DECADES ago that in the 21st century, there is going to be

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   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   My mother said this 4 DECADES ago that in the 21st century, there is going to be either the
   
   exceedingly wealthy or the extreme poor with a small middle class.  Do YOU agree with this premise? Why? Why not?
   
   

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   Tusitala Tomposted 9 years ago

   I think there is a bible quote somewhere perported to have come from Jesus, "The poor will always be with us."   However, from this observation we need to realize that 'being poor' is relative to the those who live around us.   In some countries a family is poor if they're finding it hard to get enough food for the evening meal: in another a family is regarded as poor if they're obliged to drive a twelve-year-old car whilst everyone else owns one under three years old.
   
   In some countries, maybe 0.001% of the population is fabulously rich, the middle class is around 10% and the remaining 89.999 are living very poorly indeed.   In other countries such as the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, et cetera, there are all sorts of doubts as to where 'middle class' begins and ends.   It changes with the statisticians and various boffins which have the authority to make such pronouncements.
   
   Overall, the world's population is better off now than it's ever been.  Of course there are exceptions - but I'm talking world-average here.
   
   Is the USA's middle class shrinking?   Could be.   One thing I do sense, though.  The good old USA is losing it's long held lead as being one of the best countries in the world in which to live from an economic point of view and this is really starting to hurt a lot of people there.

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      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      What you've said is true.To me,middle class is defined as living comfortably & no excessive worrying about bills while being poor means constantly worrying about even providing the basic rudiments,being a 1/2 step away from homelessness.

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   aguasilverposted 9 years ago

   Your mother was bang on target, but possibly was unable to carry the notion through to a logical conclusion.
   
   Throughout time recorded there has always beem a majority who were poor as you defined..... unable to know any food of financial security, and equally there have always been those who stole and retained more spoils.
   
   Once wealth and (by default) power had been obtained the invention of the 'middle classes' created a buffer zone between the rulers and the ruled, they formed a class one could aspire to join, and if you were supportive of the 'system' and willing to display your obsequiousness, then you could be allowed small middle class priviledges.
   
   The current technology period created the ability for those who are not rulers, to see the disparity between the .001% and them, and note that in the current security conscious world, controlled by obedient governments who obey their true masters: i.e. corporations, which means that unlike earlier generations of serfs, this generation know it's nigh on impossible to grab something that will allow one to rise through the ranks, plus many are sickened by what greets them once elevated to the 'nuevo aristocracy' who control all the worlds finances.
   
   The solution is a complete meltdown of resources and finances which leave everyone (except those protected by wealth and power) destitude and totally reliant upon a benevolent dictatorship which offers basic guaranteed living in return for a pledge of allegiance to the regime.
   
   Rebellion will result in excommunication from 'society' (thus becoming an 'outlaw') and death on capture.
   
   ISIS want this to happen, but then so do western power elites.
   
   But statistics work both ways.... .001% may control 99% of the wealth, but there are 99.99% who they need, in order to feed from our wealth.
   
   Their 'god' is consummerism, who like all false gods, needs worship and constant feeding, it's only weakness is this need for constant feeding.
   
   When the crunch happens (and it will) knowing how to trust God and live under His protection will govern who survives and who takes the beasts mark.
   
   None of us may get out of this alive, but how we deal with this will determine how we spend eternity.
   
   If we stopped feeding their system when the cruch ocurrs, their machine will grind to a full stop in a matter of months, our society will collapse, but the recovery will be formed by the survivors who will create a meritocratic society, fit to run until power agglomerates again.

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      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Oh no, she was highly educated.  She indicated that in the future, that one needed a Ph.D. just to get an entry-level professional job. She asserted that there would be more of a class divide as jobs will either be eliminated due to computerization.

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   Austinstarposted 9 years ago

   Throughout history, possibly all the way back to the cave man days, there was hierarchy in a pyramidal shape. The super elite and the imaginary "creators" were Gods on top, then came the inner elite, the few who were allowed to associated with the super elite. The top of pyramid was the governing body.
   The bulk of the population forms the base of a culture, each with a separate layer getting thicker on the way down. And of course, the bottom of the structure is based on the lowest of the low.
   But as the bottom layer of culture grows and spreads out, it will eventually collapse, or the few at the top eventually crumble or fall off. Sometimes, the top will be replaced and sometimes the entire structure collapses.
   I doubt there is a cure for the hive mentality that afflicts all of mankind. The Queen or King will always be at the top and the rest of us serve this master. Best you can do is to pick the best rulers and then get on with your life.

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   daydreamer13posted 9 years ago

   The further you see into the past, the further you can see into the future.

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   gmwilliamsposted 5 years ago

   The middle class in America is vanishing & metamorphosing into either the lower or upper middle class based upon education & skillset.   Those middle class w/less education & a general education will become lower or lower middle class while those middle w/more or specialized education & a specialized skillset will become upper middle or even upper class.

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   gmwilliamsposted 5 years ago

   In the 21st century, there is a widening socioeconomic class gap.  The middle class is shrinking.   In the 21st century & beyond, there will only be the very wealthy & the very poor based upon education & skill set levels.   Children born in the lower classes i.e. lower, working, & the lower middle class will be LOCKED OUT of opportunities & be the NEW, PERMANENT UNDERCLASS while children in the upper middle & upper class are THE LUCKY ONES who will have MYRIADS of educational & socioeconomic opportunities.

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      Kathryn L Hillposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      "In the 21st century & beyond, there will be only the very wealthy and the very poor based upon education & skill set levels. Children born in the lower classes i.e. lower, working, & the lower middle class will be LOCKED OUT of opportunities & be the NEW, PERMANENT UNDERCLASS. "
      
      
      It happened with the fall of Rome. More than one or two of us have taken this trip before! I would say we know on a soul level how easily the end can come.
      Good grief, I hope America doesn't fall.

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