Where oh where is the old middle class ?

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   ahorsebackposted 10 years ago

   Come  on Now Folks , !  Corporate America has offered you every chance at improving your lifestyles .  As long as its  at 9. 00 per hour , no insurance , no retirement ,  no full time work ,  And you still get to pay the majority of tax dept  , locally , in state , and on the federal level ,   Come on now , Group hug  for the O -man freaks ! WHERES THE CHANGE ? Oh thats right , hERES YOUR CHANGE !

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      fpherj48posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ed....pretty cleverly written post........Sad, but clever.  I have to give you credit for maintaining somewhat of a sense of humor in the midst of our trials and tribulations.   I've reached the point, where I struggle to avoid focusing on the egregious situation we once-middle class Americans are smack dab, entrenched within. 
      It feels very much like we've been placed into the deepest, darkest, most dangerous "Jungle," without a means to survive.....and challenged to find our own way to stay alive.....but no hope of ever getting out.  This just ruined my day.......but the days only continue to get worse, anyway.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can thank your Republican Congress for that and the tax cuts for the wealthy who were supposed to create jobs.
      
      But, despite it all, the economy is recovering... slowly...

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         Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Really, you place all the blame on a Republican Congress?  Take a harder look and you just might discover a few other things that contributed to our current problems.

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            Uninvited Writerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Well, the economy is improving despite the Republican Congress, is that better?

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         ahorsebackposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         uninvited writer , Gonna go down in flames huh !  I'll say one thing ,even the liberals  are moving slowly , quietly and smoothly away from O'mans side ! Is it only the recycled socialist  left who would rather starve than beg !

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            Uninvited Writerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            That's okay, keep living in denial...

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               Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               The one who thinks everything is just fine accuses others of living in denial?  Wow, that is interesting.

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      Silverspeederposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You think you have a dilemma in the US, here in the UK we now have at least 9 classifications for people to fall into
      1 Poor
      2 Welfare class
      3 Lower working class
      4 Upper working class
      5 Middle class
      6 The celebrity rich
      7 Lottery winners class
      8 The underserving wealthy
      9 The super wealthy
      
      Each will have sub classes but most people in the UK fall into either 1,2 or 3.

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         Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Id like to work my way up to #7, but I can't afford a ticket.

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            Silverspeederposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I fall into number 3 but would like to be in number 4. I have brought a ticket every week for the last 14 years to be in number 7 but alas still no entry.

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               Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Well Im not in the first category if that's what you were thinking! Cause I am definitely one of the super wealthy. Yep! "Super-wealthy-Beth37"... that's what they call me. I just keep my job cause I don't like ppl to feel sub-par around me. It's my way of keeping morale up. "You're welcome, America!" I often wake up saying.

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                  Silverspeederposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I wasn't thinking that at all Beth37, my thoughts are I would like to be in 4 but I wouldn't want to go into 1 and there is no chance (in my mind anyway) that i shall ever be in 2.

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                     Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     lol. I was just teasing.

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   ahorsebackposted 10 years ago

   HI beth , I think i'll stick in #1 , because when the bottom fell out ..." we were so poor we didn't know it "..an old line from a song by Alabama !

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   Wayne Brownposted 10 years ago

   Economic improvement...surely you jest!  Unemployment hangs above 7% on average across the nation while people capable of working leave the ranks of those searching for work...they cannot find it.  Others are taking more menial tasks on to bring in income if they can convince someone to give them that opportunity.  Small businesses are struggling right and left just to hang on for a better day.  The consumer is making choices between a gallon of gasoline and a gallon of milk at the grocery store...both with prices escalating.  Government spending is out of control and the national debt along with the annual deficit continues to grow.  The country is operating without a budget now on an open checkbook.  The Democrats in Congress will not even vote for Obama's budget proposals.  The Federal Reserve is flooding our money supply with government counterfeiting to cover the cash flow aspects of our deficit spending and someone wants to blame that on a "Republican Congress"?   My God, all you have to do is look at what happened in the last two years of the Bush administration after the Democrats took both chambers of Congress to realize where the blame lies and that continued into the first two years of Obama's first reign as king.  Why don't we really look at who is living in denial here.  ~WB

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      Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well said WB.  Keep in mind that many wear "liberal glasses" that were specially designed to screen what they are able to see.  Because they can't see the true situation, they live in a bubble where all is well in liberal land.

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      Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This is me, though Im not complaining. I was extremely grateful to get the job.

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   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   Where is the old middle class?  Well, I grew up in a straight middle class home.  When I look at what I have/do compared to what we had/did then I see:
   Two cars rather than one, both far, far superior to the hulks made then
   A nice RV in the driveway, used only for play and nothing really useful, rather than a tent.
   Not one, but 5 (5!) telephones, two of which have their own lines.
   A computer, hooked to a third (!) phone line
   A video game to go with the dozen matchbox cars kids had (and still have).
   Two (two!) bathrooms.  No more waiting on a teen age girl to primp for 2 hours.
   Automatic lawn sprinklers - no more moving hoses.
   500 square feet of home per resident instead of 160.
   3 TV's, one a top of the line 3D, 57" set instead of a 20", although we DID have color.
   Satellite reception - 200 channels instead of 2
   A separate workshop - no more working under the carport and hoping the rain didn't come in.
   A 2 car garage instead of parking on the street.
   Lots of paid holidays, paid vacation, paid sick leave instead of losing income.
   Lots of travel; a 50 mile trip to the next town is like a 5 mile trip then.  Too expensive to travel much.
   A weekly meal out instead of yearly.
   Lots of pre-made or semi-made meals to "cook" instead of chopping carrots or whatever.
   College education instead of leaving the 8th grade to go to work.
   Nice hot lunch at school instead of a cold PBJ.
   A riding lawn mower rather than a push, or later on a gas push one.
   
   In spite of all that, I've skirted the poverty line most of my life.  Never on food stamps, but some years we might have qualified.  I'm poor (income) or at best low middle class by standards today, and usually have been.
   
   On the other hand, my middle class parents would have looked at me as having riches beyond their dreams of avarice.  Today's middle class would have been seen as extremely rich and yesterday's middle class is now seen as the depths of poverty. 
   
   So I guess the old middle class is now defined as very poor.

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