https://www.thehill.com/business/4702897-more-than-60-percent-of-middle-class-say-theyre-struggling-financially-poll/
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Or what's more, "middle class" has always been a concept in capitalism apologia wherein a social group which represents moderation prevents the establishment of a social consciousness of the true strata: rich and poor.
The statistic that the US "middle class" has shrunk 11% in 50 years is a milder one than saying that income inequality is the highest it's been since 1928.
Wealth inequality is much worse. https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/
Thomas Piketty's book "A Brief History of Equality" made it clear to me that a mobilization of educated, class-conscious voters (or guerillas) is necessary, but is capable of making painless policy decisions which immediately ameliorate suffering.
It’s called the American Dream because you’re got to be asleep to believe it
The older I get, the more I realize how on point Carlin was.
The economy is booming, and yet many Americans are still gasping for air financially. They simply don’t have the breathing room to plan beyond their present needs
I have a feeling that the economic news is maybe put of touch with what people are actually dealing with.
At least if you're told it's not doing well you can see space for improvement. But if it's sold as doing well and you're not then you get...well this.
If the economy is booming and the median american is struggling, your metrics for analyzing the economy are faulty.
100%
We’re measuring our economy by how much can be siphoned off by investors.
That’s a really shitty measure.
I mean at this rate, why don’t we measure it by how many oranges the average citizen can squeeze up their ass?
It’s just Goodhart’s Law:
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
It’s just Goodhart’s Law:
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
Having all of your economy sucked up like a hoover by private equity firms is not a good economy!
It really feels like this can't continue forever (or much longer), but I can't anticipate how the correction could go down? There rich have the power, and it's never been easier to turn a blind eye to a revolution, or to extinguish one with a quick flex.
Even if everyone participated, I don't think it would change anything. Even literal pitchforks can be ignored these days.
Not without grabbing it with our hands and teeth and wrenching it from those ass holes taking it from us.
I've never been entirely sure if I count as poor or middle class. I have no money generally and have to be careful how much electricity I use, but I have a smartphone and some nice things, so.
Anyway, yeah. I'm not saying there's no hope at all for the future, but it's over for my generation. Our chance to get out of this hole disappeared long ago.
Even if we vote out the Tories right now and bring in sweeping reforms, even if we begin the long slow process of rejoining the EU and repairing our position within the global community, I'll only start seeing the benefits around the time I die of old age, assuming I make it that far at all.
Which is a bold assumption, given our dead national health service. Heck, I'm on a waiting list for simple quick surgery right now to cure a debilitating condition, and even that is a years long waiting list these days with no end in sight.
Everything is broken. It can be fixed, but realistically even if we suddenly shifted focus towards fixing it right now, instead of continuing to crumble under late stage capitalism, it won't be fixed in my lifetime.
:-(
It could be fixed. Just a societal collapse or two will put the economy right back in its rightful place!
The ground.