Back to our discussion of comparisons of the middle class in the 1930's and 2010...
It seems that most Americans consider themselves "Middle Class", and it would appear to me that it is our collective sense that this was always so - that America was always a "Middle Class" ("MC") kind of place.
What does it mean to be MC? Are you defined by who you go to school with? Or who you vacation with? Or by education, income, or net worth? The fact is that the concept is an abstract which rests in eye of the beholder and is continually marketed and manipulated in the Mainstream Media ("MSM").
(Here is a link to Wikipedia's article on Social Class in the U.S. I tend to reject the 3 class pitch from the Media given my experience coming from a working class family living in a gritty industrial town 1o miles north of New York City. Speaking from my experience Metro New York has quite a few more than 3 Social Classes. My family, and a large portion of our community, were working class Catholics - there were no vacations, new cars, gadgets, etc... and we never, ever dined out of the home (my poor mother had to cook for 9! 3 meals a day, every day for decades... and at nearly 87 she still parties like a rock star) but there were violin lessons and little league and I used to feel sorry for my wealthy friends that did not have a couple of brothers to share a room with.)
So who is MC in 2010? Can you be MC with little or negative net worth as long as you have a MC income? Are wage slaves MC? (Read that link. While I am an unrepentant capitalist and Libertarian I am NO CORPORATIST... more on this latter in the series.)
Speaking of wage and debt slaves... most Americans are unfamiliar with these concepts and how much angst these concepts produced during the early industrialization of America. Prior to Industrialization America was primarily employed in Agriculture and as Artisans. The great HOPE was that people would be able to move up from "wage slavery" to become self employed (think about that in today's context in which the vast majority would prefer death to the loss of their corporate or government job; were self-employment, unless one is a "professional", is a last resort). None other than Abraham Lincoln famously mused:
“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”
And then came the Stockholder Corporation and the infamous trusts. But I am getting ahead of myself... I want to leave the 1930's behind and get to the post Civil war period and the Long Depression (or the Panic of 1873) beginning in 1873.
to be continued...
9 comments:
Thanks for the series. Everyone classifies as middle class cause no one wants to be considered poor anymore (and suffer the loss of control of your life that comes with that rank) and you aren't rich because the TV shows people who appear to be living it up a lot more than you. Middle class is a comfortable classification. :)
But numbers don't lie, and at a salary of almost $100,000/year, I am NOT middle class. I'd like to be, but I ain't. Middle class people don't help their friends with school, and cars, and computers, and booze, and just this morning pay a gas bill for a friend's mom who is behind.
I am at least lower-rich (the top 20% bracket starts at $80,000/year). But I don't feel it. I'm middle .. or I feel like I am.
And the tax increases .. they are indeed coming. I move to upper middle maybe. ;)
“A major difference is that the markings of middle class - cell phones, cars, certain apparel - is attainable by the "poor". In fact, many of the "poor" don't know they are "poor". They merely consider themselves "broke", and I think that that is a much better state of mind.”
This is the world we live in. Everybody is so wrapped up in their stuff they do not even notice they are poor, have no saving and will be cannon fodder when they are old. But what do you expect from a nation and world addicted to handouts. Most of this is by choice, my grandma worked at a grocery store as a deli worker till she was 70 yrs old. That job and a frugal attitude saved her children almost 400,000 dollars and a house. She never had cable, a cell phone, only one new car she bought cash, bought clothes when hers were completely worn out and I never remember her eating out once. All this while raising 6 kids and a lot of animals with the help of gramps. He died 30 yrs before her so did not leave her in the best situation. My point is that people now could never do what she did. They all blow their money. I even understand their plight; I have a growing family myself.
Bur your post from the first article you said something to the effect that my (my age group) generations are the new silent class. I don’t know about this. The way I have seen it is more like this. Everyone is pushed into college loans, repeat everyone (this is all liberal clap trap, you do not have to go to college, college is not always perferrable and mostly because of debt incurred repugnant). All of my friends are sitting on student loans. You can feel good your government loans are paying for coaches, TVs, cars, houses and a lot of weed. I constantly raze my friends because I always buy the cheapest model cell phone and plan, second hand store for work clothes, eat only when I have cash at work, drive used cars, don’t drink or smoke, no TV, ride my bike were ever possible and save money like a fool when I can. I do have a lot of construction equipment.
I despise banks as the pariahs of poor and middle class, but this is just from the fact that most are completely irresponsible with their financial situation. I think debt is amazing tool and a fearful foe. I have watched several people run up 40,000 or more in debt and never pay a bill again. I have 3 close friends in bankruptcy right now. We are heading for a sudden stop. I personally surmise this is due to the breakdown of Christianity in American life. Debt was traditionally looked at by Christians as a last resort only to be used on something like a home because of the cannotations of usury. You still see this view from guys like Dave Ramsey who I listen to constantly. We are now a people with no moral grounding, no capital saved, debt to the moon and most important a complete lack of leadership. I am not just saying Obama either. He is definetly the most pressing issue because he is now in charge. I don’t see anyone fixing this because they will lose control of the house/senate/potus. If the repubs get in and really do a bang em up Job, they will be out on their bums. I agree with you bur that people want everything and don’t want to pay for it.
So my prediction is the repubs win the house and get close in senate and then pander to stay in control. This is going to have to be fixed by the only way anyone learns anything; a trial by fire. We are looking at a collapse of the U.S. economic structure and world reserve currency status. I don’t even know if the oil angle will play into it. I did notice that as oil has stayed around 80 and the stimulus is starting to wear thin, things have really started to look worse almost daily once again. We are gonna party like September 2008 all over again. :)
Greg did you see the move in corn We might be getting our answer to our ethanol riddle. Also it looks like the cali state workers are going to take a little haircut. From $68000 ayear to $15000! Now that's a pay cut!
I agree with Dextred1. Things seem to be picking up speed.
@greg
good job, keep it up. Bring on Pt III
@cm
Thank for the info, been out of the news loop lately.
"This is the worst response to a budget crisis I've seen," Blanche said. "He's trying to balance the budget on the backs of state employees.".
Interesting, so who should take the hit of the budget changes? Maybe the taxpayers of CA?
According to the 1911 Census of England & Wales, the three largest occupational groups then were domestic service, agriculture, and coal mining. By 2008, the three largest groups were sales personnel, middle managers, and teachers.
What we can first notice is one hundred years ago much of the work done in the economy was direct human labour. And much of that labour was associated directly with harnessing energy in the form of food or fossil fuels.
Today, the largest groups have little to do with production, but are more focused upon the management of complexity directly, or indirectly through providing the knowledge base required of people living in a world of more specialised and diverse occupational roles.
What evolved in the intervening hundred years was that human effort in direct energy production was replaced by fossil fuels. The contribution of fossil fuels to the economy can be expressed as being energetically equivalent to a huge slave supplement to our economy. The energy content of a barrel of oil is equivalent to twelve years of adult labour at forty hours a week. Even at $100 /bl, oil is remarkably cheap compared with human labour. As fossil fuel use increased, human labour in agriculture and energy extraction fell, as did the real price of food and fuel. These price falls freed up discretionary income, making people richer.
From this excellent paper:
http://www.theoildrum.com/files/Tipping%20Point.pdf
"You don't work, you don't contribute, you don't get along, you die." b9k9 I am keeping this one around for a while.
This article kind of makes my point that austerity is not popular once implemented. The response at the end is spot on. Venezuela is probably going to be the one the Americans take out their righteous anger on or maybe Iran. :)
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/will-austerity-be-catalyst-war
My favorite response
Oil - Check
Minerals - Check
Axis of Evil - Check
In the US sphere of influence - Check
Call Obama a "house negro" - Check
Douche bag dictator (Venezuela or US?) - Check
Without cheap oil there's no middle class. What we're watching is the middle classes going back to being poor working class again, but it'll be a generation or two before they fully understand what that means and have adjusted their aspirations to suit.
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