https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/the-birth-of-a-new-american-aristocracy/559130/ Long good article. Key points: All of you/us who call yourselves upper middle class are really upper class, even if there's always some jackass with more money than you. We are all consciously & subsconsciously working, largely via our children and their opportunity, tax policy, etc to close off the doors to the other 90% Most of us attain our status in the top 9.9% by aiding and abetting the funneling of resources up to the top 0.1%, in what are ultimately spiritually unfulfilling careers. The most likely end of all this is some form of violent upheaval or government action to reduce inequality, including from the 9.9 % as well as the 0.1%.
Guilty as charged... kind of... work non-profit that helps a lot of the other 90% attain a hand-hold. But still think on this often. Sometimes I hear my upper middle class lib friends talking about fly-over states and Trump voters and basically the guts of this article hits me like an anvil. But I can rarely communicate it to them.
This times 10. Because you act appalled at some kid with a Confederate flag, shop at Whole Foods, drive a Tesla and voted for Hillary Clinton doesn't mean that you are not "the man". Also, all those poor people in the "fly over states" matter every bit as much as the poor inner city minorities or the transgender folks.
I am not concerned with other people's "privilege" or wealth. I am concerned, however, about my own livelihood and how opportunity plays a big role in determine income and job stability.
Maybe if we just try socialism it will work this time, never mind all the previous failures. I am sure it will work this time. (facepalm)
Try socialism? We are socialistic country. I guess we could turn back time to the 1800s and see how that flies.
When you see "socialism" posted just assume the poster means "Venezuelan style economy." Feel free to insert any other failed third world economy for Venezuela, but if you slip up and mention a Nordic country instead you'll lose your Fox News buffet card.
Excellent article. Of course, what the cohetes and cmls among us struggle to grasp is that this ever increasing concentration of wealth and rising inequality inevitably leads to a sh!tstorm with consequences for us all. Even if I didn't care about the well being of my fellow citizens, I'd selfishly want to make sure the benefits of our society are broadly distributed to prevent that sh!tstorm.
I can honestly and sadly admit that I've spent my entire professional life, save one brief period - to assisting the 0.1% in exchange for coupons to get into the enabler class of 9.9% (not sure if I have officially "made" it yet, and what scares me is that I'm one bad break (illness, job loss etc) away from falling away forever) I also think that the happiest time I have had as an adult, at least in my professional life, not including family life, was the brief period of time in which I had no income and was not actively attempting to climb this ladder.
This panicked, standard red bait response is because, for all intents and purposes, at this moment in history - the left/ Democrats are the real defenders of free markets and capitalism*, the right is all about cartels, oligarchy and kleptocracy, the rigged game. (*With the notable exception of everything else this thread is about like social status)
Sure but let's not overstate it. Poor whites are ****ed, Systemic bias means that nonwhites are even more ****ed and this is pretty empirically backed. Intergenerational Income outcomes for middle class black males (but not females) are the same as for poor whites...thats a huge problem
Isn't there a difference between middle class family that saved all their live and get to 10% by retirement? Or are these far and few in between?
I'm sure there's probably edge cases of people in their mid -60s who dip in and out of the caste but this article really isn't focused on them but mostly today's knowledge economy bourgeois. Hell my parents didn't think they'd ever be millionaires, but they are now in retirement in large part due to the fact they were able to buy a house at a low price, take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction, and have that house return 400% in real terms. However, those edge cases are possible precisely *because* those people began their careers in a less stratified society that didn't slam the door on the bottom as much. Today they wouldn't stand a chance
Saving to the top 10% is probably harder now since wages have stagnated, market is already very high (if your lucky the last two crashes didn't wipe out most of your principle), and inflated housing/healthcare prices. Edit: Out of curiosity, I would need to work another 15 years (30 total) at my current salary with my already aggressive saving (I save 60% of my net) to reach the 10% threshold with assumption of no added costs of future kid, medical issues, and the 10% cutoff doesn't go higher than it already is.
This is true. Generally speaking, it was easier for your parent's generation to generate wealth than, lets say a kid graduating college today.
Counterpoint - it's not the 9.9%, it really is the 1% that's the problem. https://slate.com/business/2018/05/...cent-the-1-percent-are-still-the-problem.html
Actually you are really on to something here it's as high as 40% according tobtge counterpoint I posted above.
Yep the upper 10% that the Hillary/Obama Dems cater too. They cater to the one percent, too, but not as much as the Repubs.
