Posted on 01/26/2015 5:24:39 AM PST by Theoria
The middle class that President Obama identified in his State of the Union speech last week as the foundation of the American economy has been shrinking for almost half a century.
In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the middle, earning, in todays dollars, $35,000 to $100,000 a year. Few people noticed or cared as the size of that group began to fall, because the shift was primarily caused by more Americans climbing the economic ladder into upper-income brackets.
But since 2000, the middle-class share of households has continued to narrow, the main reason being that more people have fallen to the bottom. At the same time, fewer of those in this group fit the traditional image of a married couple with children at home, a gap increasingly filled by the elderly.
This social upheaval helps explain why the president focused on reviving the middle class, offering a raft of proposals squarely aimed at concerns like paying for a college education, taking parental leave, affording child care and buying a home.
Middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change, Mr. Obama told Congress and the public on Tuesday.
Still, regardless of their income, most Americans identify as middle class. The term itself is so amorphous that politicians often cite the group in introducing proposals to engender wide appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
At least that'll give us a break from the endless loop of Smokey the Bear PSAs.
"Rafts of proposals" like that helped destroy the middle class in the first place.
The middle class used to be able to afford things like college, housing, and health care until the government stepped in "to make it affordable."
The flood of government money into these markets naturally drove prices up as everybody scrambled to get their share of the booty. In a short time, the government drove the prices so high that only the very rich (like just about every federal politician) can afford these things without government assistance.
They fitted everybody with yokes, as intended.
Lenin said it: To achieve communism, we must first destroy the bourgeoisie.
And Obama is following the recipe'.
Generally, I agree with your thoughts
However Europe may not have really caught up. Europe including Russia was traumatized so badly that it might take centuries to recover. During that long long recovery process events from outside might intervene to prevent real recovery. The deterioration of Europe’s place in the world economy is shifting. what were their markets are now their competitors. Europe has recovered only to become very very sick.
The concept of no war ever is detrimental to existence. Russia is a basket case that is beyond recovery. There must be revolution to start all over. Alas, the Russian people lack the starch .
That’s fundamental transformation for ya. Who knew?
OK, we did.
It was once frowned upon to trade with commies.
1980's USSR evil empire.
2000's China good for business.
Europe, as a whole makes our problems something to look forward to.
Consider these photos
Dubai
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Shanghi
Paris
<
Antwerp
Milan
The pictures are the basis for my point
” Globalization, global wage arbitrage, immigration, debt spending, national debt, taxes, etc will finish US off. “
With the UNIPARTY dividing up the spoils.
They spend a lot of time shipping jobs to other nations, too.
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