[YankeeReb]

You are right. Its totally unreasonable for me to desire to keep my standard of living. I should pool my money with several other IT workers and share my 1 bedroom and car with 10 other people, thus driving my cost of living down. Cool.

Exactly!! What many of these people fail to realize is that if the standard of living keeps falling for everyone else, eventually their's will also fall. Either that or they'll be living in a gated community with private security forces to keep the rabble out. No great country can survive without a strong middle class.

[GraniteStateConservative]

What happens is a redefinition of "the middle class." The average wage of a middle class worker in the world will be the wage here. It's like putting different temperatures of water in a bath. Eventually, they all reach room temp.