Eke

Back when we were still choosing our next president, John McCain made a comment about the transition from being middle class to rich at around $5 million dollars. Perhaps he was just joking, but, I thought it was a reasonable answer. The rich do make millions of dollars a year. So who are the so called middle class?

The definition I learned years ago was that the middle class have incomes that are above the incomes of the typical citizen but are less than the incomes of the rich. Depending on who you listen to, the typical income of an American is anywhere from $20 thousand to $150 thousand a year with an average of around $45 thousand a year. I think that upper end number is quite a bit low. Cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles have a much higher upper end than $150 thousand. At least that is what I've read. So, I would guestimate a number of around $300 thousand a year being the beginning of the so called middle class. The vast majority of us are just plain old working stiffs.

A few weeks ago I did a bit of googleing about the middle class. I was a bit surprised to see that the most common definition of the middle class today is based on the 'median' income of around $45 thousand a year. I'm not sure when or how having a median income has been translated into being in the middle class. Even people that only made around $20 thousand a year claimed to be a part of the middle class. It is said that the difference between a first world country and a third world country is the presence of a middle class. If $20 thousand dollars is the beginning of the middle class and $5 million dollars is the beginning of the rich class, I have to wonder if we aren't quickly turning into a third world country.

What is so wrong with stating that people that make from $20 thousand a year to say 250 thousand a year are all a part of the working class? What's up with this need to call ourselves middle class when we are living from pay check to pay check and barely ekeing out a living.