In Search of the Middle Class: The Illusion We Live In
Most of people believe they are in the middle class but in reality they are not even in the middle class. Our society makes it look like you are either upper class or the lower class because the gap has been increased so differentiating is very difficult.
Let me guess your believe of what a middle class family is to you; a family that is neither rich nor poor, one that can afford a regular home with a mortgage of about 20 to 30 years, own more than 1 car, and plan a vacation at least once a year. This type of family are either working a job in average managerial positions, or own a small business.
In reality, the term middle class doesn't mean much now, because it is gone. The middle class which was first used in the early modern Europe to describe people who were neither peasants nor royalties. These people were either factory owners, or merchants that were wealthy. So in the time, if you were not a factory owner, or owned numerous trades with ships to facilitate your trade, then you are a peasant but in our world today, these set of people would be regarded as the upper class.
In our world now, the middle class definition based on finance has changed over the time, and this has been determined by the upper class. While in the past, the middle class was used to classify the wealthy who weren't nobles, in the world we are today, the middle class is used to identify people who are not as wealthy as the rich but aren't poor.
When it comes to election, the middle class are the target as they are believed to be the largest block of voters, when companies are corporations are producing goods and services, they target the middle class when marketing. Instead of using the term the middle class, the lower, and the upper class, if we are to be truthful to ourselves, it is better said that instead of referring to those social class groupings, we can just say the upper class and the working class.
The working class need to work to pay for their expenses while the upper class do not need to work to pay for their expenses. If you are going to judge based on Bankrate's 2023 annual report that says over 50% of Americans cannot afford an unexpected $1k without getting into debt or selling something they own. So if we are going to judge middle class, it means that over 50% of Americans are not in the middle class but if the middle class make up the largest percentage of the population, how do we say they are living fine when they cannot afford $1k unexpected spending?
If we are going to judge the middle class by income, then I am sure someone earning above $200K will be regarded as middle class but how can this be when a survey showed that 36% of people earning at least $250K live paycheck to paycheck. Which means that they struggle to live and try to make earns meet.Depending on places where you live like in San Fransisco, you might be living in debt with such paycheck.
In light of these complexities, the conventional idea of a thriving middle class is increasingly blurred, prompting a reevaluation of how we perceive and define social classes in our ever-changing world.