I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination! That is my superpower in starting In The Middle. If the great minds in USA macro economic environments can explain to me the answers to questions I have then it can be explained in plain English to anyone that cares to hear.
First off, when I talk about the middle class I am not talking about middle income. I am talking about them as two separate things, which I will cover in more detail in Middle Class vs Middle Income.
Today the economic leaning is almost exclusively to the wealthy and the vehicles used for the wealthy to get more. This imbalance is not new or exclusive in any way in world history. Wealth gives power, power gives wealth. Those of means can and will care for themselves. I don’t need to worry on their behalf.
What I do worry about, is the majority of Americans1 financial wellbeing. Are the majority of Americans impoverished? Saying that impoverished Americans are not classified as poor does not change their situation. My hope would be to see the objectively true situation and start defining a new era of the majority of Americans becoming a healthy Middle Class, if they are not already, which I currently think we are not. First step being, defining the Middle Class. More on that shortly.
Once, a reasonable definition is defined and becomes measurable, we as a country can start creating legislation that target expansion and stability for what we can now call a Middle Class. By giving people a view of the affect on the Middle Class of executive orders and congressional bills we the people can start voting for targeted change.
By removing the term middle class from the political rhetoric and replacing it with a quantifiable definition of the Middle Class we can start to measure cause and effect. We can know which policies strengthened or weakened the majority of citizens financial wellbeing.
Out Thought
- The use of Americans is shorthand for citizens of the United States of America. I think we all know what I’m saying. ↩︎