Bill Maher Asks: "When did the American dream become this pathway to indentured servitude?"

[johnlucas]

37. One of my first posts here was "There's no such thing as the Middle Class"

Last edited Sun Oct 27, 2013, 03:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Can't seem to find it anymore due to the change from the old Democratic Underground to the current one...
...But that I believe was my very first post here in 2008.

The words you speak influence the way you think.
In truth what is called "Middle Class" income is closer to the low ends of all incomes.
The true middle is probably a multimillionaire if you go by dollar amounts alone disregarding number of people who fall into those income categories.
A straight up Arithmetic Mean.

So knowing this reality let's say that we account for number of people who have a particular income as well as counting all incomes available.
A Mode Average.
Then you'll probably see a number closer to Poor when you see THIS kind of Middle.
Let's say a number under $20,000 as the Mode Average.
The Working Poor pretty much.

ESPECIALLY if you tie it to ratio of cost of living per region.
Regions vary in income so a more pricey income can skew data higher than it actually is.

That mythical Middle Class income either way looks fake & false.
But the myth is mighty & the culture that has come up around it is mighty as well.

In reality Middle Class people are just Poor people with the Illusions of Wealth.
I call it Poor First Class (sort of like the military with Private First Class).
They get a taste of the luxury the TRULY wealthy enjoy & think they're no longer poor.
Those who are honest with themselves & introspective realize this phony twilight & are in solidarity with poor people AKA the Underclass.
They know that they are one major medical emergency or natural disaster away from homelessness.
They're thankful for what they have but they know better than to get haughty & condescending toward those with lesser financial means.

The reason you're starting to see more progressive positions take root is because at last the illusion was breaking away.
Poor people have suffered endlessly throughout history in this country & every other.
But nobody really makes a big deal with the problems of the Poor.
When the robber barons started taking away the so-called "Middle Class" illusions of wealth only THEN did you see reporters out here making a big deal over the injustice.

That's the best thing that came out of the Great Recession. It finally woke enough of these complacent jabronies up.
They were starting to re-remember that they were the Poor all along & will be treated just like the Poor.
All that talk of "I'm a taxpayer!" "I work hard for my money!" & all those myopic points of view started falling by the wayside when they can't afford to go to the doctor, food is getting more expensive to buy, & gas is crunching budgets to extreme degrees.

I say it like this.
If YOU WORK FOR YOUR MONEY, then you are POOR.
If YOUR MONEY WORKS FOR YOU, then you are RICH.

It's that real.
The truly wealthy don't work to live. It's an arbitrary adventure for them if they actually do any work.
They spend time strategizing their existing resources to further expand their financial & social power.
Money is momentum-based & the more money you have, the more money you will have to make even more money.
You can seed a small portion of your money just like farmers plant their crops & watch that seed bloom into a dollar bill harvest.
From there you take a piece of that harvest to plant more seeds to get more harvests.

And once you get to a certain point of income & stored wealth, you EXCEED all possible price tags, so money just self-collects after a certain point.
You simply don't have anything to spend it on & it accumulates exponentially.
Price tags are the Bouncers keeping you out of the club, out of the VIP room.
Poor people are faced with price tags every day, Rich people don't even know price tags.
AND EVEN MORE since wealth is worshipped (since humans bow to power of any kind), the Rich get freebies just for showing up.
They make regular people pay $7 for an entry fee into the club, a rich celebrity gets in for free since the club owner knows everybody will want to see that celebrity & pay more entry fees to get in.

That's why taxes need to be high on the Rich because if they aren't nothing puts them in check & they abuse their power over society.
The Rich have passed their responsibilities of financing the country's infrastructure onto the so-called Middle Class.
There's more "Middle Class" incomes available to draw from after all.
Yet who do many "Middle Class" people demonize & blame for their problems?
You got it. The Poor.

Hell, those are the people they live around, right? Can't expect them to demonize somebody they hardly ever see.
And oddly enough they never come to the realization that if I'm around a bunch of Poor people that MAYBE just MAYBE I just might be The Poor myself.

It's a classic case of Divide & Conquer.
Give a portion of the Poor a slight taste of wealth & watch them enforce Elitist oppressions on the Poor they came from.
Same with Police & the Citizens. Give 'em a taste of power & watch them enforce the will of the Powers That Be onto the Citizens they came from.

Generally the Rich don't like to share but they know where to spend money as necessary to keep the bulk with themselves.

When politicians—including Democratic politicians—talk about Middle Class & Middle Class only, I get a little sick.
I know how phony this talk is.
John Lucas