Middle Classness

The middle class in the United States is on the decline.  Although this has been a long-term trend, recent years have acerbated the disparity between the upper and middle classes … while the lower classes seem to be doing OK … see the Growing Income Divide graph in the following story: Washington Post Story.  As can be seen in this graph, the lower classes are holding their own … most likely due to the recent dramatic growth in our welfare state ... while the middle classes are being eroded ... and the upper classes are on a roll.

Why is this middle-class shrinkage happening?  I believe that our reliance upon the Federal Reserve Bank to spur our (however anemic) national economic growth with artificially low interest rates is one reason.  This means that those plutocrats with plenty of assets can benefit from the difference between their low borrowing costs and what they can achieve with arbitrage in the various asset markets (stocks, bonds, communities, and currencies).  Whereas, our less sophisticated middle class, including many retirees, are stuck behind the eight-ball of low returns on their more modest assets.

Also the continued decline in the U.S. manufacturing sector is another drag on middle-class prosperity … exacerbated by increased government regulation and many unions hitting the glass ceilings on their wage inflations.  There also has been a dramatic swing to part-time labor in the service sector (due to that you-know-what law).

In closing, I cannot ignore the connection to the “Black Value System” that members of the Trinity United Church (whose membership included the Obama’s prior to 2008) signed as part of their church commitment.  One of the tenants of this pledge was “Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness” … see reference in: Liberal Progressive. Have President Obama’s policy implementations over the last five years somehow been swayed by his previous Trinity United Church signed pledge?  I wonder?

Afterthought: The middle class is one of the pillars of a capitalistic society.  Its current erosion here can do nothing but accelerate the United States's movement toward European-style stateism. Perhaps that is part of the strategy?