Vasspaan

Middle class is alive and well…

Stop this nonsensical blab about demise of the middle class. It is the law of nature and no one (including this speaker) can change that. Middle class continues to be the strongest voice in the US and around the world. As soon as a trend develops to change this natural force, you will begin to see socialism and even communism grow.

 A very fresh and live example is election of Obama to re-inforce socialism and redistribution of wealth. So, it is impossible for the middle class to collapse unless the whole world turns theocratic.

Very good but misses a few items

Re: Housing costs:

Warren notes it isn't so much a change in the size of the houses but in the upscale features people demand that has sopped up so much consumer income. Realtors urged buys to "buy as much house as you can AFFORD," rather that "as much as you NEED."  In whose interest was that?

One housing factor which Warren doesn't is the number of people who moved from row homes and semi-detached homes to single family suburban homes that entailed substantial addition land costs, property taxex and utility costs.   That can add hundreds per month to living costs.

Not Discussed: The issue of changed retirement Savings and Pension patterns

In 1970 more folks had secure jobs, expecially in manufacturing.   Those jobs as well as many corporate jobs had pensions attached.   Today I think people are more likely to change jobs many time in their working years, whether for voluntary reasons or because of layoffs and closure. 

Also fewer employers offer pensions. Folks are expected to finance their own pensions via 401/403 plans and IRAs in a market that has gone down and the same time as their other primary source of savings--houses whose value they expect to rise instead of fall.

So you have a situation in which middle class families with kids have negative savings instead of the 11 percent average in 1970 at the same time they are expecteed to save for both college and retirement.

Re: Tens of thousands more for schools in areas where kids score as little as 5 percent higher on national tests.

This is especially true in urban areas where folks are forced to flee to better public schools in the suburbs (single family houses, larger property taxes, bigger utilility bills) rather than pay $10,000 plus for tuition.  In Philly, where I used to live, parents who taught at the presigious University of Pennsylvania and loved the amenities of urban life would leave like clockwork when their kids hit age 5 or thereabout.

One reason for this is the destruction of neighborhood schools and some of that is due to laws and court decisions designed to encourage school integration in the fifties.   Had such laws worked AS INTENDED, I'd favor keeping them.  Instead, the middle class--including minorities--flees the schools and minorities suffer instead.

Imagine if you went back to neighborshood schools and smaller schools so that kids from middle class families with similar outlooks--regardless of race--knew they could send their kids to local elementary and high schools they could rely on.  The middle class would stay instead of leaving

It's true that large schools provide "economies of scale" but when they also become unusuable to the middle class, that money is wasted--a case of getting what you pay for.

Please go see Michael Moore's new movie

If you want to know more, please go see Michael Moore's new Movie, the Capitalist.

It is an eye opener to what is really happening out there.

Thank you for bringing up this extremely important issue, which

in my humble opinion exceeds the importance of other current global issues such as global warming and the hole in the ozone layer.

I agree with oktaby that the harming and shrinking of the Middle Class is not a cyclical economic event by any means. The "fight" against the Middle Class has been a global phenomenon, whose global dimensions are not appreciated by the mainstream media pundits. The reason why this issue does not get the attention it deserves in the mainstream/corporate media is precisely because the corporate-state has been the main force behind this crusade and THEY are the ones who control the bulk of the media.

The American Middle Class are not the only victims of the corporate-state crusade against the Middle Class. Two of the very obvious roadkill have been the Middle Classes of Mexico and Argentina.  

It has arrived and working its way through

but it is more subtle than the American public realize as majority believe it is a cyclical downturn. Yet this is the early stages of unfolding of the global landscape. The shock doctrine is increasingly an MO in delivering changes that are tied to global elite as I have referenced in some recent posts. 911 was the first and financial crisis the second of the recent flavor. OKtaby