The UBIQUITOUS MIDDLE CLASS

There is no standard definition, and in fact, an overwhelming majority of Americans say they are "middle class" or "upper-middle class" or "working class" in public opinion polls. Hardly anybody considers themselves "lower class" or "upper class" in America.

Journalist Chris Baker examined the ambiguous meaning of the term "middle class" in a 2003 Washington Times story. He, too, found no generally accepted definition, but he did get this broad one from Jared Bernstein, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute: “There are working families who can pay their bills, but they have to really think about such minimal expenditures as picking up a pizza after work, going to the movies, making a long-distance telephone call. They may have some investments, but they depend on each paycheck for their well-being.”  But others could have different definitions. Baker interviewed a man who earned about $100,000 a year and a woman who made $35,000, both of whom said they were middle class.

American middle class - depending upon who you talk to . . .

According to CBS journalist Carla Fried,  she reports in an article, Are You Middle Class?,

It's not surprising that Washington has a hard time deciding the politically expedient definition of middle class, but it's not as if there's any better clarity among the masses either. In an April 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Research center, four in 10 Americans with income below $20,000 said they were middle class, while one-third of those making more than $150,000 defined themselves as middle class.

Increase in earnings allows the middle class to eat out . . .

Reuters reporter, David Rohde, says,

Despite the incessant political lip service paid to the middle class, there is no official American government definition of the group. The middle class has been intensively studied but no political consensus exists over how it was created or how to strengthen it.

Karl Marx defined the working class or proletariat as individuals who sell their labor power for wages and who do not own the means of production. He argued that they were responsible for creating the wealth of a society. He asserted that the working class physically build bridges, craft furniture, grow food, and nurse children, but do not own land, or factories. A sub-section of the proletariat, the lumpenproletariat (rag-proletariat), are the extremely poor and unemployed, such as day laborers and homeless people.

American middle class wants a piece of the Bull . . .

This sounds a lot like our Middle Class to me. 

What do you think?

A barista prepares a coffee drink at a Starbucks Corp. store in Beijing, China

Interestingly, while our Ubiquitous Middle Class is disappearing, the Middle Class in China is growing or so says Julie Kollewe in Shanghai.

“Chinese eating habits have started to mimic those in the west – the growing middle class has started having cereal for breakfast rather than rice; chocolate, crisps and biscuits as special treats; and using teabags rather than traditional leaf tea. This brings mixed blessings: nutrition experts warn that obesity is already growing among the younger generation in big cities.

China recently overtook the US to become the world's biggest market for grocery shopping, underpinned by an expanding population, a shift to more expensive foods and strong economic growth. It is predicted to grow twice as fast as the US to be worth almost £950bn by 2015 – from £609bn at the end of 2011 – according to industry researchers IGD.”

China's middle class is expected to reach 40% of the population by 2020

Since the Chinese economy is growing faster than the American economy, many US companies are opening up shop in China, such as:

1. Apple
2. Starbucks
3. Boeing
4. KFC
5. Sotheby’s
6. Merck & Co.
7. Best Buy
8. Coca Cola

In fact, the world’s top innovative companies are operating in China.  See full list 

Soon our ubiquitous middle class will be gone.

What then?