Sunday, September 14, 2014

What Happened To The American Dream?

A strong middle class has been at the core of what has been promoted as the American Dream.  How would America look like if the middle class simply vanished?  We may not need to wait too long at the current rate since we are quickly siphoning people off the middle class and throwing them into lower income brackets.  The vast majority of Americans do not buy into the propaganda promoted on the tightly controlled media outlets.  In fact, the latest Congressional job approval numbers are at a record low of 10 percent according to Gallup.  To put this low figure in perspective 16 percent of Americans approved of how BP handled the catastrophic Gulf oil spill at the peak of the blowout.  This low Congressional approval is all coming during a supposed economic recovery where 46,000,000 Americans receive a monthly charge to their debit card for food assistance.  Even government figures show the big job growth sectors of the next decade to be in low paying fields.  What would America look like without a middle class?



The recession has hit all groups hard but the deepest impact has been on young Americans.  Take a look at wages for young high school graduates:


young wage high school earners
Source:  Economic Policy Institute















The path is rather clear.  High school only graduates since the 1970s have seen their wages go steadily down.  Since the bulk of the workforce comes from this sector, it makes total sense that the average per capita income would be $25,000:

average-income-americans


















This seems rather stunning that in the most prosperous nation in the world wages are actually going down or sideways for most Americans.  So many young Americans have caught onto the trend.  A high school diploma isn’t enough to be competitive.  Many decided to take on massive debt and go to college - - (more statistics at link)

from here, with more

 For those fighting the class war there are only two classes - the working class and the capitalists. Your income may be anywhere on the pay scale but if you are obliged to work for a living then you are part of the working class of the world.
'Middle class' in this study means middle income or above, a fairly comfortable, secure standard of living, which is becoming ever rarer.


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