what if

[CEJ]

Watching still yet another worthless debate on LBO Talk about 'class'
and the 'working class', it occurred to me that a different take on
the topic might be the following: What if you broke down the quality
of life along the lines of contrasting what people who make 10,000 vs.
50,000 vs. 100,000 dollars a year actually experience in the political
economy of the US.

One way I define 'middle class' to myself as 'being capable of passing
along wealth' to their next generation. However, a lack of health care
and elderly care is most likely eliminating this ability among a lot
of people--or will in the next 20 years, as they exhaust their wealth
in order to live long enough to die without passing any inheritance on
to their children.

As for the 'ability to pass along wealth', I find it of utmost
existential value in understanding people. Most other things being
equal, how people act actually has a lot to do with their
consciousness of whether or not they are going to get much from their
parents.

But getting back to that topic of differences in the quality of life
among the working class. Many act like all those earning under 100,000
or even 250,000 experience the same America. If you have ever lived on
an income that is under 20,000, you know just how profoundly the
differences are.

CJ