kitchen table math, the sequel: We all want to be 'middle class'

Friday, January 6, 2012

We all want to be 'middle class'

Why we want to be middle class
But whatever its exact size, the middle class is usually considered more deserving – and more threatened – than those at the extremes.
This helps explain why we label the offering of financial aid to families with incomes up to $200,000, a policy of some Ivy League schools and other elite colleges, as help for the "middle class".  It feels good to do so, and since the definition is muddled, it's hard to challenge it.

Definition of middle class is muddled

3 comments:

rocky said...

"Hound Dog"

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
cryin' all the time.
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.

When they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
When they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
You ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.

Catherine Johnson said...

I read a great thing about middle classery years ago. (Can't remember the source, so can't fact-check.)

It had to do with people's aspirations.

Everyone wants to move 'up,' but what does 'up' mean? What did people mean when they said they wanted to move 'up.'

Turned out what it did **not** mean was that middle class people wished to be upper class people (however the person defined either term).

Middle class people wanted more middle class stuff.

I love that.

Catherine Johnson said...

And and and....my absolute favorite greeting card, which I bought years ago in grad school, featured a harsh, black and white photo of a hard-bitten woman standing over her kitchen sink washing dishes while wearing a short, waist-length mink coat. As I recall, she was glaring at the camera, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

The legend inside the card:

I clawed my way to the middle.