Dear Diary, The “Middle Class” is a lie.
One of the most effective strategies ever devised in terms of how to solve a problem involving people is ‘divide and conquer.’ The USA has effectively been a thinly veiled oligarchy for some time, and the dyed-in-the-wool defenders of capitalism tend to get very angry if you put anything over profits. One of the control mechanisms the beneficiaries of the status quo have put in place is the idea of the ‘Middle Class.’ A group of workers who earn more than people in a poverty situation but less than the nebulously defined ‘wealthy.’
The Middle Class is a lie; it always has been a lie, and it always will be a lie. The entire reason the lie was invented was because classism works like racism. President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” This is true for the Middle Class as well. Convince the Middle Class they’re better than “the Working Class,” and now there is someone to look down on.
What is the purpose of giving the Middle Class someone to look down on? Fear and Control. The Middle Class begins to fear moving ‘down’ a class, and the people who perpetuate the lie keep the Middle Class looking down instead of up and side-to-side. The Owner Class, who by far benefit the most from political corruption and media manipulation, continue largely unopposed because the few who pay attention are drowned out by the many who don’t.
It’s quite simple, really. You are in the Working Class if you sell your time (work) for compensation at someone else’s (owner) entity. That’s it. There are Working Class wages ranging from below poverty to having multiple commas in it, but the foundation is the same. By keeping the Working Class opposed to itself in various ways, it will never unite and fight for better conditions. The pockets of unionization efforts we see are generally easily foiled by the Owner Class as they can quickly move to another location of people willing to participate in the Race To The Bottom.
We just had an election about the ‘vibes’ of the economy from people who didn’t know what tariffs were until post-factum despite the rest of us sounding the alarm from every available platform. The incoming Oval Office Occupier promises mass deportations, tariffs, trade wars, deregulation, and tax cuts for the Owner Class. All of these things are going to have significant economic, social, and environmental costs. I’ve already seen headlines about the ‘vanishing’ Middle Class. Good, in a sense. Let’s stop with the divide-and-conquer tactics. If we are going to survive this, we’re going to need to do it together.
Until then, be ready for more voters to be surprised they’re getting what they voted for.