Census: Middle class shrinks to an all-time low

[Anti Federalist]

Globalize, de-industrialize and incentivize to send real wealth creation and job production out of the country and this is what you get.

The modern day Robespierre's are not going to be made up of members of the patriot and liberty movement, like one member here suggested.

It will be these folks: broke, hungry, tired and beat down.

They will have little use for the law, and even less for pampered upper class folks.

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." - Anatole France



Census: Middle class shrinks to an all-time low

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/poverty-was-flat-in-2011-percentage-without-health-insurance-fell/2012/09/12/0e04632c-fc29-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html

By Carol Morello, Wednesday, September 12, 12:30 PM
The Washington Post

The vise on the middle class tightened last year, driving down its share of the income pie as the number of Americans in poverty leveled off and the most affluent households saw their portion grow, new census data released Wednesday showed.

Income inequality increased by 1.6 percent, the Census Bureau said in its annual report on poverty, income and health insurance. This was the biggest one-year increase in almost two decades and suggested that a trend in place since the late 1970s was picking up steam.

[James Madison]

I know! Let's tax the 'rich'...which is anyone making more than me.

[ronpaulfollower999]

All according to plan.

[DamianTV]

I know! Let's tax the 'rich'...which is anyone making more than me.

If that included me as well, it would be anyone that brought home more than One Dollar home in the last month. No job here for me, no "benefits" either. And I would say that our job market is continuing to get worse, not better. Also estimated is at minimum of 30% unemployed of those willing to work, which just gets worse and worse and worse.

Now, would someone mind explaining to me exactly what this "Middle Class" is that I keep hearing about? Sounds like a good deal if I can break the societal caste system forced upon me and many others in the same shit'uation.

[FindLiberty]

We're doomed here in Illinois... Nation and world too if this keeps up. Gee, I hope the detention camps are comfy cozy!

[Bossobass]

I'm actually beginning to tire of the reactionary mentality that reports the demise of the MC, blow-by-blow.

Invent, take over one of those thousands of abandoned facilities and build shit people want to buy.

Stop whining.

True story, FWIW:

In the 80s, when my older brother and I were young entrepreneurs in the cabinet business, we visited a plant we were buying from in Ohio.

During a conversation with the plant owner, which was much like the one's I read every day like this thread, we were talking about how the instantaneous rise in interest rates to 20% had bankrupted all of our spec builder accounts who then stiffed us for a mountain of cash and dried up all borrowers for the foreseeable future. Gold and silver had plummeted while things like gasoline had increased 300%. Gas shortages (2 of them in the 70s) had caused mayhem for just about every small business owner and there was talk everywhere in the media that the earth was about to give up its last barrel. Natural gas was rationed and the plant we were touring (like many others in the north during winter) was being heated by a 100 year old boiler they had to blow the dust off of and fire up by burning wood. In the Ohio valley, including "The Essen of the West", Pittsburgh, "The Steel Capital of the World", where we were born, raised and had our business concerns, the Exodus was well under way. In the end, from 1978 to 1983, virtually every steel production facility was closed, abandoned, then eventually dismantled.

Etc., etc., etc. The recession of the early 80s was deep, long and devastating for small business and blue collars.

Suddenly, my brother broke the chain of thought asking, "Where the hell is that music coming from?". The plant owner said, "Oh that, I'm so used to it I tune it out. Come on, you have to see this".

He led us down a hall to a door, the music getting louder and louder as we approached. It was Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. As he opened the door, the music blasted us.

Picture it as we saw it as the door swung open:

There was a long table in a fairly large room. Along each side of the long table sat about 20 hippy-looking folks. At the end of the table was a wall with speakers stacked and Jimi wailing. On either side of the hippies, behind them, were stacks of boxes. The room was freshly painted all white, was clean and extremely well lit and all of the hippies had formed an assembly line on which each of them was doing a part in...

Weaving Baskets.

We stared agape for a few minutes, waved at everyone, who waved back (certainly couldn't say anything to them with the music that loud), then closed the door on our way out.

My brother and I broke into laughter. "What the hell are you hosting a nut house of crazies who weave baskets for therapy in your cabinet plant for?" !!!

The plant owner said: "These 2 hippies approached me one day and asked if they could rent a portion of my plant for a percentage of their sales of woven baskets, which they planned to sell through a network of in-home sales presentations, like a "basket party" type thing. Well, I had the extra space and thought, what the hey, let's give it a shot, what's the worst that can happen? They cleaned up the area, painted and added the lighting, set up and made baskets. Soon they handed me a check and started playing music while they worked. No harm, no foul... everyone's happy.

"Last year", he then told us, "those hippies did $12 million dollars (approx. $50 mil in todays $$). The checks they've been handing me have saved me having to close my plant. So yeah, loud music... whatever, they can host a rock concert in there if they feel like it."

Just thought I'd pass that along, FWIW.