War on the War on the Middle Class

The so-called “impoverished” middle class has elected Lou Dobbs as their spokesman by default. They’ve also elected to abdicate personal success and any hope of climbing out of their own traps unless someone else hands them a shovel or ladder.

This is much like the Iraq war. It's also much like the cry of the so-called "poor", only with a nicer appearance.

I was really taken aback by the recent CNN article that showed just how many people really believe that employers, the economy, and the world in general is out to sabotage them. The article itself was not the problem—the responses to it were.

According to most of the reader responses, future middle-class living standards will only be achieved if one were to increase their income to $100k or more, increase their level of education to master’s level or higher, or by political arm-bending to the left for more federal subsidization. Rarely did anyone address the need for possession and expectation re-assessment and re-alignment.

Yes, there are two ways to skin this particular cat, as I‘ve mentioned in previous articles:

1. Improve your lot at work through increasing personal workplace worth, increasing company worth, and increasing job pool worth, thereby increasing your possibilities for more income.

2. Determine what is really important to YOU, not society at large, by trimming possessions to what you can truly afford and what fits that personal “must have” list. By enlisting the help of frugal tactics, you can actually get those possessions at much lower-than-retail cost, as well as save lots of money on various household expenses. This will free up money for other important things like health insurance.

I’m confused about what exactly is “middle class”—is it a dollar figure, a lifestyle level, both, or none of the above? If good things are done with any amount of money, it can make you seem “more” than what you really are, especially to other people (whom aren’t doing so well).

I think the middle class is really a level of emotion about money, possessions, and how we feel about our place in economic society compared to others. I also think we spend way too much time focusing on what we DON’T have rather than what we DO have.

Here’s a weekend afternoon project for you: make a two-column list of things you have and don’t have. Take a good look at it, then decide if you really REALLY need all the things on either side of the list. After crossing off the castoffs, then sit and figure how you’re going to take care of what’s left—by improving your worth at work, by changing consumption patterns at home, both, or neither. I say “you” because you got yourself into this war, and the government’s not going to bail you out through public policies and institutions.

Find out what you can do for yourself to return home from the war on the middle class—yes, it takes personal effort, but that’s what success achievement is all about! You know the old saying about “success = 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration”, so go work up a sweat already!

If you look at this from a news event point of view, it’s just like the war in Iraq—the troops got sent out to do a job, and now everyone’s trying to call them back because the current outcome is less than anticipated. Workers also get sent out into the fray, and when they don’t like their individual outcomes, they themselves shout and protest to come back, leaving Uncle Sam to earn their badges for them through legislation (health care, minimum wage, etc.) As you can tell, dear Uncle is already paying for one war—how on earth is he going to pay for another?

If you aren’t properly equipped and trained for battle, you aren’t going to win—simple as that. Like military soldiers, you must acquire the tools, training, and courage to use them, as well as learn to stay lightly packed—otherwise, you WILL be left behind for the enemy (in this case, poverty). Equip and train yourself for the economic battle by increasing your personal armament of tools and training, using courage and stamina, and learning to “pack lightly” at home through re-assessment of possessions and desires. All Uncle Sam can do for you is throw you an MRE (meals ready-to-eat) in the form of public programs, and believe me, you’d rather eat your shoe with hot sauce.

Other related articles: Why Women Earn Less, A Flat World Math Formula, Utopia Crashes to Earth, Show Me the Money!, Road to Serfdom , Labeling is Disabling to Us, and The Ape Diet.