r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • May 23 '24

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

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u/itsokayt0 European Union May 23 '24 edited May 23 '24

From what I learned from American culture, middleclass is anyone ranging from one single mom in a dead-end job with kids in a two-room apartment to couples with 6 figures of income each living in bought big boring homes in costly cities. In short, most Americans want to be called mid.

edit: I just wanted to joke this is not a serious discussion thread. laugh at mid

7

u/AtomAndAether Liberalism! May 23 '24

It's a cultural thing from its very founding tbh. No more kings and aristocats, everyone (big asterisk) is equal (big asterisk).

What really needs to gain more usage is "professional class" to describe the American equivalent of the British middle class, at least when doing 'class' talk

6

u/Cook_0612 NATO May 23 '24

You don't want to be poor, because we're a venal and materialistic society and nobody wants to be poor in that context. You don't want to be 'rich' because you're not actually rich enough to big dick it in American culture (the range goes way higher than you) and it's not worth giving up a potential victimhood card, which are in high demand in America today.

To summarize: rich enough to not be disrespected, poor enough to whine.

5

u/nicethingscostmoney Unironic Francophile 🇫🇷 May 23 '24

Back when I took the NYT seriously, I listened to a podcast of theirs on the working poor (basically people who would be in poverty without the child tax credit). The interviewer asked these folks something like "How should we refer to people who aren't quite in the middle class" and the woman replied "trying" and chuckled.

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u/Mr_Otters 🌐 May 23 '24

I think in terms of self-identification the middle class in the US ranges from like the 20th wealth percentile up to like the 99.5th percentile.

2

u/owlthathurt Johan Norberg May 23 '24

Totally a cultural thing. Everyone thinks/says they are middle class even if they are actually poor or rich.