Woe to the middle class American. Things are awful in America and the burden falls on the masses stuck in the middle class. Or so some would have us believe. However, Dr. Walter Williams has a different story to tell. This one involves the American Dream and the reality of the middle class:
The U.S. Treasury study confirms previous studies dating back to the 1960s, concluding, “The basic finding of this analysis is that relative income mobility is approximately the same in the last 10 years as it was in the previous decade.” As such, it points to a uniquely American feature: Just because you know where a person ended up in life doesn’t mean you can be sure about where he started. Most of today’s higher income and wealthy did not start out that way.
What about claims of a disappearing middle class? Let’s do some detective work. Controlling for inflation, in 1967, 8 percent of households had an annual income of $75,000 and up; in 2003, more than 26 percent did. In 1967, 17 percent of households had a $50,000 to $75,000 income; in 2003, it was 18 percent. In 1967, 22 percent of households were in the $35,000 to $50,000 income group; by 2003, it had fallen to 15 percent. During the same period, the $15,000 to $35,000 category fell from 31 percent to 25 percent, and the under $15,000 category fell from 21 percent to 16 percent. The only reasonable conclusion from this evidence is that if the middle class is disappearing, it’s doing so by swelling the ranks of the upper classes.
When I take a look at the stats in the second paragraph, I think about what Hillary and Obama and even Edwards would like to see in America. Remember, capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth, but socialism is the equal distribution of poverty. Except for the elites who sell us this cultural snake-oil.
There is a way to ensure the continued success and upward movement of the American citizen. It has nothing to do with government assistance. Think of it like this. Have you ever been working on something that you understand, but there is someone there who is really interested in what you are doing and wants to help? You can fix the problem, but this person asks a lot of questions, gets their hands in the mix, grabs tools and generally gets in the way. They mean well, but they are not really helping, but are really just slowing you down. If you are a father, you know what I am talking about here. I know my dad gets it. Well, this is how I see the government. They really mean well and there are some really compassionate people collecting tax-payer funded salaries, but if they would stop trying to help and just get out of our way, we could get things fixed so much faster.
Hat Tip: ajs
