The Shrinking Middle Class

Before FDR there was very little middle class in this country. Most people were either rich or poor. Social Security was created because old people were literalyy starving to death. Because of FDR the middle class began to grow rapidly after WW11. People began to get good paying jobs with benefits like heath care and defined benefit pension plans. A 40 hour work week and vacation time became normal so the working man could spend time with his family. People bought cars and houses, then the economy expanded and suburbia grew.

LBJ came along and said the new middle glass should be able to send their kids to college, and old people needed a great health care program in their retirement. So he made college loans and grants available to most students and created Medicare.

Thereafter, the middle class continued to flourish for awhile but has been in decline recently and a new class called the working poor has been identified. The working poor use to be middle class but are now slipping down to the poor. The reasons for this decline are numerous but primarily the result of partisan attacks, restrictions, and curtailments of many of the New Deal and Great Society programs.

Without a significant middle class almost everyone will be poor again because there will be few people able to buy goods and services. To be sure, the rich will still be rich. If you hate FDR and LBJ and government programs so much then do the honorable thing and don't send your kids to college if you can't afford the full tuition, sign your Social Seurity check over to some family which will appreciate it, and by all means don't participate in Medicare. And don't drive over interstate highways either.