MIDDLE CLASS SQUEEZE
From Wealth and Democracy, by Kevin Phillips. So this is what John Kerry is talking about?

Currency nuances notwithstanding, the evidence illustrates the transformation of the United States from its high-wage and best-working-conditions status during the quarter century after 1945 to a society that, for the bulk of its workforce, was increasingly middling in wages, harsh in hours worked, and more stinting in benefits (pg 164)

For the middle class there were other costs as the huge money flows to the rich increased the price tags of affluent forms of consumption enough -- not just first-class airline seats, but the cost of health clubs, sports admissions, symphony tickets, museum admissions, good restaurants, private schools, banking services, and big-city automobile maintenance -- that many in the eightieth and even ninetieth percentiles could no longer afford what their similarly situated parents in the 1950s and 1960s had often managed. (pg 167)

So, the real questions are, is it easier to enter and stay in the middle class today than in the 50s and 60s? And does the middle class enjoy the same relative lifestyle today as it did back then?

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