[Peace-discuss] Middle class vs. poor?

[illyes at uiuc.edu]

I think that the middle class and the poor have the same interests, John. These folks must all work to eat and house their families, which makes them quite different from the ultra-wealthy, who can do nothing if they wish and still live off the fat of the land.

I agree with de Tocqueville that democracy is only workable with a large middle class, so it is in the interest of our republic that the poor be moved into the middle class when this is possible. What we have seen since Reagan is a trend in the opposite direction, with the poor becoming poorer and the middle class often becoming poor. I am not a socialist, but do think that both democracy and liberty are threatened profoundly by the sort of concentration of wealth in progress. The top 1% in income collect approximately a fourth of total income in the country. The top 10% approximately half. This is preposterous and dangerous. Equity of any sort seems to be out the window.

Bob