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Edward Mcclelland Middle Class Summary

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Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle …show more content…

The wealthy aren’t affected by this outsourcing, which is why it mattered little to them when the assembly jobs started to dissipate. McClelland was trying to demonstrate the power of capitalism through the statement that 24% of people in the United States define the American Dream as not being indebted. His boldest assertion is, “that in a system that picks winners and losers, it’s not fine to have the middle class labeled as a loser”. Therefore, this assertion stands high above the rest as it is the assertion of his thesis idea within the last few words. Without a doubt McClelland is all about the middle class and has intent on watching it rise back to power. He entailed many facts that supported the idea that the middle class shouldn’t be lost within this transition of jobs and shouldn’t be oppressed by the government’s attempt to control inflation through insufficient means. RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013 certainly got the point across, as it was mainly the author’s ideology and little of the various viewpoints that are associated with the subject matter. He could have covered more of the other side’s argument as well to further improve his own

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According to an article published the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History titled, “The Fifties”, the American middle-class grew rapidly during the 1950’s and by this time 60 percent of Americans were considered “middle-class”. Truman Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, chronicles the murder of a well-to-do middle-class family known as, the Clutter family. Capote uses the Clutter family to represent the rising middle-class in the 1950’s by showing a lifestyle that is comfortable yet modest. The middle-class consists of well-educated business workers who are neither rich nor poor.

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Paul Krugman author of the article “Confronting Inequality” stresses the inequality of our social classes in the United States, he uses statistics to demonstrate the staggering consequences of this inequality within our social classes. Krugman emphasizes the fact that a majority of our wealth is owned by about one percent of the population, which is leaving the middle and lower class at an extreme disadvantage. One example Krugman uses is education; children that have wealthy families, have a higher percentage of finishing college than those of lower income families, proving the statement that Krugman was accentuating, “Class-inherited class- usually trumps talent.” The parents within this middle to lower class have been exceed their financial

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The middle class consisted of people who worked 9 to 5 jobs, and were able to afford entertainment. Meaning that this was the first time children were able to start actually living what we consider today as childhood, now that they don’t have to work in factories (“Impact of the Great Depression on Family and Home”1). However, during the great depression many middle class workers lost their jobs or had to work more hours for less money. Robbing these children of the freedoms they were previously given. Unfortunately, many children were pulled from school so they could get jobs to help provide for the family, some were sent away to live with other relatives, and many ran away (“What Were the Effects on the Children of the Great Depression?” 1).

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Zinn claims most of the wealth belonged to the upper class, and the elite made much more improvement than the lower class. To prove his point, he uses statistics such as: “one-tenth of one percent of the families at the top received as much income as 42 percent of the families at the bottom” (Zinn 382). Moreover, to show the dreadful state of the lower class, he recounts, “every year in the 1920s, about 25,000 workers were killed on the job and 100,000 permanently disabled. Two million people in New York City lived in tenements condemned as firetraps” (Zinn 382-383). In contrast, Schweikart and Zinn claim the economic deterioration was a myth and American industry

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From here he claims that Canada is struggling economically, as the middle class is struggling. He states that Canada’s wellbeing is directly tied to the wellbeing of the middle class. As such

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The reading that caught my eye was “Who Rules America? The Corporate Community and the Upper Class” by G. William Domhoff. Domhoff wanted to argue that the upper class was not just one intertwining unit, but that the upper class also contains power by controlling economic and political decisions regarding our country. To gain better insight on his argument, Domhoff collected various types of data from reliable people on how the upper class go about their lives, and how their lives can directly and indirectly affect America. Domhoff started by talking about social class in general in America.

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Verbal irony through a sarcastic tone strengthens the central claim since many people respond well to being addressed in a more satirical, direct manner. Barbara continues discussing the Maids, “no one is going to say, after I vacuum ten rooms and still have time to scrub the kitchen floor, “Goddamn, Barb, you’re so good!”” (Ehrenreich 117). The fact that the middle-class doesn’t even understand the amount of hard work that is done addresses the subclaim of how hard life is while working minimum wage, or close to it, jobs, while still using a sarcastic tone. The audience of middle-class Americans will most likely put down this memoir feeling a call to action to change the operation of the treatment of these trapped

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During the 1920s, the lifestyle of the ordinary American citizen had drastically taken a turn in comparison to prior years. Before World War I, Americans were careful to be frugal with their money; however, a new age of consumerism resulted in rash forms of spending in rising businesses and stocks. Although, life changed once again when the stock market crashed on March 21, 1929. The distinction in living conditions between the classes was extremely vast. While thousands of the working class and non-whites lost their jobs, the members of the upper ranks of society looked down upon them, believing it wasn’t their responsibility to provide for the less fortunate.

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However, after reading it through again to evaluate all Kenworthy “facts” it seems as if he is missing a lot of sources and merely starting points without backing them up or explaining. For example, Kenworthy starts by looking at the correlation between access to opportunity and different family backgrounds. He mentions that research on this topic is minimal and that the best assessment in the United States, the panel study of income dynamics, has only been around since the late 60’s. However, right after this statement is made he goes right into telling the reader copious amounts of stats and numbers that he just stated were lacking. Kenworthy, on many accounts rambles off percentages but doesn't say where these numbers are coming from.

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America is considered to be a melting pot, which is that several different cultures meld together to create a climate that can only be known as American. Whether one walks down loud, bustling Michigan Avenue or takes a stroll down a winding country lane, both climates scream Americana, however different they may be. Literature is no exception. Although much of American literature contains similar motifs, this genre embodies diversity at its finest. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a prime example, describing the brutality of the American Dream from the point of view of those who understand its impact the greatest; the common immigrant.

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CNBC states, “the middle class was once a symbol of the American dream, but the American middle class today paints quite a different picture… between a rock and a hard place” (YouTube 2023). With inflation and the cost of living increasing, it is becoming harder for people, like the middle class, to keep up with the expenses. Furthermore, someone in the middle class years ago, would most likely be able to pay their needed expenses and have some left over. With the recent inflation, many middle classers now only have enough to pay for their needs, if they even have enough for those expenses. To put into perspective on why middle classers feel “poor”, according to a “survey in 2018 found that a third of middle income adults do not have $400 to cover an unexpected expense” (YouTube 2023).

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Once upon a time the middle class carried and molded this great nation of ours’. I wholeheartedly endorse what McClelland said when he said, “as far as I’m concerned, it’s not fine for the middle class to be one of the losers (559). The government must do everything in its power to support and stimulate the middle class before it becomes

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The Yuppie generation was a whole new breed to that of the older generations. They weren't looking to settle down and live the easy; instead, they were aiming higher than their counterparts. To succeed meant that you had to throw away the old world ideology that had governed the market and accept the insanity that was the economy; a new standard was set for business in America. Most worked longer hours a week and were often seen as stressed, narcissistic individuals who had little time to relax and lacked the ability to form meaningful relationships. However, many people at the time period were often characterized as cold, meticulous, pragmatics and elitists who cared for only themselves and their own group of “higher” society members.

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To make the matter worse between 1885 and 1900 the Supreme Court restricted the right of the government to regulate corporations by ruling that manufacturing did not fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government because it was not “commerce”(Jansson, 2005). The emergence of the middle and upper-class movement has also gradually taken shape as the industry continues to grow and impact the social life, society, and people in general. These classes were aspired to deal with the growing influence and mistreatment of the industrial system which adversely affects the poor and immigrants. Not only middle and upper class were concerned about the immoral and unjust deeds of the industrialist, but powerful political figures also shared the concern. Teddy Roosevelt expressed his concern to his successor about the alarming social condition of the poor and unregulated influence of the rich (Ehrenreich, 1985).

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