From American Dream to American Memory

I’m worried about this so called “war on the middle class.” It doesn’t surprise me, Bush likes to wage war on any and everything: terror, Iraq, drugs, so why not the middle class? Though I don’t like making light of the word war, by using it to describe attacks on inanimate objects and ideas, I do agree that something is going on in our society, in which our middle class is slowly slipping away.

Our idea of middle class has certainly changed. Last generation, a middle class family was made and sustained on one income. Now however, it takes more work, by both adults, to sustain a similar lifestyle. I say similar because, there are several minor changes. On the outside, the families look the same. But examining more closely, we learned that this generation’s family is working longer hours, for less wages, while life expenses are invariably higher.

Sixty years after the 40 hour work week was established, middle classers are working more than 50 hours a week just to make ends meet. One of the reasons middle classers are working harder is because they are making less money. Adjusted for inflation the average male makes less then he did a generation ago. Of course this only applies to the middle class worker, the average fortune 500 CEO’s income has increased since last generation. A CEO now makes several HUNDRED times more than the average worker.

This lack of compensation for services rendered may also be the reason more women are entering the work force. While we can’t totally discount the women’s lib movement, many women are entering the work force because their families need the money. This not only has consequences for her kids, but also for the family as a whole. Since it now takes two incomes for a family to make ends meet, if one adult loses his or her job, the family can suffer drastically.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that one adult can lose their job. Unemployment rates are the highest they’ve been in nine years. The technology boom and outsourcing of jobs to lower wage countries, has left a looming fear of lay-offs among the American middle class worker. Because of technology, companies can do more work with fewer workers. Thanks to our globalized economy many hardworking Americans, are losing their jobs, and many hardworking internationals are being unfairly exploited. It’s a lose-lose for the workers and a win-win for Big Business. Millions of jobs have already been shipped overseas, and according to Forrester Research, Inc., 3.3 million more jobs will be lost by 2015.