6 ms·

You should be asking if the ruling class wants the middle class to exist. What is in it for them?

harshalizee 3y ago
If you're in the ruling class and even remotely intelligent, you'd realize a decently sized middle class is absolutely essential to their own prosperity. Throughout history, when too many people get pushed lower in the social/economic strata is a great way to ignite a rebellion. The masses have nothing left to lose at that point.
- mixmastamyk 3y ago
  More to the point, you need folks to be able to buy your products.
- 3seashells 3y ago
  The middle class was a historic accident brought about by the lessons learned from ww2 and the fear of socialism by the ruling class. They want another gilded age..
- kelipso 3y ago
  You need people literally going hungry and starving to death for something like that to happen, which is pretty unlikely.
  - calamari4065 3y ago
    It really isn't. In the US we have almost no social safety net. We're cutting back on food assistance budgets, cutting back homeless aid, cutting back medical aid. If you become homeless, suddenly you have next to no chance of finding a job again, and no help from the government. Cost of living is spiraling out of control while wages stagnate. People ate already having trouble affording the basic necessities. We are precariously close to having a starving peasant class.
    - trogdor 3y ago
      >wages stagnate Median real wages in the United States have gone up over the last year. Same thing over the last five years and the last ten years. Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
      - SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
        Has it gone up 50% over 3 years?
- kderbyma 3y ago
  100% - Without mobility.... desperate choices become the only choices.
trealira 3y ago
It's not a conspiracy of the ruling class that housing has gotten more expensive. It's due to regulatory restrictions on housing and new homeowners being able to afford high prices through locked in low interest mortgages. The regulations are there because NIMBYs are against building, and homeowners want their property value to rise over the course of their lifetimes to fund their retirement.
- supportengineer 3y ago
  Regulatory restrictions - who controls those? The ruling class.

If you're in the ruling class and even remotely intelligent, you'd realize a decently sized middle class is absolutely essential to their own prosperity. Throughout history, when too many people get pushed lower in the social/economic strata is a great way to ignite a rebellion. The masses have nothing left to lose at that point.

mixmastamyk 3y ago
More to the point, you need folks to be able to buy your products.
3seashells 3y ago
The middle class was a historic accident brought about by the lessons learned from ww2 and the fear of socialism by the ruling class. They want another gilded age..
kelipso 3y ago
You need people literally going hungry and starving to death for something like that to happen, which is pretty unlikely.
- calamari4065 3y ago
  It really isn't. In the US we have almost no social safety net. We're cutting back on food assistance budgets, cutting back homeless aid, cutting back medical aid. If you become homeless, suddenly you have next to no chance of finding a job again, and no help from the government. Cost of living is spiraling out of control while wages stagnate. People ate already having trouble affording the basic necessities. We are precariously close to having a starving peasant class.
  - trogdor 3y ago
    >wages stagnate Median real wages in the United States have gone up over the last year. Same thing over the last five years and the last ten years. Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
    - SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
      Has it gone up 50% over 3 years?
kderbyma 3y ago
100% - Without mobility.... desperate choices become the only choices.

trealira 3y ago

It's not a conspiracy of the ruling class that housing has gotten more expensive. It's due to regulatory restrictions on housing and new homeowners being able to afford high prices through locked in low interest mortgages. The regulations are there because NIMBYs are against building, and homeowners want their property value to rise over the course of their lifetimes to fund their retirement.

supportengineer 3y ago
Regulatory restrictions - who controls those? The ruling class.