That's clearly true, but the following statement: And this is why many of the poor stay poor, and many in the middle class stay middle class. ...does not foll

That's clearly true, but the following statement: And this is why many of the poor stay poor, and many in the middle class stay middle class. ...does not follow. The outlook for a typical working-class family living paycheck-to-paycheck isn't going to be materially improved by better purchasing options (because they don't have a lot of money with which to purchase things in the first place). As a sort of reductio proof, imagine I gave you $500 to live on for an entire year. What good would better purchasing options do you? If you're merely trying to say that you'd be better off with more money, well, yes. But better purchasing options aren't going to move you into the middle class.