This is exactly what both the left and the right are propagandizing the middle class to do: lower expectations. In some cases, it means lowering our expectation

This is exactly what both the left and the right are propagandizing the middle class to do: lower expectations. In some cases, it means lowering our expectations to below those of our parents. Think about that for a minute. Find me a corporation or an entrepreneur who thinks like this. Imagine a CEO saying this to shareholders and the board: "We didn't make our goals this quarter, and many in our industry also showed reduced sales numbers. It is clear that we need to reduce our expectations. Next quarter's numbers will be lower, and shareholders are just going to have to take a loss." He'd be out on his ass the next day. Related to this is the idiotic garbage that the working class are fed by the media: that they should hate people who make good wages and agitate to cut those other peoples' wages down to be in line with their own. Again, find me a corporation that thinks like this. Apple is currently worth more than Microsoft. Is Microsoft thinking "how can we make them make less money?!?" No. They're thinking "How can we grow? How can we make as much money as Apple is making?" Unbelievable. You realize that you're being sold into fiefdom on the feudal "lands" owned by the financial industry, right? Edit: I'm not a socialist. I'm a capitalist. Part of capitalism is negotiation. The American middle and working classes have been fed this ridiculous line of baloney that capitalism is a magical hands-free machine that will elevate their standard of living if they do nothing. It doesn't work that way, as every businessman and entrepreneur understands. You have to negotiate. You have to push. They push, and you push. Studies have shown that the ideal point in negotiation is often precisely where both parties feel a bit, but not too, unhappy. Right now the rich and corporate interests are rolling in it, happy as clams, and everyone else is suffering. That's because one side is pushing and the other side is not. So how do workers and professionals (whom I count as workers... the white/blue collar distinction is increasingly meaningless) push? The old way was unions, but that's definitely shown its age. We need some new ideas. Lowering our expectations is not a particularly productive idea. Edit 2: I also think using government to push is fair game. Why? Because the rich and corporations do it. They take corporate welfare, bailouts, special infrastructure investments, government contracts, and benefit hugely from publicly funded R&D. But they want you to refuse to use the government as a lever because... it works! So capitalists really ought to be socialists, at least for now. Only give up a lever in a negotiation if the other party on the other side of the table also gives up that lever. The rich want you to be principled libertarians while they munch at the government trough.