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Spiderman
| | Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 - 09:19 am: | 
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Glitch-Spidey
Spidey-Glitch
08 |
Gohot
| | Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 - 10:36 am: |
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My Great Grandmother moved from the'REZ' to California in the 40's. She had a certain Pride and Grace about Her, and by todays standards was considered poor but this I remember, She was always impecably dressed, be it an imaculate apron, ironed to perfection or just things like fresh wild flowers in a vase on the porch. Sure She kept the family clean and pressed, but it ran deeper. She earned Her adoration from friends and family by Her values and morals, not by her possesions. My Father owned airplanes, boats and equiptment. Did it make us 'middel class' not really. Middel class is a station that alot of people aspire to I guess. Once when I was 17 or so, I worked for a fella that had worked up to so called 'wealth', I envied Him at the time, but I'll always remember something He said to Me. I comented how I'd like to be rich, of course, I was a kid, and He said" Rich, the more you have, the more you have to guard, and that people who made lots of money had lots of bills...... that always stood out to Me. Of course we all want the best for our family, thats as it should be, but its not nessesarilly going to make us happier. Its reaching that point where your comfortable enough to support your family. If starting tomorow there were no more 24/7 electricity provided to your house, how much would that impact your middel class life styles? Would you still be middel class? |
Ryker77
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 11:52 am: |
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"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," _________ (left blank) responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
Like others have said. Middle class is just a ploy by politicians. IMO you have poor, working class, and rich.
Poor people - earn very little or sometimes alot. Some spend very wisley and move ahead and other waste money. Some work some time and others work two jobs. Often just lacked the skills to move ahead.
Working class - pays bills on time, works all the time, But they work. Drive a truck, sit at a desk, check blood pressure, repair a car, even a lawyer who works every day.
Rich - when you can buy political power, when you can play golf three days a week, when you live in a gated guarded neigbor hood, when you know nothing about hunger or stress about a broke car.
Filthy Rich - is a whole different class. Often own two or more houses. Own the house as in paid for. Can afford to keep luxury cars at all homes. Sit on Chairty boards. Take vacations more than twice a year. Get invited to political events.. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 03:58 pm: |
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I am rich in the number of things I have left alone
Designer Drugs, Lavish vacations, Casino trips, luxury boats, extravagant houses, exotic cars, mega yachts, private aircraft, ex wives, trophy arm candy, high end escorts.
See how truly rich I am  |
Azxb9r
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 04:46 pm: |
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It's only politicians who speak of the "middle class". When it isn't election season or not a political situation, you don't hear the term. It has no meaning outside of politics.
I am going to disagree with you on this. If you look at a third world country, where there is a huge gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots", you get an idea of what middle class is. Middle class definitely is defined by income. What that income range is would vary in different regions, but you could come up with an income level that worked as a definition.
Basically it is that income range where you have enough money to live comfortably, but not enough to be frivolous. |
Macbuell
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 04:47 pm: |
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I saw a stat the other day, don't know how accurate it was, that said that only 5% of the American work force makes over $100,000. That's a pretty small percentage. In this day and age, $100,000 isn't a ton of money but putting you in a group that makes up 5% of the work force is pretty exclusive territory. I'm not sure if that is middle class or upper class but I just thought it was interesting that ONLY 5% of our work force makes more than $100K. |
Macbuell
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 04:52 pm: |
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Azxb9r, I don't think he was arguing that the middle class does not exist. He was making the point that the middle class is unrepresented in our political system. Politicians trot out the term during the elections because they know they need middle class votes. But, after the election is over, these same politicians go back to servicing the rich folks that paid $1,000 a plate at a fund raising dinner. So, the middle class is marginalized once again. That was his point, I think. |
Rick_a
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 09:23 pm: |
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Disregard my last. My wife came to me yesterday in an impassioned plea that she wanted a better life.  |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 06:34 am: |
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high end escorts.
Nothing but middle of the road hookers for you, huh?  |
Brumbear
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 07:50 am: |
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The average salary here is between 6-9 hundred a week and NJ has a high salary area. I work atabout 15 different accounts and ask the masses what they are making. The upper end guys which is about 1 in 5 make about 75K yearly and 1 in 40 make over 100K. What amazes me is the amount of UBER RICH we seem to have here OLD money and Wall St gozillion ear's I guess I still see Bentley's ,Porshe 911's high end MB and BMW's and Jag's with extreme regularity there are even a few Ferrari's rollin around Northern NJ |
Ryker77
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 11:20 am: |
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75k a year plus a spouse thats working along with smart spending after a few years - equalls RICH.
The key is smart spending. Something we have not done in decades. Of any class. |
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