Read “Who Counts as Middle Class? Depends on Who You Ask,” a CBS News story from October 28, 2017. How does the story resonate with your own sense of what it means to be middle class in the United States? How might Diana Kendall’s discussion of middle-class identity be relevant to the CBS News story?
February 17, 2019 at 8:28 pm
This article reminds me of how the middle class – often – is victimized as Kindal discusses media depictions of the middle class in her book. The article, as the case with many of the work we read online, is discussing taxation on the middle class that seems to hold the tax responsibility of the nation. As we discussed in class, the middle class is a vague, loose term that includes a wide spectrum of households and lifestyles. But such media depictions is what makes me think that taxation is the most defining theme of the middle class if I had to bet on a definition. Not the media alone, but also politicians, reinforces such ideas we have of the middle class.
February 17, 2019 at 5:11 pm
After reading both CBS News story and Diana Kendall’s work it is apparent how difficult it is to identify a middle class. I think what is hard about identify a middle class is that everyone has a different definition. I strongly believe that this definition is affected by where you grow up and your socioeconomic background. What is difficult about the middle class is that there can be a wide range of financial status with some people more in the upper middle class while others could be border line low income. I think when looking at tax cuts, politicians have to keep in mind the range of incomes people make in the middle class. While people in the middle may all share the same values as Kendall discussed such as providing for their families, saving for the future, being successful, and owning a house, they may not all have the same income and/or access to finances. I think instead of people being hung up about what income level should be classified as the middle class, politicians should more take into account incomes and create smaller quintiles when deciding on tax cuts to make benefits for people more evenly distributed.