Are We Still a Middle Class Nation, Article Review Example

State the Main Idea of the Article

The main idea of the article is the idea of middle class society in the United States. The author of the article emphasizes on three major generations of the middle class population. Farm employees characterized the first generation, while the second one by industrial workers during the 1920’s as a result of industrialization. The third generation of middle class population as described in the article is different in as there is changes in government support for necessities such as health and education. Besides, there has been an increase in immigration rates, automation and a shoot in production of secondary commodities e.g. Televisions and Personal computers, which also puts the middle class society at risk through raised costs of certain labor-intensive services crucial for a middle-class lifestyle; changing the occupational structure; and finally by increasing inequality.

List Two Facts the Author Uses to Support the Main Idea

The author supports the idea through various arguments. In the first generation of middle class populous, the author explains how the acquisition of large arable farms and its division into smaller farms assisted farmers to earn handsomely as well as those working in the field.

In the second idea of middle class category, industrialization has been accredited for generating a middle class population.

Cite Two Textbook Examples Relating to the Article and Explain Their Relationship to the Article State What Both Text and Article Say About the Issue/Point in Order to Establish Correlation).

The two supporting works that are related to the article are a book and an article in the New York Times.

Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi: The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke, who expresses that fixed costs for an American middle-class family including home-mortgage payments, health insurance, car payments, education, child care, and taxes have increased more tremendously than income over the past three decades.

Paul Krugman: The New York Times, observed that Congressional Budget Office report reveals that between 1979 to 1997 the after-tax income of the high class one percent of families rose to157 percent, and middle-income Americans gained just 10 percent, while the majority of the poor actually lost ground (Michael Lind, 2004).

Identify One Example of Author Bias (Opinion Strongly Favoring/Opposing One Side) and One Example of Author Faulty Reasoning.

The author is biased in making a strong stand that, “if middle-class income does not grow as rapidly as middle-class costs, then one option is to further subsidize the rising relative costs of labor-intensive goods and services that are necessary to a middle-class lifestyle, such as education, child care, and health care” (Michael Lind, 2004).

The author’s faulty reasoning in the article is the notion that the challenge is not repairing the current American middle class but to create a new one. This is not true because even maintaining the middle class population has been a challenge especially in the current credit global economic depression.

Define Two New Terms Found in the Article and State the Context in Which They Were Used (Some Words Have More Than One Meaning, Use Most Applicable).

The Great Compression: A term that proposed by economic historians Claudia Goldin and Robert Margo referring to the period between 1930’s and 1970s when the income inequality was greatly reduced in the United States.

Capital Wage: A proposed term in the course of the 21^st century whereby middle-class Americans might derive their income from three sources rather than two. At capital wage, most of the population is receiving their income in form of wages.

Provide Judgment (Analysis) Of, Perspective (Viewpoint) On, and Opinion (Thought) Of the Required Reading.

The article well demonstrates the main idea through comprehensive analysis of facts and concepts. The flow of ideas in the article leads to a better understanding of the articles main point .

Reference

Michael Lind, Are We Still a Middle-Class Nation? The Atlantic: New America Foundation, January 20, 2004.