The Middle Class, Essay Example

Within the United States, there has constantly been a debate over whether there exists a clearly defined separation of classes between the citizens.  Oftentimes, the classes are separated by three categories.  The two easily noticeable categories are the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” or the rich and the impoverished.  These groups are easy to point out and define.  However, most of the country does not exist within the confines of these two specific groups.  The majority of people are considered to be the workers and the average man or woman – the middle class.

The middle class is clearly the most forgotten sect of American culture.  This class is usually self-sustainable and neither has too much or too little to draw much attention to politicians or financial institutions.  These individuals are almost always the last individuals to be brought up in a political discussion, and most laws are not designed to directly impact the middle class.  For instance, most of the laws seek to provide welfare, financial assistance and legislative controls to the underprivileged within society.  In most cases, tax relief legislation, financial bail outs or increased taxation are provided to the rich population in order to spread the wealth evenly to those individuals within the country that do not have the means necessary to live a quality life (Baird 20).  These laws are designed to help the two noticeable sections of citizens because they stand out the most.  Even though the Middle Class makes up the greatest population group in the entire country, the United States government focuses most of its efforts toward the rich and the poor.

Within the area of economics, however, the middle class is by far the most important group.  The middle class determines the success or failure of a product in the market and can directly decide the fate of any company.  This is the benefit of the middle class having the greatest spending power of any of the three major classes.  For instance, one article argued that “They have also been the engines of economic growth, setting the stage centuries ago for the expansion of capitalism and global trade, and continuing to snap up every new gadget or service in sight” (Foroohar 42).  The middle class has the spending power to effectively stimulate growth or destroy the advancement of any economy, especially capitalism.  For this reason, companies attempt to market to a broader audience without discriminating against any of the middle class.  The middle class is not defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age or sex; rather, it is defined in economic terms based on fiscal earnings and spending potential.  Therefore, any company with the goal of earning a profit must market their merchandise, services or products to the entire middle class.

In addition to spending power, the large population of the middle class effectively makes up the largest population of the legislative electorate.  In other words, politicians need the votes of the middle class to win elections and place politicians into office.  Without these votes, parties cannot implement a specific policy and the legislative process is skewed towards the rich or the poor.  Poll results have indicated that the Middle Class is not pleased with the politics and policies of President Obama; therefore, the president has decided to implement new strategies to touch on the topics that directly relate to the middle class.  “The new plans, touching on college savings, retirement, and child care, will cost a few billion dollars a year, mere drops in the bucket of the federal government’s $3.5 trillion budget” (Maggs 3).  This shows a combination of everything that has been discussed previously.  The middle class has strong voting power, which has forced the president to take action to appease them for a chance at becoming re-elected.  Furthermore, the economic markets are influenced by the middle class and these individuals’ abilities to save money, get an education and provide for their children and families.  These are the cornerstone values of the middle class and the American people; therefore, the middle class must not be the forgotten masses but most economic and legislative efforts must be made with these individuals in mind.

References

Baird, Julia. “Voice of the Middle Class.” Newsweek 155.12 (2010): 20. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

Foroohar, Rana, et al. “the other middle class.” Newsweek 155.11 (2010): 42-44. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

Maggs, John. “How Obama Lost (And Found) The Middle Class.” National Journal (2010): 3. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

“the new middle class and education.” Policy 26.1 (2010): 45-52. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.

Winkelmann, Liliana, and Rainer Winkelmann. “Does Inequality Harm the Middle Class?.” Kyklos 63.2 (2010): 301-316. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.