Myths And the Middle Class

Almost all Americans see themselves as "middle class." To declare yourself middle class is to say you've succeeded without openly bragging that you're superior -- a no-no in a democratic culture. You're like everyone else, only a little more or less so.

Not surprisingly, a recent poll done for the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, finds that only 2 percent of Americans put themselves in the "upper class" and a mere 8 percent consider themselves "lower class." The large majority classify themselves as "upper-middle class" (17 percent) or "middle class" (45 percent). The rest (27 percent) see themselves as "working class," a stepping stone to the middle class.

Because the "middle class" isn't really the middle -- it's a huge blob -- describing how "it" feels and thinks is usually an act of simplification, exaggeration or invention. Yet that's routine because politicians and commentators want to show that they grasp the hopes and fears of everyday Americans.

The middle class today is said to be angry and anxious. It's worried about jobs, health insurance and retirement income. The EPI poll explores these discontents. Up to a point, it confirms conventional wisdom. One question asked respondents to agree with one of the following statements:

Most people today face increasing uncertainty about employment, with stagnant incomes, paying more for health care, taxes, and retirement, while those at the top have booming incomes and lower taxes.

Or:

Our economy faces ups and downs, but most people can expect to better themselves, see rising incomes, find good jobs and provide economic security for their families.

By an overwhelming 61 to 34 percent, respondents preferred the first statement. They didn't like oil companies (66 to 13 percent), drug companies (49 to 25 percent) and corporate CEOs (35 to 18 percent). One interesting exception to the anti-big-business sentiment was Wal-Mart, whose favorable rating (45 to 29 percent) almost equaled Social Security's (48 to 24 percent). Globalization wasn't especially popular either; by 59 to 32 percent, respondents favored more limits on imports.

So the middle class is furious, as portrayed. Well, not exactly. What's striking is the huge gap between people's views about "the economy" -- an abstraction -- and their own personal situations:

· Although only 32 percent rate the overall economy as "excellent" or "good," 52 percent judge their personal situation as excellent or good (35 percent said "fair" and 13 percent "poor").