October 10, 2002

What type of person are you and what characteristics do you show if you're part of the American middleclass? For my purposes when I refer to middleclass I'm including the upper-middleclass and the lower-middleclass. I'm not including the lower or upper class. The vast majority of Americans are middleclass.

Here's a list of what I think are the characteristics of an American middleclass individual:

• You have a job or are over age 65 and retired.

• You are too busy with your personal life, which may include raising a family, to really study politics and politicians including the issues that affect you.

• You think you should vote even if you feel there's no one on the ballot worth voting for.

• You think being dishonest is fine as long as the person being dishonest is a politician.

• You pay the vast majority of the taxes.

• You pay the bills for the vast majority of services provider for the poor.

• You hold your children more accountable for their actions then you do a journalist, reporter, or politician.

• You don't care at all if a politician doesn't do what they said they would before they were elected.

• You're easily swayed by a crowd or the media, that is, you'll most likely do and think what everyone else is doing or thinking, you would never do anything that you didn't think was politically correct except behind a closed door.

• You'll be either democrat or republican even though those parties represent and support the upper class and the lower class more than they represent or support you.

• You'll die for your country and then give all the praise to the politicians and generals who were mostly sitting around by a cozy fire. I did not say that you shouldn't die for your country, what I said was if you do, you should get the praise and not someone else.

• You'll make payments to Social Security for 48 years, and if you're part of the baby boomers, you won't receive any benefits from Social Security, you accept this with little complaining.

• You'll gladly pay a CEO a billion dollars for one year's work, and not complain at all about you only making $30,000 a year.

• You'll gladly pay a professional sports player $20 million a year, and not complain at all about you only making $30,000 a year.

• You'll gladly pay a movie actor $20 million to make one movie, and not complain at all about you only making $30,000 a year.

• You'll let a few people: those involved with the media, the politicians, and the wealthy constantly speak for you on the most important issues that affect you and your family, and will feel honored if any of them listen to you for 30 seconds.

• You're not upset enough to speak up when someone calls America a racist country.

• You don't care if someone gets "low income status" because they are simply lazy even if it means you're paying for the benefits that lazy person gets from the government.

• You're extremely impressed by titles like Chief Executive Officer, and Bank President.

• You know the risks associated with borrowing too much money, but when it comes to the $6.2 trillion the government has borrowed, it's no big deal to you, the government will find a way to make its interest payments.

• Even though the government is broke, you don't care if they keep spending more and more money, you don't think it will ever affect you or your children.