Reply #36: Somewhere along the line, "things" became the marker for middle-class living [View All]

A long time ago, "Middle Class" living was marked by:

indoor plumbing
electricity
a phone
a car

It was not long before those things became so widespread, that new markers had to appear:

family vacations
a second car
a private home
college for the kids
braces for kids' teeth

The fly in the ointment, was that wages became stagnant, and costs only rose, so EZ-Credit came along to fill the gap , and of course with all those plastic cards in wallets, NEW/exciting things became markers of "middle class":

Mc Mansions
Beemers & Mercedes
cosmetic surgery for the masses
fancy electronic gadgets
Extreme teeth-whitening


In reality, "middle class" as we came to know it, it just a myth. It's a concept.

People who have leisure time to enjoy the fruits of their labor, probably consider themselves middle class, even though their wages no longer meet their new-found needs. I know people who consider themselves Middle Class, yet they drive broken down old cars, are broke and deeply in debt.

I guess it's human nature to always want bigger-better-faster-shinier.

Probably a cave-woman, long ago say something like this" Oog, is this the best you could do? a rabbit?..OOm's woman said he brought home a moose yesterday"..

Our fixation on what "other-people-have", and what we "deserve", has us always longing for what we don't have yet, and discrediting what we do have.

We take our cues from movies , books, tv,etc. We are shown what is supposed to be middle class, and then we set out to copy it for ourselves, never bothering to figure out that it's all FICTION. It's the work of set dressers & props-masters & cinematographers.