We Are In A Class War

It is October 30th, 2024 and only six days away from the Presidential, General, election. For President, the candidates are Donald Trump, a 78 year old white man, and Kamala Harris, a 60 year old woman of Afro-Jamaican and Indian-American descent.

I don’t want to get into their backgrounds. You can google it. This essay isn’t about that. I have a different story I want to tell. They are relevant to the story in that the USA is currently embroiled in politics. It is impossible to not be aware of what is going on. Both sides are claiming the other is ruining America. But is that what’s really happening?

Americans are angry. They know something is wrong but they’re not sure what it is and, for the most part, the media and the politicians that they focus on and listen to are not telling them the truth. They are not telling them because they don’t want a revolt. They clearly know the power they have. They don’t want America to have its French Revolution moment. They want to keep eating their cake. But even if American has another Civil War it probably will not be about the true issue, which is poverty and the disappearing middle-class fueled by the powerful who do not want to lose their power or see demographic changes in this country.

This is a how much.net infographic from September 2024 based on Pew Research Center US Census Bureau:

Are you shocked to learn that $103,200 starts the upper class in the USA?

“Middle-income households are defined as those with an income that is two-thirds to double that of the U.S. median household income, after incomes have been adjusted for household size. Lower-income households have incomes less than two-thirds of the median, and upper-income households have incomes that are more than double the median. When using American Community Survey (ACS) data, incomes are also adjusted for cost of living in the areas in which households are located.”

Here is something else. Last year 19% of Americans were in the Upper income range. Think about that for a moment. Only 19% of Americans make more than $103,000 per year. That is bring home pay. After subtracting an average of 30% for taxes from $103,000, we’re talking $6,008 a month. Sounds like a lot to me…. Read on.

Average monthly expenses by category
– The average expenditures among all consumer units totaled $77,280 annually. That’s up 5.9% from 2022.
– Average monthly expenses for housing: Average expenses for housing totaled $25,436 annually. That works out to $2,120 per month.
– Average monthly expenses for transportation: $13,174 annually. That works out to $1,098 per month.
– Average monthly expenses for food: $9,985 annually. That works out to $832 per month.
– Average monthly expenses for personal insurance and pensions: $9,556 annually. That works out to $796 per month.
– Average monthly expenses for entertainment: $3,635 annually. That works out to $302 per month.
Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/monthly-expenses-single-person-family

That’s a total of $5,148 / month. That’s not for upper class. That’s an average for everyone. Compare that to your budget, you may have more or less in those categories – either by choice or by need.

I think about the people who are getting priced out of their mortgage or rent, I certainly cannot afford $2,100 a month. I think about people who are getting hit with astronomical insurance premiums (required if they have a mortgage). I personally know people who spend much more than $832 per month on food. Transportation includes car payment, repairs / maintenance, gasoline, and registration taxes and insurance, $1,100 per month sounds about right for a nice car.

How does someone in that lower range of “middle class” manage? They make ends meet with credit cards.

Average American Credit Card Debt

So in the USA the average monthly credit card debt varies from $7,815 to $5,313. (What’s in your wallet?)

“A consumer’s age may also influence how much debt they carry on their credit card accounts. According to the most recent Experian data from 2023, Generation X had the highest average credit card balance of $9,123. The generation with the lowest average credit card balance was Generation Z at $3,262.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/average-credit-card-debt/

So that’s debt, what about savings? What savings?!

Survey: 69% Of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 In Savings Infographic

“A new survey suggests that nearly 7 in 10 Americans have only $1,000 or less in their savings accounts. GoBanking asked 7,000 people around the country how much money they had set aside in savings accounts for the future, and found that 34 percent of them have absolutely nothing set aside.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/09/23/survey-69-of-americans-have-less-than-1000-in-savings-infographic/

If nearly 70% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings then that means they can barely survive a month if they lose their job, their fixed income, they have a weather related catastrophe, or they’re ripped off by a company / corporation. Don’t tell me the latter doesn’t happen, I just went through TWO episodes of extremely unethical business behavior; one by a large insurance company, and the other a large moving company, both amounting to thousands of dollars. It happens every day.

Let’s go back to that top 20%.

How is Wealth Divided in the USA?

Or, here is another view:


Source article: https://usafacts.org/articles/how-this-chart-explains-americans-wealth-across-income-levels/

Compare the top 20% to the combined bottom 40%. What that graphic doesn’t tell you is the number of people that represents.

• As of the 2020 census there are 258 million Americans who are adults (aged 18 and older).
• Approximately 14.8 million adult Americans earn more than $103,000 per year.
• Approximately 38.2 million adult Americans earn more than $34,400 but less than $103,000.
• I calculate that means 205 million Americans earn less than $34,400.
• But according to my A.I. Copilot: Approximately 78.3 million adult Americans earn less than $34,400 per year.
  I cannot account for the difference in my calculation of 205 million and Copilot’s info of 78.3 million. Are they homeless, completely impoverished? I have spent way too much time on all this already but if anyone can break it down in the comments – Thank you.

So, by the least measure, 116,500,000 American adults, 80% of adult Americans, earn less than $103,000 per year. Now look at that last graph again. Damn. That top 14.8 million earn that huge, vast, amount primarily off the hard work of the rest. Where’s the trickle down?!

Meanwhile, now that we can see what’s what with American adults, let me ask you this. Do you think that members of congress represent that 80%, middle and lower class interests?

“Congress is an exclusive club. It’s also a wealthy one.
More than half of those in Congress are millionaires, data from lawmakers’ most recent personal financial disclosures shows. The median net worth of members of Congress who filed disclosures last year is just over $1 million.”
Source: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/04/majority-of-lawmakers-millionaires/

This is an upper class club. I could not find a single member who has a net worth in the middle class (I spent about 30 minutes searching). So these folks, imho, have no idea what life is like for someone who earns less than $103,000 per year, let alone $34,000 or less per year. Even if the congress member started out life in the middle class, I’m guessing they have forgotten what the daily struggles of life with lower income, higher costs, large debt, and no savings can be like. So, then, I ask again, do you think any of them truly represent your interests (assuming you’re not in that upper, upper class)?
Well, take a moment to watch this six minute YouTube video and see how many bills that Americans want, actually pass:

TL:DW Summary: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near zero, statistically non significant, impact upon public policy.”
This video is 9 years old but that’s the year before Trump was elected. There has been no improvement since then. No anti-lobby laws. No anti-revolving door laws. Has lawmaker stock trading been banned, yet? Meanwhile, we know that money buys access to Trump because he’s right out in the open with it. He’s said it. We’re seeing it.

It’s the Special Interests (aka Monied) that is more likely to get what they want. Money doesn’t just get what it wants from our politicians, it gets what it wants from us, too. Americans are bombarded day in and day out by the billionaire-media complex. You can pretty well tell where people get their “news” or how they are influenced by how they talk. By what they have to say.

John D. Rockefeller, who founded the General Education Board, once said “I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers“

I believe a vast majority of Americans don’t do a whole lot of critical thinking based on their own research. They regurgitate what they have been told by their favorite media; be it an influencer on YouTube or TicTok, or by “news” organizations. It’s just so much easier that way. And who wants to fall out of synch with friends and family? So, we let ourselves get all stoked up by what we’re being programmed by. Riled up about Trump ending Democracy (he does certainly challenge it!) or low IQ Kamala b-jobbing her way to the top (not buying it). Not only that, all these issues are amplified by external interests; i.e. Russia, China, North Korea, etc.

And here’s another point I’d like to make. Middle class Americans often complain about corporate greed. About them not paying workers fairly, yadda yadda. I do. But how many middle class folks have 401Ks, pensions, stock, etc? I do. Corporations are required to make profits (Ford -v- Dodge). Shareholders, pension plans, etc are profiting on that corporate greed I’m complaining about. We all have a roll in this mess.

So, yeah, Americans are angry. The middle class is disappearing. In day-to-day life it is harder and harder to thrive, particularly in the manner to which we believe we are entitled; the manner our grandparents or parents experienced.

From Tucker (loathed) to Bernie (loved), we have been told about this class warfare but we do not listen. There is too much bombardment from the top by those who don’t want us to know what’s really going on; that we are in a class war not really a Democrat -v- Republican or Liberal -v- Conservative or Right -v- Left war. If we’re fighting with each other it’s because we’ve been manipulated into doing so. Something that Don does gleefully. He loves to watch us fight. And most billionaires don’t really have an allegiance to a country. They come and go and invest based on what’s best for their interests. We’re the ones stuck here in the USA. Are we the only ones that can fix it? I don’t know but here are a few suggestions:
– Vote – and be informed, too. Check voting records. Check results. Check backgrounds.
– Get more involved in politics. Volunteer. Run for office. Learn how it all works.
– Work at having civil conversations with each other, especially those you don’t agree with, to find out where they’re coming from. Search for common ground.
– Tune out of social media as your sole source of information and turn on your critical thinking.

More suggestions welcomed in the comments.