Post by Todd Michel McCombI get that you don't care about it, but you seem to think the
middle class is responsible for the poverty of the working poor
and unemployed, if indeed those are the "others" you're talking
about.
This is a complicated question. Many people who identify as "middle
class" -- many people, period -- are just doing their best in a
complicated world, and wish everyone well. I get that. However,
when we're talking about *class identification* and you specifically
raised a class identification, then it's constructed to exclude
people. (As far as the "others" I'm talking about, that would be
absolutely anyone, not just those two categories.)
If "middle class" can mean "absolutely anyone" to you, then say
that, but the context of this thread, my remark on the bifurcation
of food options, does not suggest that to me.
Originally, when you wrote, "Food continues to divide further into the
two categories of expensive & crap, with vanishing options otherwise,"
I was was struck by how similar your language is to descriptions of
changes in the distribution of wealth.
That's the context of my comment: a parallel between meat that's
neither crappy nor expensive, and a standard of living that's neither
crappy nor expensive.
We could go back and forth forever about what constitutes mid-range
meat and a middle-class living standard. To me, decent meat is meat
that doesn't make the eater sick. It doesn't have to be Wagyu beef, or
heritage pork, or tenderloin. And a middle-class society is a society
in which ordinary citizens have a reasonable assurance of maintaining
a decent life as long as they work hard and play by the rules.
Your point was that mid-range meat is disappearing. My point, which I
probably shouldn't have made in this forum, is that the middle class
-- people not on food stamps but also not millionaires -- is also
shrinking.
I don't view a desire for uncontaminated meat as a desire for any kind
of privilege, and I don't view a desire for a decent standard of
living as a desire for privilege.
Post by Todd Michel McCombDo you think poor people don't aspire to the very same "privilege" --
namely a decent standard of living -- that the middle class used to
have?
Many poor people would love to be "middle class," and even would love
to be able to look down on other people, since of course that's not
something they've been able to do.
Many people who have not had privileges would like to have privileges,
likewise. If that's universal, fine, but if it continues to be
constructed in opposition, then I'm opposed to that. (If everyone
has privilege, it wouldn't be called that anymore.)
And many self-described middle class people do enjoy looking down on
others.
You'll notice exactly where I turned in my post which questioned the
middle class: I asserted a desire for quality & affordable food for
everyone. I see absolutely no benefit in constructing that project
around a subset of people, even if others are theoretically able to
add to that group as supplement.