🤑 Stop Calling it 'The Middle Class'

There's no middle anymore

📡 On my Radar

Calling it the “middle class” or “upper middle class” makes it seem like folks in this category are equivalent in scope and power to uber wealthy.

The "middle class" now makes up less than half the population, down from 61% in 1971. Meanwhile, the top 5% control three-fourths of all wealth and drive half of all consumer spending.

Trump's chaotic tariff war is making this worse. His administration slapped tariffs on everything from cars to clothing, acting like a massive tax hike on working families. The average household now pays $3,800 more per year for the same stuff … a 10-15% change in their spending. That same number is a .04% change in the spending of a top 5-percenter.

This matters for democracy in ways we're just starting to understand.

When campaigns cost millions and most people are financially tapped out, who do you think funds our elections? When the "middle class" can barely afford groceries, how are they supposed to compete with billionaire donors?

Tax wealth,…