Love the term "middle class". What does it really mean when your neighbor is starving? I used to think I was middle class. I went to college and got a bachelors. Work hard for years in my profession, became fairly good at it, but never broke fifty grand a year.
I've have since changed careers and fifty is behind me, but one hundred thousand is still down the street around the corner. Am I middle class? I live in an apartment in a safe neighborhood. Am I middle class? I hear a homeless woman in the stairwell (it's 1AM). Can't be middle class if a homeless woman can sleep in your stairwell.
My conclusion is that the middle class are the politicians. They are between us and the wealthy that fund them. They are that class in the middle. Which explains why they legislate in a way that benefits them and their major contributors, the upper class.
The homeless lady in the stairwell has removed all illusion of my middle class status; degree, certifications and professional experience notwithstanding. If I am bereft of work for a certain period, I could be bunking in a hallway, with my degree. My politics embrace this fact. I am not middle class. I am working class, neighbor to the poor.
photo caption: bread aisle in Safeway grocery store during hurricane Sandy days. Taken with my iPhone 4S, Hipstamatic app (Helga Viking lens, Blanko Freedom13 film)