Still alive and Kicking

I have not posted in a long time, almost 3 years. It would be great if I had an excuse, but I do not. The sad truth is that I just got lazy and got a job which takes up much of my time. Oh, we had some drama in the last 3 years as well. My wife was diagnosed with cancer in August 2010  and is now happily cancer free. The treatments were exhausting for her, but ultimately successful.  She has tested cancer free the last two times she had a PET scan. So of course that focused me on  her well-being and keeping the job that provided the insurance that saved her life.

That’s one of plights of the middle class I guess. You have to stay with a job to keep insurance and that insurance can be critical to your family’s survival. Now both of us are back at work. Still, she cannot be insured with another company, so I will stay with my current employer as long as they will have me. Both of us are grateful for being employed in this market. It’s not easy for those of us who are age 60 and older to find work these days. The current political dialogue is laughable. The right seems to want to demonize the poor and unemployed as if people enjoy poverty and unemployment. The left seems to have reached the height of ineffectuallity  ( I know, it’s not a real word, but seriously doesn’t it work for the Dems} . The current president and his administration have been a great disappointment to the working class and I don’t see it getting any better.

Should the republicans take the white house they will continue to dismantle the federal government. They are the authors of a self-fulfilling prophecy. By gaining government positions both elected and appointed it appears they will continue the policies effected by the Bush administration to undermine the effectiveness of the federal bureaucracy. (Like it needed any help with that, really!)

Should our current president prevail he will continue to roll over for the opposition at every opportunity. My cynical side thinks this is by intent. Both parties are controlled by monied interests and not willing or able to work on behalf of regular citizens. It has left me speechless at the utter cluelessness of the media and their so-called pundits. No one seems to be on our side.

So that’s another reason I’ve been silent for so long.

Is there anyone out there with any good suggestions on help for  the middle class. It feels like we’re going the way of the dinosaurs.

What do you think?

RT

Middletown America – Muncie, Indiana

From the Washington Post

Thanks to the blog Eschaton, I found this article about the middle class in Muncie. The town was picked for a study or at least labeled Middletown America way back when. Read the article and decide for yourself it resembles your idea of a middle class town.

The article starts this way:

“As far as I’m concerned, the Republicans have turned things to [expletive],” he says. “I’m working two jobs now just so I can put gas in my van.”  read more

The Middle Class American

What has happened to the Middle Class in America

The genesis of this blog is the state of our current culture, economy, and political environment that has lent itself to the weakening of the once proud, productive and prevalent middle class (now really lower middle and upper working class) in America. As one of a dying breed I shall attempt to investigate our plight, report on events that effect us and comment on what I think the actions of government and corporate entities and officials mean to our welfare.

If you are sick of software commercials, crap TV, a bizillion types of worthless insurance, wasteful war, incompetent government management of our tax dollars, corporate greed, Madison Avenue’s influence on everything, Intellectualizing the abandonment of our culture and middle class and the rest of the riduculous things we see daily in our country; you will be happy here.

I intend to be true to my blue collar roots, my 60s experience in Viet Nam and back home here in the US, my experience as a Husband, Father and Grandfather, as well as my many years spent in the trades as a blue-collar worker. As I aged I switched to sales and marketing within my field of construction and building accessories. My heart is still with the very essential and very under valued people who pick up our garbage, fix our plumbing, build our houses, take our money as cashiers at the grocery store, and all the other men and women of the now defined upper working and lower middle class America.

I do not believe that a college education should be a prerequisite for decent employment, nor do I believe that we should turn a blind eye to the part played by greedy companies and undocumented workers who have effectively reduced the job market for high school grads by millions. It does seem evident that we need to do something quite different than we have been doing since 1979 if we are to change the decline in middle class buying power, leisure time, and political influence.

A great mind once said “If we abandon our manufacturing base in the US we will eventually be selling  each other Insurance or working jobs in the service industry.” It seems to me that we are deep into living that prediction now.

I don’t have all or perhaps any of the answers, yet I know it is essential that we understand the question before we can address solutions.

Therefore the Question is: What has happened to the Middle Class In America?

The mission of this blog will be to uncover the state of the American Middle Class, investigate how we got where we are and offer any and all solutions to the issues and problems uncovered. Join me if you will; your participation and input are both important and appreciated.

The Middle Class American