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we know individuals can make it big in the US.
but across the board living standards are not the same according to the OECD in 2011 the US had a poverty level of 17.4 % while sweden had 9.1%
norway 7.1% , finland 7.5% and Denmark 6%.
over 40 milion americans on food stamps, a similiar number without access to medical care around 46 million i.e no insurance.

What the US calls middle class is no where near the Middle anymore, it is upper middle class elsewhere, and is a quickly shrinking number.

The US has a high per capita gdp, but most of that economic activity, most of the resources and wealth are tied up by a much smaller percentage of the population than Western Europe, forget about Scandinavia.

As I said the lower class in the United States is worse off than the lower class in Northern Europe.

But the middle class is substantially RICHER in the United States than in Northern Europe. Many college educated Americans who go to Europe are always shocked how low they get paid, there are tons of threads on reddit about this.

the question is, what is the percentage of middle class in the US?
as a percentage of the population is it higher than Western Europe or Japan?
i dont think so/

gurey25 wrote:the question is, what is the percentage of middle class in the US?
as a percentage of the population is it higher than Western Europe or Japan?
i dont think so/

Truck drivers in the US make more than people with Master's degrees in Scandinavia.

so what builders, plumbers, electricians tradies in general make about $80,000 on average some$100,000 US dollars that is in australia.
thats how much i made tax free in the UAE, maybe i should have been a plumber...

we are talking about the size of the middle class.

Bernie Sanders is right

ICYMI -

In 1952 tax revenues from individual income taxes equaled $27.9 billion or 43%. Corporate income taxes equaled $21.2 billion or 33%. Payroll taxes equaled $6.4 billion or 10%.

In 2013, tax revenues from individual income taxes equaled $1.3 trillion and went up to 50%. Corporate income taxes equaled $274 billion, down to 10%!!!! Payroll taxes equaled $948 billion- up to 36%!!

Think about that for a minute.

Now think about this:

In 2013 General Electric made $19.6 billion in profits and paid an effective tax rate of -18.9%! Yes that's right, they made $19.6 billion and they actually received tax payer money on top of it! But don't just be mad at them - there are 25 other corporations who regularly get the same treatment.

Now add this to the equation:

Worker productivity rose steadily from 1947 - 1973 to 96.7%. Wages rose with it to 92.3%. But from 1973 - 2013, productivity was up 74.4% but wages only went up 9.2%!!! No that is not a typo!

We now produce 2.5 times more goods and services per hour of labor than we did then but we are not getting paid in relation. In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60 an hour, adjusted for inflation and productivity that would be over $21 today! If median household incomes had kept pace with the economy since 1970, they would be nearly $92,000!!, not $50,000.

So even though corporate profits have soared and individual incomes have dropped, individuals are now paying more In taxes than ever before while corporations pay even less.

But this is just part of the story.

As regular American employees have been getting paid less and less (while the cost of living has only gone up and up) those at the top have been getting richer and richer as a direct result of "trickle down" policies. So while wages went up only 9.2% for the average American worker, ceo compensation has risen 937% since 1977!! In the 1950s average CEOs made 30 times that of his average employee. Today CEOs make over 500 times more!

So American workers are getting poorer and poorer even though they are working longer hours and being more productive. The cost of living continues to rise while wages stagnate. With such low wages, they cannot save enough money to help themselves should a financial emergency, like becoming unemployed, a too high hospital bill, etc. occur

Meanwhile those at the top increase their financial security in multiple ways. Those who are wealthy obtain most of their income from capital gains and dividends, which are taxed at a much lower rate than work. Right now, the top marginal income tax for working is 39.6%, but the top tax rate on corporate dividends and capital gains is only 23.9 percent and many do not pay any due to loopholes and tax havens. During WW2, the top marginal tax rate was 94%. It was 90% during Eisenhower's presidency. It was 70% at the time Reagan came in office and he cut it to 28%!!

Wealth inequality is also an artifact of income inequality; the two trends work together to magnify the former. As the bottom 90% struggle to make ends meet on stagnant incomes, they're unable to accumulate savings. "Today, the top 1% save about 35% of their income, while bottom 90% families save about zero."

In case you hadn't realized, the real parasites have been the 1% and the corporations who have sucked the life and prosperity from the 99% of hard working Americans while we didn't notice. Meanwhile they enjoy all the profits and they give very little, if anything at all, back.

It is precisely because we implemented socialist programs in this country that we developed the most successful middle class in the world. Before that we had the roaring 20s followed by the Great Depression. It is exactly what we are heading for again if we don't put some regulations in place to stop crony capitalism from continuing to destroy america.

When the uber rich don't have to pay their fair share in taxes, take all the money and have the most power over government officials we do not have democracy. Upward mobility in this country is becoming extinct! If you are not born rich there is almost no chance you will get there. Worse, as workers now Work longer hours and are more productive than workers in the 70s and 80s but earn less than they did then (when adjusted for inflation) many of us will end up in a worse situation than our parents

158 families have funded half of the money for the 2016 presidential election

gurey25 wrote:so what builders, plumbers, electricians tradies in general make about $80,000 on average some$100,000 US dollars that is in australia.
thats how much i made tax free in the UAE, maybe i should have been a plumber...

we are talking about the size of the middle class.

Australia also has better living standards, imo.

I have a cousin who has an MD degree and he makes only $60,000 here, while dumb ass electricians/plumbers/truck drivers can make $80,000 in the US & Australia. Shit is unfair.