Is middle class America really disappearing? I strongly disagree with this now famous statement and ridiculous idea. Think. The people of middle class America are here to stay. They are the keepers of community; the back bone of American culture; the builders of a better tomorrow upholding a way of life here that is the best in the world today. Sorry, no names mentioned but there is not space station in the sky that middle class America is being transported to.
But if you look at the mindset of middle class America, a very significant paradigm shift is needed if they can preserve this now famous title of "middle class." Maybe the soothsayers could more accurately announce that 90% of middle class Americans are 6 digits in debt to live the all American dream lifestyle.
Middle class America constitutes most of society. They are judged by the material side of the all American Dream lifestyle, i.e. two homes, two cars etc. But their real gift and contribution to this planet is the model of a successful community, which they have allowed themselves to develop and maintain through many years of service and practice.
From the outside looking in, middle class America has the lifestyle every human on earth wants to experience in their lifetime. Driving a car, a good education, opportunities to specialize in fields of engineering, science, master every form of art while enjoying all the entertainment in the budding world of technology. All this in a community-based often a multi-cultural setting, can you paint a better picture than that?
From the inside looking out, to say that the people who make up this class needs a better financial education would be an understatement.
Saving and investing money needs to replace borrowing and spending money. That commitment to change might require small sacrifices in comfort and lifestyle. I realized this when I recently had $15,000 to either save or spend. However, in order to maintain my middle class existence I spent it, quite quickly I may ad.
Ask yourself this; if you could maintain your meaningful life work in your community would you want to leave this world with a million dollars saved up or be a million dollar debt? Did you know that if our mindset included saving money, we could all pay ourselves an extra $500 per month and in 30 years we would have a million dollars saved up because of the compound interest. Life is not always written in stone. It can be taken from us unexpectedly. Ask yourself what you are leaving behind?
Think about what could happen if middleclass America had the right mindset and saved and invested money over spending and borrowing. Poverty would be eliminated because the money and these same values would be passed down to future generations. Let's face it, paying ourselves $500.00 would make sense if we made saving our first priorities. If we collectively agreed to live by this rule, we would make the changes and put the steps into place to make this happen.
So who is middle class America and why do we keep hearing that they are disappearing. I love to describe middle class America. At an airport, basically they are the engineers that design the planes, the mechanics who maintain their function, the pilots who fly them, the janitors who keep the airport clean, the attendants at the gates,parking lots and ticket booths and the tourist agents that we visit before we plan out trips.
How about at the hospital? Middle call Americans are the people who took the time and made the commitment to get the education to build the X-ray machines, to design the hospital, to build it, the technicians who run the machines, the factory workers who help produce them, the hospital administration and last but not least, the surgeons, doctors and nurses who help the people who are in need. Sorry if I left out other important people like the ambulance drivers and all their counter parts.
My life was saved by this core group in the community. I could go on for every significant meaningful service occupation in our community that maintains the best quality of life here on this planet. From fire fighters to the business community, middle class America has set a high standard for community living, a model for success that has never before been seen or experienced in human history.
Did you know that 70% of the world's population lives in some form of poverty? Ad education, like we are blessed with today in America, is their ticket out of this miserable existence. I know because I run a Charity and have watched and listened to deserving but poverty stricken youth either disappear or become all they are capable of being when given the opportunity for an education.
An education means we are free to gain knowledge and build the skills needed in so many areas of our lives today. This gift of freedom has a responsibility for us to use our knowledge wisely. And being humans we also use it to sustain and maintain the quality of life called middle class America. The middle class American mindset is all about caring for the quality of relationships with our natural world and the ones we have come to rely on as humans socially, economically, politically and religiously.
In my mind valuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge is truly using our God-Given resources. Life is so amazing here on this planet and we have the brain capacity and power to acknowledge and contribute tour relationships involved with every process of life here in some way.
Is middle class America disappearing...NO. We wouldn't have a life here without them. Are most middleclass Americans in debt to be living out a lifestyle based on modern conveniences and comfort...yes.
Is there a way we can shift our mindset as a culture to saving and investing rather than borrowing and spending...Frankly, I don't think it's a choice. The alternative is to see our amazing quality of life here disappear along with the middle class system's unique character and distinction.
Acknowledging this weakness and working towards educating ourselves is our responsibility. If middle class America side-steps this, something will disappear. It won't be the people whose unique roots are now well established in the pursuit of knowledge and freedom. Our standard of living will simply will change for the worse.
This article is written by Monica Odenwald, Independent Representative for Fortune High Tech Marketing on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia http://www.monicaodenwald.com
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