I wrote a diary the other day saying I do not envy the 1%. They assume I am jealous of them and want their money, but in reality, I am not some zombie Karl Marx, rising up today on Halloween to redistribute their income, and devour their brains. Seriously, where would I ever find brains among the right wing country club set?
All I really want is a fair shake. I just want that anyone-can-make-in-America chance I was promised when I bought into the American Dream. Unlike many 1 Percenters on Wall Street, I also want to keep my integrity. I am not willing to do anything for a buck. Money is not all that defines me.
But, there seems to be some confusion about who the top 1% really are. Some people seem to refer to other people (or themselves) as 1 Percenters, when they really are just upper middle class. For now, we can loosely define upper middle class as household incomes of about $200,000. However, there are a number of things that are unclear or misleading about what income level or class the 1% falls into.
So, join me beyond the great orange pumpkin, my friends, and I will elucidate further...
1. There is NO commonly agreed upon definition of terms like "middle class."
2. Class is something that people usually self-report, rather than something that is assigned to you.
3. People typically assume income is the prime determinant of class, but it generally is not. It is usually occupation. So, a plumber, for example, will typically consider herself to be working class, or blue collar. A professor will often be considered a middle class or even an upper middle class white collar professional, even if he actually makes less income than the plumber.
There are many other factors, as well, that enter into the discussion of class, but these are just a few things to bear in mind when considering who the 1% are. First of all, household income is a confusing standard because it makes it hard to compare individuals and couples. The following chart helps explain this:
15.8% of US households make $100,000 per year or more, combined. However, only 5.6% of individuals make $100,000 on their own. The individual making $100,000 is probably upper middle class, while the couple making the same $100,000 is probably not.
There is also the question of net assets. The CPA making $85,000 and having net assets of $400,000 is probably upper middle class, even though she may not have passed the magic six figure income threshold.
What are you after the next magic threshold of say $200,000? Upper class? Lower Upper? According to some models, you are just in upper middle class limbo until you reach another threshold of about $500,000. At that point, you might be reaching the lower limits of the upper class.
But, what about the 1%? Where do they fit in this income/class discussion?
According to the great wisdom of CNN Money--my fingers threw up a little while I was typing that--the lower bound for the top 1% in 2009 was $343,927. However, the average income for the top 1% was $960,000 per year. So, certain well paid upper middle class people may be nipping at the edges of 1 Percenter status, but they are the poor cousins. On average, 1 Percenters are still a million-dollar-a-year-club.
By the way, most Americans have no idea where they fit in terms of class. Polls show that over 90% of Americans think they are middle class. Looking further into the data reveals some interesting and perhaps alarming facts:
An April 2007 poll by CBS News found that of 994 adults surveyed only 2 percent said they were "upper class," and 7 percent said they were "lower class." In another poll, taken by Gallup/USA Today in May 2006, 1 percent said they were "upper class," and 6 percent said they were "lower class." Interestingly, since 12.3 percent of Americans were living below the official federal poverty level in 2006, these poll findings suggest many who are officially poor still consider themselves to be "middle class" or "working class."
We have been taught to believe in equality, and opportunity, and all that good stuff. So, maybe class does not really matter, right? Wrong. Class matters. We are now at a point where many people do not even recognize how poor they really are. They delude themselves into thinking that being middle class is part of their American birthright, when in fact, they are the new working poor.
The rich 1 Percenters know class matters, and yes, class warfare does exist--it is just that it is them conducting the class warfare against the rest of us--and they are winning!