What Happened to the Middle Class?

I read two interesting articles recently.

First the good news: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is finally investigating employers who deliberately exclude unemployed persons from hiring decisions. Here it is: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110217/ts_yblog_thelookout/help-wanted-jobless-need-not-apply

I say it’s about time the government looked into this odious and illegal practice.

Now, the not-so-good news: The middle class in the United States is falling further and further behind economically while the rich get richer. http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/16/news/economy/middle_class/. So much for the “trickle down” theory.

There are many reasons for this. First is the decline of unions. Without strong unions, workers have fewer shields against abuse by employers and wages have stagnated as a result. And how many companies offer pensions these days?

I also contend that the absence of unions is also an issue when it comes to layoffs. Unions offered a measure of protection against employers summarily dismissing workers without reason or warning. Favoritism was less of a factor. Now, corporate overlords just cut anyone they want in order to boost profits, protect their own power bases and save their handpicked lapdogs. Workers have little redress.

In this recession, very few CEOs lost their jobs. It was the middle-level workers and below who got canned. It will take years for them to recover lost wages. Not wonder so many homes have gone into foreclosure.

We can debate the usefulness of unions. Did they get too greedy? But without them, the middle class has suffered.

I'm not going on a socialist rant here. But it seems to me that the best promise of capitalism—that anyone who works hard can achieve the good life—is giving way to a rigid class structure of rich getting richer and middle class and below getting poorer. The opportunity to move up the economic ladder is dwindling.

Global competition also plays a part. Corporations now seek to send manufacturing jobs offshore at cheaper wages, thereby cutting off what was once a path to middle class prosperity for many with only a high school education.

Now, only the most highly trained and skilled can get good paying jobs in finance and technology. So it’s not enough to simply go to college, you have to go to the right college and have the right degree. And that takes a lot of money, which ensures the rich will stay that way.

This situation is sure to cause tension between the rich and the middle class. Guess who will win?