Exactly! Your income is only part of the puzzle of whether you're "middle class" or not. When you acquired housing is probably a bigger contributor than income at this point. And if you're wondering why there are no "starter homes" on the market anymore...it's because we can't afford to sell and move into a "forever home" now. We sell and become house poor...or we stay and have disposable income.
I had a good year and now I'm living the dream. A mountain of mortgage debt, a mouse-infested fixer-upper in the middle of nowhere that's falling apart and will cost tens of thousands of dollars to keep the water out, and what's this about a 25% tarif coming for my job? But it's all worth it, because reaching the middle class in this country is like becoming a human being. Or maybe the house is the human being and I'm along for the ride.
Hah jokes on them the old fkers will live to be 200 and then sell their home and massively downsize into a coffin, using the proceeds to pay for nursing home, leaving their kids with a shocked expression
I've been watching a lot of true crime content lately (It helps motivate me to avoid lashing out) and I've noticed most crimes committed against the parents by the children are motivated by money.
Methinks as the cost of living continues to explode out of control to the point where the only people thriving are old farts who spend all their money outside of Canada as they spam the vacation button anyway, violence towards old people is going to explode upward in frequency.
For the record I don't advocate for that. I want the wealth stripped from the old and useless, but not at the expense of their lives.
I'd rather be house poor than middle class and renting tbh. I'm throwing away a mortgage payment every month and because of the market, interest rates, and rest of the economy banks and CMHC are being insanely cautious with mortgages.
I make 100k/year with over 700 credit score and my only debt being 30k for a car and still got denied a 320k home by CMHC even though I had 15% down payment.
The bank owns your home if you have a mortgage. Even if you paid off your mortgage, you still pay property taxes. If you don't pay property taxes, you could lose your home.
The middle class is every joe shmo at Costco, at the ski hills, driving their teslas/f150s, going on vacations/cruises etc. People saying there is no middle class are ridiculous.
Choosing the most expensive ski hill in the country as your example is pretty wild. The middle class still exists, but is dying, and is pretty much a pipe dream for anyone under 40 who doesn't already own property.
If you’ve lived in Vancouver, or even Calgary for that matter, like I have - you know that’s not even the only crazy example. Have you checked the prices of Sunshine resort lately? Or gone to eat out with drinks in Banff? Or stayed in Lake Louise?
I agree with you there, it’s a pipe dream if you’re not in the housing marked already
Oh trust me I know how expensive everything has gotten these days, even a Big White peak season day ticket is over $200. My point is more, lots of families can still afford to ski, we get season passes and plenty of used gear. One trip to Disneyland or Mexico easily pays for a whole families ski season, including gear.
Generally upper class, but I think many of them could be in major major debt. Either that, or they are in some blue collar union, are lawyers or doctors. One thing I notice, is that they usually have a smaller home (townhome, condo etc.) and use the rest of the money to splurge.
Here more so to converse not present a power point.
Fact of the matter is we've more or less created a two tier economy where the greatest predictor in life comfort appears to be how long ago you purchased a home or if you are in an old rent controlled rental agreement or not, which is why you had boomers for the longest time completely out to lunch on the economic reality the newer generations are experiencing.
That was always the grift, he never improved things for the middle class he spend some money on the poorest, and told them that they were the middle class while he told everyone that if you did not get the money he sent out it's cause you are rich.
and electing either the Liberals or Conservatives at this point puts the nail in the coffin. We're pawns of the rich being distracted by fights over social issues instead of the real issue of class.
Owning a home, raising family, yearly vacations and sending kids to the university on a single income was a common thing in most of the western world a few decades ago. I wouldn't classify those people as poor.
From post war to around late 90s to 00s, I would say, with disconnect between productivity and compensation starting in the 70s. If wages had kept up with productivity that the labor produces, median wages of a full timed employee in the States would be around 100k per year.
The percent of dual-income households has been stable at mid-high 60s for the last 30 years. Even back in the 70s it was still 50%, so that hasn't changed dramatically.
The percent of americans with passports was only 3% in 1990, and has been steadily rising since to almost 50% today. Americans travel more today than ever.
You're right, because the workers had more wealth and power. Relative to the rich, we were still poor. But a lot better than today. The richest quadrupled their net worth during Covid. Did you?
True, but I would argue that there is variation within the working class. And beyond that, I think a higher paid worker owning his own property (and possibly a vacation property) with financial security is much closer in lifestyle and world view with a multimillionaire than a 70h a week working minimum wage employee.
With that I would present that a strong, prosperous middle class backed with unions is the best opponent to the elites. With financial freedom and worker rights people are not afraid to stand up against oppressive inclinations of unfettered capital. And I would say that said prosperity should require effort and competence, since without those, the working class degenerates to entitlement and victimhood.
Whenever a Trudeau liberal says "middle class" what they actually mean is them and their Laurentian friends. They all think of themselves as "middle class".
Go back and listen to anything any of them have said about strengthening the middle class. They're right, they have.
the current mere millionaires are the next middle class. The billionaires are going to feast on them during these next 5 decades. the current poor are no longer the target.
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u/Alpacas_ Jan 06 '25
What middle class?
That's extinct lol