Worker Wednesday 11.30.16 –
Which class are you? Check out the numbers below –
A major issue all political parties have been talking about, and doing nothing about, is the middle class. Consider the following from investopedia.com:
The median income is only $50,000 per year.
You are Upper Class if you make more than $150,000, 5% of the population. If you make more than $250,000 you are the 1%
The Upper Middle Class tends to be well-educated and white collar positions. This class is white male dominated and earns more than $100,000 per year. This is the top third of US incomes.
The Middle Middle Class makes between $32,500 and $60,000 per year in lower-level white collar jobs and may have a college education but not one that gets into higher paid jobs. These are police officers, This class is made up of more women and minorities.
The Lower Middle Class, or the Working Class, are the blue collar workers with not much for education but maybe some technical or vocational training. These are sometimes police officers, truck drivers or factory workers with salaries ranging between $23,000 and $32,500.
The Poverty Level income for a family of four is only $18,000 or $23,000 per year. This is 15% of the population or 42 MILLION PEOPLE.
What needs to happen for the Middle Class in this country? How did we let 42 million people fall below the Poverty Level, many of them children? It’s time for some Fierce Change but not done with violence or abuse. Anger expressed in the raw is a recipe for disaster. Emotions are very bad decision makers. Emotions are excellent information. Anger lets us know something is not fair, a wrong needs to be made right. We need to breathe, think, make a plan and take calm, steady, fierce action.
Many of us are angry at the state of the political system in our country. It needs to change, on that, every political party can agree. How it changes is the question. We need all points of view. We need all ideas. We need Republicans, Democrats, Green Party, Libertarians and whoever wants to chime in to speak up for all of us. And we need to listen.
It’s time for Fierce Listening, Fierce Understanding, Fierce Compassion and Fierce Love. I know it’s out there. I know you can contribute. I know we can weave a tapestry of authentic connection that leads to compromise (not a dirty word) and true progress. What would you contribute to the conversation?