The Upper Middle Class is Ruining America

Business Insider ^

[cicero2k]

By the time I made it to a selective college, I found myself entirely surrounded by this upper-middle-class tribe. My fellow students and my professors were overwhelmingly drawn from comfortably affluent families hailing from an almost laughably small number of comfortably affluent neighborhoods, mostly in and around big coastal cities. Though virtually all of these polite, well-groomed people were politically liberal, I sensed that their gut political instincts were all about protecting what they had and scratching out the eyeballs of anyone who dared to suggest taking it away from them.

[cicero2k]

Good article on the nearly rich. Describes selfish behavior, i.e. dentists that won't allow others to whiten teeth, colleges that won't accredit video courses over Skype, NIMBY rants against development.

[SamAdams76]

I didn't think it was a good article.

It rails against gentrification and making certain neighborhoods "less sketchy" by bringing in Whole Foods, Starbucks and Trader Joe's, etc.

So the answer is more slums?

I grew up in one and don't want to go back.

[dfwgator]

Don’t Communists describe these people as the ‘Bourgeoisie’?

[Talisker]

Good article on the nearly rich. Describes selfish behavior, i.e. dentists that won't allow others to whiten teeth, colleges that won't accredit video courses over Skype, NIMBY rants against development.

At the same time it's an attack against 529s. So I think it's actually a cat fight between the lower and middle middle class liberals, and the upper middle class liberals.

Which, of course, is excellent.

[allendale]

History repeats itself because the neuropathways that dictate behavior are inherently genetic. This guilt ridden pseudo intellectual screed is reminiscent of the rants of the Russian newly rich who were so enthusiastic about the “revolution”. Their most fervent wish came to be. They and their ilk were soon liquidated in Russia but their genetic cousins are still here.

[funfan]

I lived in a neighborhood that was ruined by High density housing. I wish I was rich I would find a beautiful home
and count my money.

[dennisw]

hmmmm.....

[Pelham]

bttt

[Secret Agent Man]

So the “upper middle class” is the problem now. The new Goldstein to rail and scream and flail against?

Like small business owners?

Like mid to upper managers?

Like just starting to become successful entrepreneurs?

Guys that are too rich to qualify for many breaks on anything, but not rich enough to be able to afford accountants that cost a lot of money to shield their assets from big taxes?

Gimme a g-damn break.

Considering the unemployment, fraud, waste and redistribution schemes govt at every damn level has, everyone is clinging onto everything as much as possible to keep it away from the giant sucking sound of govt hoovering in as much of your money as it can.

[Pelham]

“I lived in a neighborhood that was ruined by High density housing. “

Was HUD responsible?

That’s one agency I’d love to see eliminated.

[dennisw]

THE AUTHOR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reihan_Salam

Conservative whose parents came from Bangladesh

[Talisker]

Salam has been described as "Literary Brooklyn's Favorite Conservative"

RINO

[Yardstick]

Article seems to be a slightly veiled critique of the hypocrisy of upper middle class liberals.

[crusher2013]

My neighborhood is fighting this/going through this right now.

The landowners and developers make their money and then leave after running the neighborhood.

[Lysandru]

As a denizen of the Washington D.C. suburbs., I resonate with this article.

I qualify for this class based on income--but not culturally.

[dennisw]

He makes some very fresh and valid points

[Nepeta]

The upper middle class tends to spawn revolutionaries.

[dennisw]

So you agree with him about the liberal dominated upper middle classes

[aquila48]

I found this article to be crap.

At one point he seems to indicate that he’s a conservative. Any conservative worth the name knows that there are no classes here. What he calls upper middle class are simply people who have in myriad of ways reached a certain economic success. These are not people that are born to “a class” and will remain in that class all their life as virtue of their birth.

And he never says how they are “ruining” America. The closest he comes to is that they watch out for their self interest, as though everyone doesn’t, including himself?

Lastly I gather he himself belongs to this “class” and apparently feels guilt pangs (probably because he didn’t earn his position but inherited it). And since misery loves company, he’s working hard to make fellow upper middle classers feels guilt pangs as well.

In summary, he seems like a Bill Ayres in the making.

[Hugin]

At the same time it's an attack against 529s

I seem to be a lone voice around here when I point out 529s are just a "targeted tax cut" scheme to funnel more money in the liberal education racket, like pell grants and student loans. That in turn allows educrats to raise tuitions, pay themselves more and hire lefty professors. Why should saving for your kid's college be tax exempt, but saving to help them buy a house or start a business isn't? If you support 529s please explain that to me. The government should quit using the tax code to tell people what they should do with their own money and just lower rates in general.