Government policies created the US middle class in the wake of the Great Depression and WWII. Over the past 40 years a different type of governmental policies have decimated the middle class in this country:
Three decades of neoliberal policies have decimated the middle class, our economy, and our democracy
"After rising for a century,
average life expectancy in the U.S. is now declining.
"And for those in the bottom 90% of the income distribution, real (inflation-adjusted)
wages have stagnated:
the income of a typical male worker today is around where it was 40 years ago."
First off your link is an opinion piece, not actual research. Human labor is being replaced by foreign human labor or automation. Less human labor means wages will not increase for a non-skilled worker.
Years ago a person could graduate high school, get a job, and be middle-class. Today it requires more effort. When you leave high school, if you can't go to college, you can still learn a trade or skill. You can get involved in a line of work that pays middle-class or better.
It's not a matter of the rich having too much money, presidents of past, or our economic system. It's just that some people won't put forth the effort to make their labor valuable thus living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of their lives perhaps. A lot of people are on drugs and refuse to give them up. Better paying jobs often drug test employees.
I'll use my former occupation as an example. Even today, tractor-trailer operators are in demand. Before the virus, we were way in demand, and as we baby boomers retire, there will be even less of us in the future. Now granted, it's not an easy job. You may have to attend school for a month, take your test, and get experience. However once you do that, you can make a comfortable living, and depending on what kind of work you're willing to do, almost six figures
Walmart has announced it will hire “hundreds” of truck drivers and raise driver pay in 2019. Last year, the company saw same-store comp sales hit three percent, “which is leading …
fox8.com
My father is a retired bricklayer. His former union sends their retirees news letters to keep them up on their former profession. One year they were asking their retirees to find younger people who might want to do that job. They couldn't find nearly enough people. Without a doubt, it's a hard job, but my father did pretty good for himself. If you don't mind hard labor and working with your hands, a bricklayer here with all benefits included pays $50.00 an hour or more. Can't find enough people to do it.
Bottom line is being middle-class is a choice, not a privilege. You are not going to get out of school, get a job turning nuts onto bolts for a livable wage.
