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There have been many societies in recorded history. But, FEW of them had economic freedom and individual rights that mattered.
Most of the societies we are familiar with that had ONLY a rich and poor class were nations ruled by emperors, kings, and other regimes with totalitarian levels of power.
The ONLY place in the world, after 1800, where a middle class existed, was America. It had it precisely because the government did not rob the people with high taxes, because free enterprise was the LAW both by statute and by philosophy. People flocked to the US, not because they needed government, but because escaping government allowed them to be self sufficient and to keep what they worked for.
As has been noted, the "middle class" is vanishing. The reason is that economic freedom has vanished, government control has been imposed on everything, and taxation is astronomical. The governments consume over 1/3 of everything produced, confiscating it to use in ways that further obstruct our prosperity.
This is a return to the conditions of the empires we fought to escape in the 1700's. FREEDOM creates the middle class. Government destroys it, turning us into a nation of a politically favored few, and the rest sliding into poverty.
The ONLY place in the world, after 1800, where a middle class existed, was America.
Several industrialized European countries also developed robust middle classes during the 18th and 19th centuries. As industrialization grew, so did the class of people who were neither aristocrats nor peasants/laborers.
And about your claim that the US government had nothing to do with creating the middle class: Ever hear of the GI Bill?
Finally, I should point out that many European countries still have thriving middle classes, despite much higher levels of taxation and government interference than we have here in the U.S.
Several industrialized European countries also developed robust middle classes during the 18th and 19th centuries. As industrialization grew, so did the class of people who were neither aristocrats nor peasants/laborers.
You haven't refuted my claim. Europe had an extremely rigid class structure. While politically connected NON ROYALTY became more common, and was wealthy, there wasn't any significant mobility from poor to wealthy. THAT, however, existed in the US, and still does.
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And about your claim that the US government had nothing to do with creating the middle class: Ever hear of the GI Bill?
Yes, I have. History demonstrates that the death of the middle class started soon after WWII. The GI bill had absolutely NOTHING to do with the vast opportunities that existed between 1800 and 1960, and the decline which sharpens and accelerates after that saw reversal ONLY during the results of the Reagan years, and an end during the Clinton years.
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Finally, I should point out that many European countries still have thriving middle classes, despite much higher levels of taxation and government interference than we have here in the U.S.
It's hard to call people who depend on government handouts to survive daily life as "thriving middle class".
Riiiiight. Canada's middle class only existed in our fevered imaginations.....
Yeah... Describe the economic and individual rights conditions in Canada (1/10 the size of the US) and how that is a highly important factor to our discussion about conditions from 1800 to present.
Yeah... Describe the economic and individual rights conditions in Canada (1/10 the size of the US) and how that is a highly important factor to our discussion about conditions from 1800 to present.
You stated that a middle class existed "only in the US," which is manifestly wrong. That's why it's relevant.
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