In this paper McClelland reminisces on the idea of the middle class. McClelland talks about how in the 70’s anyone could get a job despite their education level and about how the 70’s let people with no culture or education thrive and have money for the things they need in life. His article helps point out that the middle class and its affect as it diminishes in society today. He starts off by telling a story of his home town and how it was an auto making town. He proceeds to say that back then you didn’t need a high level of education to succeed. He then sights a story that his history teacher once told him. “Dropped out of school, a year or so later, he came back to see me…. with a brand new Camaro”(McClelland, 549). …show more content…
The anyone could make a good living and live as they wish in this time. But then in the 1980’s this all began to change. The recession took its toll on the middle class and its people. McCelland says “Autoworkers where laid off for years.”(MecCelland, 550). This helps show the reader how the recession affected working people.
When MecClelland was growing up he watched what he thought was the rise and overall success of capitalism, but then says it was all just a fluke. The USA’s industrial capacity is the only reason they were able to bring the middle class as fare as it did. The middle class is not present in most history and not in most countries now ether.
MecCelland say that the US is slowly slipping back into the normal flow of modern society. With the Middle class being the main target that is being removed. He then quotes a story of a couple whose working lives started in the US’s golden days of the middle class. He shows how someone could just work their way up in the social ladder and “earning 10 times his original wage.” (MacCelland, 552). He then talks on how easy it was to get a job in the 70’s and how you could get one after another if the need …show more content…
He even says that today a degree doesn’t guaranty you job opportunity. The shrinking of middle class is due to the failure of the government and not capitalism. “24% defined the American dream as “not having any Debt.”(McClelland, 553). This shows how the American government is based solely in the movement of money.
McCelland then shows how the people have tried fight the system multiple times and even when they win in the long run it will do nothing for the slow loss of the middle class. He says that the US’s will never be as wealthy as it was in the 50’s and 60’s. MecCelland shows how past presidents have tried to fix not just our economy but the global economy. “if Nixon survived Watergate he may have set and emphasis….. to regulate the economy” (McCelland, 555).
He says that there is no way for the middle class to survive if we don’t open up our market and make more goods. Then comes Reagan who also tried to fix the local and over all economical status of the US. President Clinton fallowed the same path. Then Bush and Obama finished it by setting up an Auto task force to help guide the General Motors