by F.R. Duplantier
"Americans have always thought of themselves as equals. Even today, almost every American other than the extremely poor or rich considers himself or herself to be part of the broad middle class."
The lack of any significant class consciousness in America drives the Left crazy. "It is a source of great frustration to them that those at the lower end of the income distribution largely fail to resent those at the top," observes Bruce Bartlett of the National Center for Policy Analysis in a recent column in the Washington Times. Nevertheless, the liberals "continue to stoke the fires of class resentment in hopes of inciting class warfare. In recent years, the main tactic has been to repeatedly call attention to the shares of total income and wealth going to the rich," says Bartlett. "The implication is that the size of the income pie is fixed. Thus, any gains by those at the top must necessarily come at the expense of those at the bottom."
This, of course, is not how the world works. Bartlett says "it is a gross fallacy to think the income pie is fixed. It is quite possible," he insists, "for everyone to be better off in absolute terms even though income shares become more unequal." Furthermore, our free economy encourages mobility, in both directions. "Although some people do stay in the same income class year after year, large numbers move from one group to another," says Bartlett. "Even among the truly rich, there is substantial downward mobility," he adds. "This is the way it has always been in America." Such mobility "is probably the main reason why Americans have never resented the rich for being rich. Rather than resenting them, most Americans want to emulate them."
Bartlett also points out that "many of those technically classified as poor really aren't. This is illustrated by data on consumption, as opposed to income. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, for example, consistently show that those in the [lowest income class] spend close to twice their income each year." Bartlett concludes that, "on the basis of consumption, Americans are far more equal than income alone would suggest. And even those officially classified as poor often have access to products considered luxuries just a few years ago."
The predominance of elderly persons in the lowest income class also causes misconceptions. "While their money incomes may be low, their expenses may also be low and their assets large. In particular, many own their homes free and clear," observes Bruce Bartlett, noting that "there is a big difference between someone on welfare or working at the minimum wage and a comfortably retired person with no rent or mortgage to pay," even though both may fall into the same income class. Bartlett urges Americans to remain impervious to class consciousness. "Since economic growth tends to benefit everyone in the long run," he argues, "it makes more sense to concentrate our efforts on that than worrying so much about how the income pie is sliced."
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