The Fading Middle Class
As a boy back in the 1970s, I sometimes enjoyed, in the basement bedroom of my best friend, the guilty pleasure of perusing Mad magazine, a then-fresh satirical publication designed to educate teens and young adults, tongue in cheek, in the ways of the world. One particular piece, written and drolly illustrated by one Lloyd Gola, left a particular impression on me. It was entitled “Middle Class Poverty Is … ,” and laid out a number of humorous scenarios typical of the recession-ridden American middle class of the mid-1970s. “You’ve heard of ‘Inner City Poverty’ and ‘Appalachian Poverty’ and ‘Old Age Poverty,’” the subtitle proclaimed. “And yet, millions of our citizens are being inflicted with another type of poverty. We’re referring, of course, to the great American Middle Class … working … paying bills and taxes … and somehow, just about making it through from payday to payday!” According to the article, the symptoms of “Middle Class Poverty” included:
“Hiding inside your $30,000.00 house because you don’t have the money to pay the paper boy.”
“Receiving compliments from your friends on your antique furniture … and you never even knew you owned any antiques.”
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