“President Trump ought to realize, he's not campaigning anymore. He's president. And instead of talking about how many people showed up at his inauguration, he ought to be talking about how many people are going to stay into the middle class and move into the middle class.” PeopleMovingPresidentRealizingTalkingClassMiddleOughtTrumpMiddle ClassInaugurationCampaigning Author:Charles Schumer
“There's a false choice being put forward by some Democrats now. Either we double-down on our progressive values, or we go out there and talk about the middle class and the working class. I've never found them inconsistent. They go together.” TogetherValuesChoicesFoundClassMiddleDemocratMiddle ClassProgressiveWorking ClassInconsistent Author:Joe Biden
“The reason I talk so much about the middle class is it's the glue that holds America together. It really is. And we don't speak enough to their legitimate concerns.” ReasonEnoughTogetherAmericaSpeakClassMiddleConcernMiddle ClassGlue Author:Joe Biden
“Comedians are always going to be in the showbiz middle class, you're not Brad Pitt; you're never going to be Sam Rockwell or Shia LaBeouf or Leo DiCaprio. You're a comic.” ClassMiddleComicComedianMiddle ClassBradShowbizShiaLeo Dicaprio Author:Jay Mohr
“I realized early I can manipulate the ceiling in the middle class. The allure becomes how far I can make the ceiling rise.” I CanClassMiddleI RealizedMiddle ClassManipulateCeilingsAllure Author:Jay Mohr
“Wages never seem to go up. The whole economy feels stuck, and millions of Americans, millions of Americans, middle-class security is now just a memory. Progressives like to talk like Barack Obama likes to talk forever about poverty in America. And if a talk did any good, we'd have overcome those deep problems long ago. This explains why under the most liberal president we have had so far, poverty in America is worse, especially for our fellow citizens who were promised better and who need it most.” IfsNeedsFeelsLongWholeProblemSeemsAmericaPresidentMemoriesClassPovertyMillionsEconomyForeverMiddleSecurityCitizensOvercomingFellowsStuckLikesBarackMiddle ClassLong AgoWagesPoverty In America Author:Paul Ryan
“The Supreme Court consistently favors organized money and the political privileges of the corporate class. We have a Senate that is more responsive to affluent constituents than to middle-class constituents, while the opinions of constituents in the bottom third of income distribution have no apparent effect at all on the Senate's roll call votes.” PoliticalOpinionClassMiddleEffectsVoteThirdsCourtBottomPrivilegeFavorsSupremeIncomeCorporateOrganizedMiddle ClassSenateConsistentlySupreme CourtDistributionConstituentsAffluentIncome Distribution Author:Bill Moyers
“I may, and I think I represent a tradition that means a lot to me, which has really always been about fighting for others, for middle-class families, for working class - for working people, you know, and that's a tradition and a commitment that I take very seriously.” PeopleThinkingKnowsMayMeanFightingClassMiddleCommitmentTraditionMiddle ClassWorking ClassMiddle Class Family Author:Caroline Kennedy
“The truth is there are people who are quite informed who still vote against their interests. I would argue that, as a Green Party supporter, I would argue that middle-class black people are voting against their interests oftentimes.” PeopleStillsBlackInterestPartyClassMiddleTruth IsVoteGreenArguingVotingMiddle ClassBlack PeopleSupporterGreen Party Author:Marc Lamont Hill
“For students today, only 10 percent of children from working-class families graduate from college by the age of 24 as compared to 58 percent of upper-middle-class and wealthy families.” InspirationalChildrenAgeTodayFunnyClassMiddleStudentsCollegePercentMiddle ClassWealthyGraduatesGraduationWorking ClassUpper Middle ClassStudents Today Author:Patrick J. Kennedy
“The Democrats tell all the poor people and all of the middle class that they're only where they are 'cause the rich have cheated them, exploited them, or stolen all their money. The way they're gonna make it equal is to take from those people who have just won life's lottery, the premise being that the poor and the rich and the middle class are gonna get the money.” PeopleWayCausesPoorClassRichMiddleEqualDemocratMiddle ClassPoor PeopleStolenPremisesCheatedLottery Author:Rush Limbaugh
“What the Democrats have done is tell the poor and the middle class that the Democrats are looking out for 'em. Democrats are gonna get even with those rich people. They're gonna get there, and they're gonna have theirs taken away. They're gonna lose theirs, and you're supposed to feel good about that. You, who are poor or middle class, are supposed to feel happy, not because you have any more than you had. You're supposed to be happy because the rich that you hate have finally been screwed like you think you were screwed.” PeopleThinkingFeelsDoneHateLosesPoorClassRichTakenMiddleLike YouDemocratFeel GoodSupposed To BeMiddle ClassEmsRich People Author:Rush Limbaugh
“As long as there's anybody that's poor or middle class, there will not be satisfaction that there are rich people. Not 'til we get rid of all the rich can we say we have finished the job.” PeopleLongJobsPoorClassRichMiddleSatisfactionFinishedMiddle ClassRich People Author:Rush Limbaugh
“The Democrat Party makes as many people victims as possible because it freezes them right where they are. And that's usually in lower middle class or abject poverty. It makes them resentful.” PeoplePartyClassPovertyMiddleVictimDemocratMiddle ClassFreezeResentful Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Here's Hillary Clinton getting away with tying the Republicans to rich people. She's tying the Republican Party to Wall Street, to the big banks. She's tying the Republican Party to the financial crisis in 2008. It's all their fault. She's tying herself as with the low-income crowd - and the average, ordinary middle class American - as their champion, as their defender. They don't know that it's not the Republicans in bed with banks. They don't know that it's the banks that are practically paying for and underwriting the Democrat Party and Hillary Clinton today.” PeopleKnowsBigsTodayPartyClassRichStreetsMiddleWallRepublicanBedLowsOrdinaryCrisisFaultsClintonDemocratFinancialAverageCrowdsIncomeChampionMiddle ClassGet AwayRepublican PartyRich PeopleDefendersFinancial CrisisLow Income Author:Rush Limbaugh
“The Mexican people are increasingly middle class, and Mexico has substantially become a middle-class society. This is true despite the significant poverty, and the class and geographic inequality that have deep historical roots.” PeopleClassPovertyMiddleRootsHistoricalSignificantDespiteInequalityMiddle ClassMexicoMexican Author:Alan Bersin
“I think the media and the candidates have got to talk about why the middle class is in decline and why we have massive levels of income and wealth inequality.” ThinkingWealthLevelsClassMiddleMediaIncomeInequalityCandidatesMiddle ClassMassiveDeclineWealth Inequality Author:Bernie Sanders
“For Democrats to win, they're going to have to address the needs of working people. They're going to have to address the needs of the middle class.” PeopleNeedsWinningClassMiddleDemocratAddressesMiddle Class Author:Bernie Sanders
“For Democrats to win, they're going to have to address the needs of working people. They're going to have to address the needs of the middle class. And that means standing up to Wall Street, standing up to the greed of corporate America. Even now and then, standing up to the media. And that means having a candidate who can excite working families, excite young people, bring them into the political process, create a large voter turnout.” PeopleNeedsMeanAmericaYoungPoliticalWinningProcessClassStreetsMiddleMediaWallStandingDemocratGreedCorporateCandidatesAddressesMiddle ClassVotersNow And ThenCorporate AmericaVoter Turnout Author:Bernie Sanders
“Brighton has two universities. It's got a massive young, middle-class community, and the largest gay community in the UK. The result of which is a huge recreational drug market. It's the favoured place to live in the UK for first division criminals.” FirstsTwoYoungCommunityResultsClassMiddleHugeGayDrugUniversityCriminalsMiddle ClassMassiveDivisionPlaces To LiveGay CommunityBrightonRecreational Drugs Author:Peter James
“Many social critics wag their fingers at what they perceive to be frivolous luxury spending. But that misses the point that consumption norms are local. It's not just the rich who spend more when they get more money. Everyone else does, too. The mansions of the rich may seem over the top to people in the middle, but the same could be said of middle-class houses as seen by most of the planet's seven billion people.” PeopleMayDoeSaidSeemsHouseSocialClassRichMiddleMissingPlanetsFingersCriticsSevenSpendingBillionsLocalsLuxuryPerceiveMiddle ClassMore MoneyConsumptionNormMansionsFrivolousOver The TopWags Author:Robert H. Frank
“Setting aside labels, I am somebody who believes that government in a democratic society should be representing the needs of the vast majority of the people who are middle-class and working families.” PeopleNeedsShouldBelieveGovernmentClassMiddleMajorityDemocraticSettingSettingsLabelsMiddle ClassRepresentingDemocratic Society Author:Bernie Sanders
“The light bulb going off in my head was a fear that in this pivotal moment in history, when America faces so many serious problems, when the middle class and working class of this country are being decimated, that there were not voices out there representing the tens of millions of people who needed a voice. And the idea of going through a campaign where there is not a serious discussion about the most important issues facing America, where there are not voices out there representing people who are hurting - that seemed to me unacceptable.” PeopleImportantIdeasCountryMomentsProblemLightAmericaFacesVoiceHurtClassMillionsIssuesMiddleSeriousNeededCampaignsDiscussionMiddle ClassWorking ClassRepresentingBulbsImportant IssuesLight BulbPivotalPivotal Moments Author:Bernie Sanders
“Actually the royal family were very gracious and good to me. But I also found that the British establishment were never quite sure what to make of me. I was a Labour figure, but I'd come from a very middle-class background. In one sense I offended both traditional right and traditional left. But I thought that was no bad thing.” FoundLeftClassMiddleFiguresBritishBackgroundsTraditionalMiddle ClassLabourBad ThingsEstablishmentRoyalOffendedNever QuitGraciousRoyal Family Author:Tony Blair
“Labor unions have a long history of benefitting all workers, even those who are not members of unions, because everyone's wages go up. If we don't increase membership - and membership in labor unions is going down because of the attacks against organized labor - it's something every single American, whether they're officially in a union or not, should be concerned about. It's a spiral. It's a weakening of the middle class and our economy can't sustain that.” IfsShouldLongClassEconomyMiddleMembersConcernedLaborIncreaseUnionsWorkersOrganizedMiddle ClassWagesSpiralsMembershipWeakeningLabor UnionOrganized Labor Author:Nina Turner
“For the workers and their families, being able to bring home a living wage helps their families and, by extension, helps our economy. Seventy percent of our economy is consumer-based. We know that when lower- and middle-class families have money and disposable income, they spend it. That puts money back into the economy. It's a win-win for everybody: Not just for the individual, not just production at a specific company (like Nissan), but for the greater good.” KnowsHelpingHomeAbleWinningIndividualCompanyClassEconomyGreaterMiddlePercentWorkersProductionsIncomeConsumersMiddle ClassExtensionsSeventiesDisposableGreater GoodWin WinLiving WageMiddle Class Family Author:Nina Turner
“In terms of President Trump, I really do hope that he does accomplish some of the things he said on the campaign trail. If he is willing to make investments in infrastructure, but not on the backs of the middle class and the working class, and put people back to work, that would be a good thing. If he's serious about making Obamacare better, and not pulling the rug out from 20 million Americans who benefit from it, that would be a good thing too.” PeopleIfsDoeSaidWould BePresidentTermClassMillionsMiddleWillingSeriousTrumpBenefitsGood ThingsInvestmentAccomplishCampaignsMiddle ClassPullingWorking ClassTrailsInfrastructureObamacareBack To Work Author:Nina Turner
“When you look at how men and women are living together, there are two processes at work. One, women are rising in the middle class; their earning potential is rising compared to men. It has been underway for 100 years, and nothing is going to stop it. On the other hand, women are denied iconic positions of power - equity partnerships law firms, Hollywood salaries.” MenYearsLooksHas BeensTwoHandsTogetherLawProcessClassMiddlePositionMen And WomenHollywoodFirmRisingMiddle ClassDeniedPartnershipEarningEquitySalaryOne WomanIconicLiving TogetherPosition Of PowerLaw Firms Author:Stephen Marche
“Donald Trump, when he gives his speeches, talks like a populist. And he talks to middle class and working America and poor people. But when he governs, at least in his first 40 days, he governs like a hard-right guy.” PeopleGivingFirstsHardAmericaGuyPoorClassMiddleTrumpSpeechMiddle ClassPoor PeoplePopulistRight Guy Author:Charles Schumer
“[Steven] Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore - the redistribution of wealth and the return of '$17 trillion' stolen from the middle class by Wall Street - is to 'destabilize the country.” WaySaidCountryPurposeGoalCommunityWealthClassStreetsMiddleAchieveWallReturnOrganizationUnionsMiddle ClassStolenRedistribution Of Wealth Author:Rush Limbaugh
“What I think is bugging this guy [Steven Lerner] is the belief that debt - forced debt upon middle-class people, students (i.e., student loans and so forth) - has made Wall Street bankers and financial people excessively, unfairly, out-of-proportionally rich.” PeopleThinkingMadeGuyBeliefClassRichStreetsMiddleStudentsWallFinancialDebtMiddle ClassThis GuyLoanBankersStudent Loan Author:Rush Limbaugh
“You just overwhelm the system with so many dependents and so many middle class benefits having to be paid that the money isn't there. It causes a system-wide collapse, capitalism implodes upon itself, and somebody comes into the breach and restructures the government as a socialist utopian paradise - and the guy's dead serious about it.” GovernmentGuyCausesClassMiddleSeriousBenefitsCapitalismPaidWideParadiseMiddle ClassCollapseSocialistUtopianBreachRestructure Author:Rush Limbaugh
“This is a guy [Steven Lerner] who believes, for example, that Reaganomics or trickle-down economics means, "The rich got rich by stealing from the poor," or stealing from the middle class and making them poor via debt. He has worked with unions in Europe.” BelieveMeanGuyPoorClassRichMiddleExampleEuropeEconomicsUnionsDebtStealingMiddle ClassTrickle DownTrickle Down EconomicsReaganomics Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I think Hillary [Clinton] has [woken up to the plight of the middle class] and is working toward it in a democratic process.” ThinkingProcessClassMiddleDemocraticClintonMiddle ClassPlightDemocratic Process Author:Reid Hoffman
“We understand that most of the middle class doesn't know what to do, doesn't feel like they have economic progress, and [Hillary Clinton] goes, "OK, I realize that's my top agenda item. That's the thing I need to do."” KnowsNeedsFeelsRealizingClassProgressEconomicMiddleClintonMiddle ClassAgendasItemsEconomic Progress Author:Reid Hoffman
“I've made films about the middle classes because I know them best. Everyone talks about what he knows best.” KnowsMadeFilmClassMiddleMiddle Class Author:Michelangelo Antonioni
“Black men in ghetto communities (and many who live in middle class communities) are targeted by the police at early ages, often before they're old enough to vote. They're routinely stopped, frisked, and searched without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.” MenEnoughAgeCausesBlackCommunityClassMiddleVotePoliceReasonableMiddle ClassSuspicionGhettoProbable Cause Author:Michelle Alexander
“Middle-class white children, children of privilege, are afforded the opportunity to make a lot of mistakes and still go on to college, still dream big dreams. But for kids who are born in the ghetto in the era of mass incarceration, the system is designed in such a way that it traps them, often for life.” WayChildrenStillsDreamBigsKidsOpportunityBornWhiteMistakeClassMiddleCollegeGoes OnMassPrivilegeErasMiddle ClassTrapsGhettoIncarcerationMass Incarceration Author:Michelle Alexander
“In the 1990s - the period of the greatest escalation of the drug war - nearly 80 percent of the increase in drug arrests was for marijuana possession, a drug less harmful than alcohol or tobacco and at least, if not more, prevalent in middle class white neighborhoods and college campuses as it is in the 'hood.” IfsWarWhiteClassMiddleCollegePeriodsDrugPercentIncreasePossessionAlcoholMiddle ClassNeighborhoodMarijuanaTobaccoHoodCampusWar On DrugsCollege CampusEscalation Author:Michelle Alexander
“Most people with good jobs, middle-class occupations, what have you, are only one pitfall away from social embarrassment and destitution. It's so precarious. Even salaried people in the West now feel this sense of being trapped, not having the freedom to strike out.” PeopleFeelsJobsSocialClassMiddleWestStrikesMiddle ClassOccupationTrappedGood JobEmbarrassmentPrecariousPitfalls Author:Irvine Welsh
“In order to prepare for meaningful change, we have to look at both sides of the problem. We need to examine the output of our political system, which is often very hostile to the poor abroad and hostile also to the poor and middle class domestically. And we must also look at the procedures through which this output is produced.” NeedsLooksProblemPoliticalOrderSidesPoorClassMiddleMeaningfulMiddle ClassBoth SidesHostileProceduresPolitical SystemsOutput Author:Thomas Pogge
“A country's middle class is its bedrock.” CountryClassMiddleMiddle ClassBedrock Author:Philip Kotler
“The size of the U.S. middle class has been shrinking. Wages have been stagnant. We don't have those factory jobs that paid a living wage and enabled a family to have a home where the wife did not have to work. But we sent our factories abroad and there is no likelihood of getting them back. Equally worrisome is that some managerial jobs and professional jobs (such as lawyers) which support middle class life are threatened by automation.” Has BeensHomeJobsClassSupportWifeMiddlePaidSizeLawyerMiddle ClassFactoriesThreatenedWagesStagnantLikelihoodShrinkingAutomationLiving WageMiddle Class Life Author:Philip Kotler
“I went off to college, a good, middle-class, very proper college, a Brethren institution, where two years of Bible study are required for graduation. It was a good, sound, thorough, but completely biased evaluation of the Bible, and I was delighted with it, because it helped to document my doubts; it gave me a framework within which I could be critical.My independent study continued for 20 years after this. So I do know the Bible very well from a Protestant point of view.” KnowsYearsWellsTwoSoundViewsClassStudyDoubtMiddleCollegeIndependentInstitutionsCriticalPoint Of ViewMiddle ClassTwo YearsDocumentsFrameworkDelightedProtestantsThoroughBible StudyBrethrenBiasedEvaluationOff To College Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair
“I want people to know that movie stars live a normal, middle-class life.” PeopleKnowsWantActorsStarsClassMiddleNormalMovieMiddle ClassMovie StarMiddle Class Life Author:Shahrukh Khan
“We are the United States of America. And it's our job to rein in the excesses of capitalism so that it doesn't run amok and doesn't cause the kind of inequities we're seeing in our economic system. But we would be making a grave mistake to turn our backs on what built the greatest middle class in the history.” KindStatesWould BeRunningJobsAmericaTurnsCausesUnitedMistakeClassUnited StatesSeeingEconomicMiddleCapitalismBuiltGravesMiddle ClassExcessUnited States Of AmericaReinsEconomic Systems Author:Hillary Clinton
“I find it very difficult to relate to India's new middle class. This very patriotic and neoliberal group that mixes religion and economics together. I find them very irksome. Very difficult to like. They are privileged, but they don't want to talk about their privilege. It's difficult to find poetry amongst these people. Some sort of hidden spirit of beauty.” PeopleWantTogetherSpiritDifficultClassGroupsMiddleEconomicsIndiaPrivilegeRelateMiddle ClassPatrioticPrivileged Author:Sarnath Banerjee
“I know what it feels like to be in that middle and lower-middle class, and feel like the culture is passing you by; it translates into a great sense of personal frustration that can then morph into political frustration.” KnowsFeelsPoliticalCultureClassMiddlePassingPassingsFrustrationMiddle ClassTranslate Author:George Saunders
“I think that Indian writing in English is a really peculiar beast. I can't think of any literature - perhaps Russian literature in the nineteenth century comes close - so exclusively produced by and closely identified with a tiny but powerful ruling elite, the upper-caste, Anglophone upper middle class, and dependent for so long on book buyers and readers elsewhere.” ThinkingWritingLongI CanBookLiteraturePowerfulClassMiddleCenturyReaderTinyIndianBeastDependentMiddle ClassPeculiarElitesElsewhereRulingNineteenth CenturyBuyersCastesRussian LiteratureUpper Middle Class Author:Pankaj Mishra
“The burning issue of our time is the growing inequality in income and wealth in our country, and it's got to be addressed. We've got to stop it. It's eroding our politics. It's separating our society into the haves and the have-nots. It's condemning a whole younger set of our population to not be able to enter the middle class. And, it hits hardest in the prairie areas of the United States, our small towns and communities, where the jobs just aren't available and the incomes are low.” CountryCommunityWealthInequalityMiddle ClassSmall Town Author:Tom Harkin