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Why do u.s. politicians obsess over helping the middle class? (hexbear.net)

submitted 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Sorry for this question. I am still learning.

Something that has always bothered me is how much u.s. politicians obsess over helping the middle class. Seems like the two major parties talk about it a lot. Why do they endlessly talk about helping the middle class, but never seem to acknowledge or focus on helping the (lower?) or poverty or proletariat class?

To me it sounds like the middle class by definition should be not be as in need as other classes that don't have as much? What's the purpose of this?

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 hours ago

Citation Needed Episode 91: It's Time to Retire the Term "Middle Class"

The term “middle class” is used so much by pundits and politicians, it could easily be the Free Space in any political rhetoric Bingo card. After all, who’s opposed to strengthening, widening, and protecting the “middle class”? Like “democracy,” “freedom,” and “human rights”, “middle class” is an unimpeachable, unassailable label that evokes warm feelings and a sense of collective morality.

But the term itself, always slippery and changing based on context, has evolved from a vague aspiration marked by safety, a nice home, and a white picket fence into something more sinister, racially-coded, and deliberately obscuring. The middle class isn’t about concrete, material positive rights of good housing and economic security––it’s a capitalist carrot hovering over our heads telling us such things are possible if we Only Work Harder. More than anything, it's a way for politicians to gesture towards populism without the messiness of mentioning––much less centering––the poor and poverty.