THE MIDDLE CLASS TRAP: PART 1
Should We Feel Sorry for the Middle Class?
Are America’s middle class citizens victims of “economic injustice” in a system that has become “broken?” Or, rather, is the American middle class composed of greedy materialists who “serve mammon rather than God?” Those are the choices offered in a debate between Joe Carter and Dan Edelen. Guess I’ll jump into the fray.
Joe Carter is a writer for the evangelical conservative Family Research Council, and Carter’s Evangelical Outpost was named Best Religious Blog in the 2005 Weblog Awards (and is on TerraX’s “must read” blogroll). Dan Edelen is a Christian freelance writer who writes the blog, Cerulean Sanctum.
A debate between the two began on Monday with Edelen’s post: “Politics, Economics and the American Church.” Edelen wrote that an overlooked reason for the Republican Party’s poor showing in last week’s election is economic discontent among the middle class. “It’s still the economy, stupid!” Edelen wrote.
Middle class voters smarting from job losses and inequities in the economy voted with their wallets, not with an eye toward Iraq, terrorism, or any other topic.
Describing it as an “economic justice issue,” Edelen cited the dilemma of the U.S. middle class: inflation, mounting debt, second mortgages, the necessity of two incomes to make ends meet, lack of job security and nonexistent savings. Meanwhile, the top 1% of the wealthy own almost all the wealth, and corporations’ top execs enjoy skyrocketing income.
Faced with this gloomy scenario, Edelen proposes:
I believe that our churches must start working toward some kind of money pool to help fellow congregants who fall on hard times. With so many families’ money highly leveraged, and the reality that the middle class is fighting a losing battle against rising costs, something needs to be done on a macro level to fix some of the financial injustices people face today. But the pulpit is silent. … Who in the Church in America speaks out against the real problem, our broken system?
Edelen concludes his post with this grim prophecy:
All it takes is a minor recession … With so many precariously perched families with no savings, high credit card debt, loans taken against homes of decreasing value — it won’t take much. Church, are we ready? Truly? Time to wake up and start preparing for that day. It’s coming faster than we think.
Carter, who describes himself as Edelen’s friend, took issue with his buddy’s post, which he labeled “absolutely bizarre.” As a matter of fact, Carter called Edelen “sinfully hubristic” for expressing such a view.
With all due respect to my friend Dan, his application of the biblical ideal of economic justice to the middle class is absolutely bizarre. … Attempting to expand the standard to include the “middle class” — a group of the wealthiest people in the history of the planet — is sinfully hubristic.
Carter argues that the median income for married U.S. households is $70,000 to $80,000. He says middle-class Americans live in an “excess of wealth” beyond the fantasies of most people throughout history. What problems middle-class Americans do have, Carter wrote, “are caused because we serve mammon rather than God.”
Interesting debate. I have an extra two cents, so I guess I’ll join the discussion. I’m going to take sides with Edelen on this one.
Obviously, Carter is right that we middle-class Americans earn larger paychecks and live in bigger homes and accumulate more possessions and enjoy modern technological wonders that far exceed the simple lifestyles of other cultures. That observation, however, does not address the question of “economic justice,” and the luxuries we enjoy do not make us immune to injustice. Life in the modern middle-class is a blessing and a curse. Sure, middle-class existence comes with some nice bells and whistles, but in return, it increasingly demands that we work as slaves to maintain the “good life.” The truth is, many members of the middle class are working harder than ever, yet finding that good life increasingly elusive.
Carter imagines that he is disagreeing with Edelen by bringing up the needs of the poor. Obviously, the plight of the millions of needy in the U.S. and around the world who are hungry, homeless, and afflicted with disease is much more serious than any problems the middle class faces. I am sure Edelen would agree with that; most people of the middle class would. Even while expressing our own desperation about the economic trap we are in, most middle class citizens would immediately agree that our problems do not hold a candle to the problems of the truly poor.
Does that mean any consideration for the middle class is “bizarre?” Does that mean injustices toward the middle class are excusable? Does that mean the Church should express no compassion for the needs of its middle class members? I don’t think so. Carter says — not in these words, but this is the gist of it — that middle class citizens should stop whining about spiraling costs and declining paychecks and stop worrying about job loss, foreclosure, and bankruptcy, and should just tighten their belts and start giving more to the poor. I will not go so far as to label Carter’s attitude as “sinfully hubristic,” but I do not think it communicates the compassion of Christ, nor do I think it does anything to help either the middle class or the poor.
A heart for the poor and compassion for the middle class are not on opposite ends of an either-or proposition. Christ calls us to do what we can, sacrificially so, to help the poor among us. The same love and justice that motivates us to do so, should also motivate us to reach out to our fellow church members and fellow citizens who are sinking fast in the middle class.
Carter is a conservative and a believer in Reagan economics. He writes that his own parents ascended “from the edge of poverty to a solid lower middle-class existence” thanks to trickle-down economics. It is ironic if Carter believes that helping the rich improves the economy for all of us, but helping the middle class is a “bizarre” idea. Carter should be among the first to sound the alarm when the wealth is failing to trickle down to the middle class as it is supposed to. If the trickle is not even reaching the middle class, how is it ever going to reach those on the lowest rungs of the ladder?
Should we feel sorry for the middle class? I wouldn’t choose such maudlin language, but basically, I say: “Yes.” When people are forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet, when people cannot afford to own a home, or must live on the brink of losing the home they have, when people are unable to buy the medications their doctors prescribe for them, when people send large chunks of their paychecks to credit card companies and their balances owed never decline, when people are being driven in record numbers to bankruptcy – then yes, these problems are a cause for compassion.
I applaud Dan Edelen for speaking up. The problems of the U.S. middle class are serious and growing. And Edelen is absolutely right that the Church should become part of the solution.
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There is so much more to say on this topic. What is the definition of “middle class?” What problems are the middle class experiencing? Is injustice a part of the problem? What, if anything, should the government be doing about it? What, if anything, should the Church be doing about it? I doubt that I will ever cover all of that ground, but I will continue this discussion in one or two subsequent posts under the heading, The Middle Class Trap.
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See: Part 2: Who’s in the Middle Class, How Much Do They Make — and How Much is Left Over?
Terry,
Thank you so much for the link and the defense of what I wrote.
While many services exist to help the poor, middle class people who are slipping down toward the upper limits of what we consider “the poor” have none of those services available to them.
A for instance: Someone needs serious dental work done, but their dental insurance has a two year waiting period before that work can be undertaken. But it can’t wait two years. Total cost: $2800. A poor person with no insurance at all has the entire procedure covered through various healthcare initiatives for the poor. The middle class person has to eat that $2800 cost.
At a time when people are spending more money than they are taking in, $2800 is major pain. And pray, too, that nothing else goes wrong!
I know so many middle class families that are chopping back and chopping back, but they keep getting hit with more and more. A family of six whose main vehicle drops a transmission a year out of warranty could face a $1800-3000 expense. How many families have that kind of money lying around? In my folks era, if the washing machine broke, you called a repairman to come fix it. Nowadays, labor charges are so high and parts costs so overinflated that a new washing machine might be cheaper to buy! That creates all sorts of problems.
Anyway, I could go on and on.
Thanks for the link and for expanding on my post.
Shades of President Johnson’s war on poverty, Batman, they’re back!! Assuming no one is seriously suggesting tax funded entitlements as the solution to either poverty or the “middle class trap,” what is the suggestion? Capitalism creates pools of capital so that investment in new ventures can be obtained. Oklahoma was left behind the nation in economic development for decades because capital was scare, gone or transfered elsewhere. Entitlements to the poor did not end the capital drought. Entitlements to the middle class would not, either. What does work? Other than educational opportunities followed by economic opportunities, I cannot think of a thing. The middle class can expand their skill sets and the deman for their services, or the middle class will not effectively compete.
Rod: Your immediate reference to government programs is revealing. Edelen received similar responses to his post. All Edelen called for was for preachers to speak out against injustice, and for church members to assist each other through hard times. In my post I have not yet proposed any action. Yet, both Dan and I draw immediate concerns regarding more government programs. Has it come to that — that merely voicing concern about a problem immediately conjures up the hope or fear of a government solution? Is that the only way our culture and even the Church is capable of thinking anymore?
In subsequent posts I may propose some government responses, but if I do they will be in the form of regulation and enforcement, such as cracking down on CEOs’ highway robbery paychecks, and restricting the legalized slavery perpetrated by credit card companies. But it is possible for we Christians to speak out again inequities and speak up on behalf of those in need without it immediately turning into a debate for or against government action.
Hey Terry,
Even though I disagree with much of the content, I commend you r post and think it is a beneficial contribution to the discussion.
I probably didn’t express the point as clearly as I should have so let me reiterate that I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be concerned about the middle class. I definitely think we should. I would say, though, that our primary concern should be with fixing the attitudes that cause them to get into the situation they are in that cause such financial hardship.
For example, you wrote:
While all of these should be of concern, I fail to see how it is a matter of “justice”, at least not in the Biblical sense. People are forced to work multiple jobs? God designed a six day work week yet how many people do you know work all six days? We think if someone has to work more than 40 hours a week that they are oppressed. Can you imagine what our Puritan forefathers would have thought of that attitude?
…when people cannot afford to own a home…
Remember when owing a home was considered “the American Dream”? Now it is considered An American Right. Yes, I’m all for people owning their homes. But it is not injustice if they are not able to afford to live in a city with a ridiculous real estate market.
…when people are unable to buy the medications their doctors prescribe for them,…
Are they unable or simply unwilling? Most people spend thousands of dollars a year on entertainment yet balk at spending hundreds of dollars on medication. Our priorities are skewed because we are used to insurance companies and the government paying for our healthcare.
…when people send large chunks of their paychecks to credit card companies and their balances owed never decline…
Yes, some people have debt that is from emergency expenses. But what about the vast majority that simply live beyond their means? Is that injustice also?
…when people are being driven in record numbers to bankruptcy…
I’d say that about 75% of the people who file for bankruptcy do so because they are simply unwilling to pay for the stuff that they bought on credit. Poor financial management—not injustice—is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.
Dan and Joe: Thanks to both of your for your original posts, and for your comments to this post. Obviously, you both struck a nerve with me, and that’s a good thing, because it has forced me to dig a little deeper into what I know and don’t know about middle class conditions. So, thanks for your posts and comments, which have pointed me in this direction. Joe, I will address your comments above as I continue to flesh out this series. I have just posted the second installment of the “Middle Class Trap.”