Talk:Middle class

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Unclear

The last paragraph of current usage is gramaticly uncertain.

From the statistics quoted I would draw the inference that "working class" has negative conotations in the US, and that "middle class" has negative conotations in the UK.

That is also the case anecdotaly.

However that is not how it is worded in the article. we also need some references. Jmackaerospace (talk) 13:20, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Collars

From my experience the terms "white collar" and "blue collar" are almost exclusively American, yet in this article they seem to be contrasted with the expansion of American middle class. I may be incorrect, but I feel the wording should be changed.82.41.15.93 (talk) 13:42, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

From my experience your experience is geographically limited. "White" and "blue" collar appear often in Anglophone literature of class and stratum; in Australian English they're typical shorthand for occupational and some cultural features (strata / Weberian class). Fifelfoo (talk) 00:50, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

current govt usage

It would be helpful to add a paragraph about what the US govt considers "middle class", for instance when they want to cut taxes for the so-called middle class. It seems they would include 95% of the populace.--dunnhaupt (talk) 22:10, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

American use of the terms middle and working class

It should be pointed out that in the USA, the term middle class is often used to describe what would usually be called working class in other countries. --195.0.221.197 (talk) 11:50, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I strongly concur. The way these terms are contrasted in the article seems to me inappropriate based on common usage.

--Mcorazao (talk) 15:11, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Proposed removal: Geographic terms

Unless there are references to support it I believe the "Geographic Terms" section needs to go. It is not true that

• The terms "Middle America" or "Middle England" were coined to associate these geographic areas with the Middle Class.
• People generally make this association. Although some people may make this association, that interpretation is not widespread enough to make such sweeping statements (and certainly not enough to justify a whole section).
• These regions of their respective nations are more Middle Class than other sections.

The references that are provided in this section appear to support specific statements but not the overall thesis of the section. From what I have read it is true that "Middle Australia" is commonly used to refer to Middle Class Australia but then "Middle Australia" is not actually a geographic term. Similarly occasionally some authors may use "Middle America" to refer to the Middle Class United States but then they are not using it as a geographic term. Arguing that this justifies the section is an equivocation (a type of logical fallacy).

--Mcorazao (talk) 15:11, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Language in 'Marxism and the middle class.'

"Marxism defines social classes..."

It lacks clarity and intellectual integrity to refer to particular or frequent lines of thought coming out of a long-lasting, diverse school of though as all-inclusive of all writers of the tradition. Not all Marxists think the same, by any stretch of imagination or rhetoric. This section must be clear who defines one thing or another in this or that manner.

If no one is able or willing to be specific, in the text, as to who wrote such things, then in the very least the language must be altered - a person, a single work with multiple authors, even an organization, can define a thing, but a broad, incohesive school of thought cannot.