Definition of Middle Class

After my first post, I began to question the middle class status I had bestowed upon my family. I've always assumed we are middle class America - you know, ordinary, everyday Joes, trying to have a better life than our parents, educate our children, have a little fun along the way. And although I don't care a diddle to what class we belong, I do care about accuracy. Had I portrayed us as something we are not? Are we really middle class, or just poor like I've always suspected?

I thought this would be easy enough to answer. There's a chart somewhere, you look at the chart, see where you fall, and there you have it. So I do what any middle class American would do when in doubt. I Google it. Ha! Seems nobody knows the meaning of middle class. Bet you're thinking the same thing as me: Come on, you're kidding, we can extract stem cells from embryos, but we can't define middle class? Right, and surprisingly enough, even the politicians who represent the middle class (wink, wink), well, they can't define it either:

From MSNBC:

Every politician in the U.S. presidential race claimed to be fighting for the middle class, and it seemed a sound strategy -- until the Democratic front-runners tried to define who, exactly, was middle class.

While Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama couldn't agree during a recent debate whether someone earning $97,500 or more could be considered middle class, voters have little difficulty judging who isn't -- the presidential candidates themselves.

Bless Wikipedia's little heart as it provides the answer I'm looking for: Due to our lack of education, influence, and importance, we fall squarely in working class, the class not paid to think:

They are also not commonly paid to think, and their thoughts are not often sought by their employer organizations or clients...

If class matters to you, head on over to Class Matters.