John Updike died on Tuesday. Do you have any thoughts on the state of the middle class?
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cookieman (
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January 29th, 2009
Although he wrote in many genres, Updike was widely considered a chronicler of middle class life in America or “suburban adultery”.
Do you feel the promise of the middle class has been perverted, diluted or destroyed in these modern times? Did it ever really exist?
What do you predict the future of the middle class will look like (say post Obama)? What do you hope it will become?
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11 Answers
I just listened to an awesome interview that Terry Gross (Fresh Air) did a while back. Very funny. I haven’t read him yet, but I will now.
Was it ever something to be desired or aspired to?
Taking it strictly from an economic standpoint, I think the “promise” is seriously endangered. My crystal ball is cloudy, and I think the jury is still out on the depths on the current depression (which is continuing to worsen) so I don’t have a final answer. Right now, it appears that young people may have trouble matching their parents’ standard of living much less exceeding it for the first time since WWII.
As to Updike’s death, it seems like the loss of a permanent feature of our cultural landscape and thus surprising.
I think the middle class has always been in jeopardy and is always the ones that seems to be the ones in trouble. They just look a bit better on paper so they always get passed over in terms of help. I think socially young people don’t settle down as fast as our parents did so the matching might just come later because everything is pushed back.
What’s the middle class? I read that we used to have millions of people who lived in relative economic security with good-paying jobs and some savings. This is a totally foreign concept to me.
I thought the people Updike wrote about were rich. They were only middle class?
@aprilsimnel I guess it depends on how one defines “middle class”. But that was considered his stock in trade, yes.
Actually, “How do you define middle class?” would make a good Fluther question.
@cprevite – I was brought up rather poor, and though I’m highly educated, I am more or less working class by income now. When I read Updike, those people are rich to me!
There’s always going to be a middle class, though it might be smaller for a while. And should it get way out of whack, there’ll be a revolution of some sort, just like always – started by the middle class.
Oh man, rest in peace John Updike. My class just read his story “A&P” and on Tuesday my teacher made this aside, “Oh and by the way, he died today.” I was really bummed…
@Blondesjon How right you are! In fact, I think Foolaholic needs lurve for his apropos avatar of the moment.
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