POVERTY IN AMERICA

When you think about stratification by class, America is like an hourglass. A bloated wealthy class, and a bloated class in poverty. The middle class, contrary to political rhetoric, is marginal, and shrinking. My professor, C.Stokes, at MSU would always talk about how so many Americans, too many, think they are middle class, when all reasonable statistical indicators showed they lived in poverty. But then, how could they be poor, when they had homes, and multiple cars, good clothes and time for leisure? I answer this using my observations and experiences of poverty in Detroit.