Are you in the protected class? If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably are. At least for now. I do have some readers who are struggling. I read their comments online and sometimes get email from them. For the most part, though, people read me because they have money to invest and want to keep up with economic news. The unprotected have other priorities.
I think we have subcategories within the protected class, though. I know some of the top 0.1%, and their lives are not like mine. They have multiple mansions, bodyguards, private jets, chauffeurs, and people to take care of everything. Call them the Super-protected.
As for me, I’m just plain protected. I live in a nice apartment with a doorman downstairs. I have assistance to help me with a lot of the “busywork.” I don’t miss any meals unless I’m trying to lose weight. I drive my own well-used vehicle. I don’t rate a private jet, but I can at least fly first class, usually, as my frequent flyer status with American Airlines allows me to be upgraded a large percentage of the time.
Another step down are what we might call the “semi-protected.” These are people with secure jobs, college degrees, some money in the bank, and a modicum of leisure time. They have the luxury of wondering where Junior will go to college instead of whether they can even pay for it.
Middle Class Shame
Those three categories encompass maybe (being generous) 30% of the population. The rest are the unprotected. What is life like for them? It’s a surprisingly hard question. You can’t truly know unless you’ve lived it, but I found one very interesting account in The Atlantic magazine. The May 2016 cover story is “The Secret Shame of the Middle Class.”