Despite all the talk about the 1 percent vs. the 99 percent, America’s real cultural and economic divide is between the middle class — college-educated people with knowledge-based jobs — and the working class — less educated people with physical and repetitive jobs. This little-discussed divide shapes much of our political and social debate.
Members of the middle class preach tolerance and inclusion, yet they regard working-class tastes, values, and politics with contempt. Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein has described this as “the elitism that passes itself off as inclusiveness.”
The 2010 census found that just 30 percent of working-age Americans have at least a bachelor’s degree. Yet this middle-class minority writes our laws, regulations, and policies — often to the detriment of the working class.
CONTINUED at the Cato Institute. Written by Randal O’Toole.
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