You missed the debate here about whether Thomas Jefferson really did say that democracy cannot exist where there are just the very rich and the very poor.

Whether he did or not, it's the truth.

And, like it or not, the middle class is the strength of any society.

A country needs vast resevoirs of morality, for instance, to survive the excesses of the wealthy and the desperation of the poor.

It needs the vast reserves of wealth which reside in the middle class, not the relatively little in the wealthy and the none in the poor.

It needs the vast markets generated in the middle class, not the comparatively small demand for luxury yachts and private jets, or no demand from the poor.

And, it seems we are hell-bent on getting rid of the middle class. The government counters the excesses of organized labor by essentially getting rid of it, but doesn't counter the excesses of big business in any meaningful way.

The unrestrained short-term profit motive doesn't allow for the creation and maintenance of a middle-class.

The problem with that is eventually the market disappears. The goose which laid the golden egg is gone. But, that's not this quarter, so no one worries about it.

Except you and me.

Arf