Class in America:

Back in the 1960s "middle class" was a dirty word. The Republicans had to create a new term so that those who aspired to middle-class values wouldn't have to hide their faces in shame: "The Silent Majority."

By the 1980s, that had changed. Reagan had led the charge in re-invigorating the middle class. Before his first term was up, very nearly everyone claimed to be middle class. That is, you were either a member of the middle class or you aspired to be.

You do remember the 1980s, right? That was the era known for its selfishness, as opposed to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, which were known as eras of selflessness, periods of time when folks worked and sacrificed for the greater good of family, community and country. (The 1970s were a period of time, like the 1920s, when American culture was in an upheaval and probably will be referred to as a "lost generation.")

Before the 1980s, you could tell a person's class by how he talked and dressed, much the same way you could in other countries, by how much education he had and whether he had inherited wealth or needed to work for a living, by what kind of job he did, blue collar or white. Did a person get his hands dirty, or were his hands callous free?

Education and a changing work environment has changed most of that. Class today is mostly a matter of aspirations and income. Everyone claims to be a member of the middle class now, even when we don't fit into any known definition of it.

The great irony, of course, is that to believe that one is middle class is to assume other classes exist.

Eduordo Porter reflects on what it means to be middle class in America in today's New York Times. He attempts to break it down according to income, a definition that worked in the past as a short hand method. But during the past several decades labor and education have been taken out of the equation, along with birth.

Question: If we're all middle class, does that make us communists?

The Dude explains it all: "I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It's pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future." — George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., 2004. (Don't ask.)

Count Down:

The Washington Post reports today that the latest polls show Sen. Obama leading in states whose electoral votes total nearly 300, which, if correct, would place him easily into the White House. Currently, it appears that he leads in all the states that John Kerry won in 2004, which would give him 252 electoral votes, while 270 are needed to win, and he is leading in the polling in a number of other states that Bush won during that election.

The election, of course, is not a baseball season, with a team slowly accruing victories over a period of months. There is only one game, and it takes place on Tuesday.

Have you seen the lines forming for early voting? Makes you wonder if anyone will show up on Tuesday.