What a Disappointment

So it turns out that rather than a sober discussion on the effects of class, the NYT series is yet another effort by a frustrated novelist to transform personal stories into a pulitzer. The last 2 entries in the series have been nothing but a sentimental collage of anecdotes with a vague unifying theme.

Today's article is about the difficulty in transitioning from one socioeconomic strata to another. I have had personal experience with this. When I was young, I bounced all the way up and down the income ladder. Much like the person interviewed in this piece, I was least happy when I was best off financially. So I am not saying that there is not some level of psychological discomfort as one heads up (or down, I suppose).

What bothers me about this article is its emphasis on those who have improved their financial position. But what about people who haven't, or who have sunk from the middle class into the ranks of the working poor? Yes there are very real problems with being rich after having been poor, but compared to those who have never risen at all.....cry me a river. Not having enough friends isn't fun, but not having rent is a disaster of a very different magnitude.