Essay - The Average American, Unless He is Below the Poverty Line...

The average American, unless he is below the poverty line and collecting government subsidies, self-identifies as being middle class. I can recount the time when I was about 11 years old that a comparatively wealthy friend of mine had a birthday party and invited everyone over to his 18-room house. The house was so large ***** it even included a hidden room th*****t could only be accessed through the removable back of an armoire. "You're rich - you live in a mansion!" I proclaimed to ***** mother. "Aww, we're upper-***** class," she replied. It's interesting to note this characteristic about the American mentality; since titled nobility doesn't exist here, ********** don't self-identify as *****ing rich until they are able to live exclusively off their investments. Even retirees, who do this categorically, think of themselves as middle class. Only children born with trust funds ***** as being rich. The wealthy live lives that are materially similar ***** our own. *****y drive cars, live in comfortable homes, and dedicate a good portion of their day to leisurely activities. ***** if they can lie claim ***** a superfluity of the things ***** are enjoyed by almost all Ameri*****s (cars, homes, leisure *****,) their *****s are no more comfortable, when comp*****d to ours, than our lives are ***** compared ***** the ***** ***** the wealthy that lived in the 19th century. For ***** we have to *****k the technological innova*****rs and ***** *****cial reformers of the 20th century, as the poor in Charles Dickens' time lived ***** abject misery. Although a numeric disparity may ***** bet*****en the savings of the rich and poor in America, a ***** poignant disparity exists between rich Americans, Japanese, ***** Western Europeans and ***** poor ***** other parts of the world.

A brief survey ***** the *****'s population, estimated to be 6,264,497,739 at noon on November 22, 2002, reveals a vast disparity in wealth between the western democracies ***** the rest of the world. According to statistics maintained ***** ***** World Trade Organization in Switzerland, a full 19.15% of these people, or 1.2 billion *****, survive on less than a dollar a day. A further 25.45%, or 1.6 billi***** people, m*****e ***** a quarter of the world's population, live on ***** 1 and 2 dollars a day. A NGO with a focus on sustainable populations recently commented ***** "If ***** keep your food in a refrigerator, ***** your clothes in a closet, you *****re richer than 75% ***** the entire world population. ***** you have a bank account, you're richer than 30%." According to a UK government report, ********** are more computers in New York City than in the *****le of Africa, where more than half the population has gone its entire life without using a public phone. Capital lending in such countries doesn't exist. Whereas an immigrant in the United States can take out a loan from the Sm***** Business Association and develop a pr*****itable store, it is impossible in much of ***** ***** to even take out