With proper organization, the majority of Americans could force changes within a few weeks (peacefully) by rejecting the current system as it stands, forcing their concerns to be addressed. The continued belief and support of our system that incentivizes moral and ethically questionable behavior and disproportionately rewards a select few who are increasingly contributing less to society at large is toxic and self-perpetuating. It will ultimately lead to non-peaceful action by society at large so it's best to fix things before we get to that point.
I agree about the way this is going and, well, I've emigrated, I hope the rest of my family follows.
What do you think is the ultimate cause of wage stagnation then?
You can see this represented over the last ~40 years based on the demographics of each bracket. All one has to do is look at the Fed's current household reports on race when it comes to wealth and income, which lays all of this out in a clear manner. White and Asian households have heavily moved up out of the middle class, while Hispanic and Black households now dominate the bottom 50% of households on income and wealth. As recently as 1980, the US was only 6% Hispanic demographically. By 2000 that had doubled to 12%, and was at 16% in the 2010 census.
Further to this point, the White demographic is now contracting. It's primarily the Hispanic demographic where population growth is occurring, and mostly via immigration.
The big middle class question for the next 20 or 30 years, is whether the huge influx of people from Latin America into the US will be able to move up over time through education and skill acquisition, and whether Black households will similarly gain.
In general, a wide gulf is forming between the upper and lower classes with the middle class being more aligned with the lower class as opposed to the upper class. If allowed to continue, this will essentially destroy the middle class in the long term, as they will eventually merge into either brackets.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-america...
So, citations for your claims?
Educated Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians have all done well over the last decade.
For example, the median household net worth of a Black household with a four year degree or greater, increased by nearly 90% in just three years with the economic recovery from 2013 to 2016 (stocks and real-estate values). Educated Hispanic households saw a similarly outsized increased in their median net worth.
The median net worth of an educated Black household, is now considerably higher than the median net worth in Germany or Sweden. The same is true for an educated Hispanic household.
However, without that education level, Black households see a drop of ~83% in their median net worth figure. White households without a four year degree or greater, similarly see an ~80% drop in their median net worth.
The average net worth of a White household without an education, was $367,000 as of 2016. With a bachelor's degree or higher, it was $1.8 million. Median was $98k vs $397k.
The gains have mostly gone to educated households. That has produced an economic gain bias in favor of White and Asian households (which tend to have greater / easier access to higher education). That effect has pushed White and Asian households up the class bracket over the last four decades.
This is fundamentally why the US middle class has been spinning its wheels. You're seeing White and Asian households move up and out of the middle class, and Hispanic households move in, while Black households have been stuck with only very modest progress.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/rece...