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Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

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Why the Rich Love To Pretend They’re Middle Class

Nobody wants to admit they’re rich or poor

6 min readDec 30, 2022

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I’ve been middle class and I’ve been poor and middle class is better.

I’ve never been rich and don’t expect to ever be.

I assume it’s nice.

In the U.S., almost everyone claims to be middle class.

If you say you’re poor, it’s widely believed you’re stupid and/or lazy, even though you’re probably working your ass off at more than one badly paid job. So it’s not surprising that so many people prefer to identify themselves as middle class rather than admit they’re poor.

But unless they are actual billionaires, most rich people like to claim they are middle class.

Isn’t that odd?

We live in a time when we essentially worship the rich. So why do people who are quite wealthy continue to pretend to be middle class?

You must have noticed how many people, even including those who live a conspicuously luxurious lifestyle, will tell you they are middle class.

They’ll do it with a straight face, too.

I have a theory.

Minds Without Borders
Minds Without Borders

Published in Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

Michelle Teheux
Michelle Teheux

Written by Michelle Teheux

Lover of literature. Former newspaper editor. Fascinated by everything. Contact: [email protected]. To buy me a coffee:

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