There are now four classes in America: an underclass, an anxious class in the middle, an overclass, and an oligarchy at the very top.
The underclass is the bottom 20 percent with family incomes under $26,000 this year, who live in marginal neighborhoods, whose kids attend lousy schools, and whose families are in continuous danger of hunger, homelessness, or serious and unattended medical problems.
The anxious class is the old middle class -- 75 percent of Americans, with family incomes between $26,000 and $80,000 a year, whose jobs are becoming less secure and who are living paycheck to paycheck, and most of whose children will not live as well as they do.
The overclass is the top 5 percent, earning between $80,000 and $300,000 a year, who still feel pressured and worry about the future but can afford to live in good neighborhoods and send their kids to good schools.
The oligarchy is the top 0.1 percent, most earning over $1 million a year and sitting on over $15 million of wealth, who now possess almost all the power. Through their political contributions, lobbying, "think tanks," and media, they essentially rule America – influencing politicians and organizing the market to get most of the economic gains.
It's a vicious cycle. The only way to reverse it is through a political revolution of the sort Bernie has been advocating.
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