Cartoon 699: Left Behind

A curious thing seems to be happening. Expectations, as a result of the financial crisis, seem to have a race correlation. The strongly middle class Whites, that have fallen on hard times, tend to be optimistic in their outlook. They believe they will rise again by perseverance. They have faith in the system.  The two major minorities, that were strongly middle class and have fallen on hard times, are pessimistic in their outlook. They believe their previous success was as much attributed to a confluence of events as personal initiatives. They have little faith in the system aligning for that confluence again.

Despite the middle class optimism, the resurgence seems to be focused on one class. The economic factors are again pumping wealth to the “investor class”. Specifically those among the wealthiest 1% of Americans.  Utilization of their wealth is the engine that drives Wall Street. What is not being seen is a “trickle down” affect buoying those in the lower economic ranks.

The strongly middle class is patiently waiting. What they are missing is someone has to pay for the bad bets made by Wall Street. The “stimulus” is more a psychological  vehicle. It is not enough money to eradicate the debt. There are still other financial icebergs approaching. Closing in is the commercial real estate market. The richest 1%, that sets the agenda of Wall Street, is making themselves exempt from the losses.

Maybe the optimism is misplaced.