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The Changing Middle Class
The United States perceives itself to be a middle-class nation. However，middle class is not a real designation，nor does it carry privileges.1 It is more of a perception，which probably was as true as it ever could be right after World War II. The economy was growing，more and more people owned their own homes，workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them，and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could have one. Successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. They may have started out poor，but they could become rich. Successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility. In other words，they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.
The middle class collectively holds several values and principles. One strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one can determine one’s own economic fate. In addition，middle class morality embraces principles of individual responsibility，importance of family, obligations to others，and believing in something outside oneself. 2
But in the 1990s those in the middle class found that there was a price for success. A U. & World Report survey in 1994 indicated that 75 percent of Americans believed that middle class families could no longer make ends meet 3. Both spouses now worked，as did some of the children; long commutes became routine; the need for child care put strains on4 the family; and public schools were not as good as they once were. Members of the middle cIass were no longer financing their lifestyles through earnings but were using credit to stay afloat. The understanding of just what middle class meant was changing.
第八篇 變化中的中產階級
美國把自己看成是一箇中產階級的國家。然而，中產階級既不是一個真實的稱號，也不會帶 來特別待遇。它更是一個觀念，一個也許在第二次世界大戰之後會變得更加正確的觀念。那時， 美國經濟不斷增長，越來越多的人擁有了自己的家庭，工人們和僱傭自己的公司簽訂了可靠的合 同，並且幾乎所有想受到高等教育的人能夠接受教育。成功的人士享受這種上升的社會流動性。 他們也許之前很窮，但是他們能夠變得富有。成功人士同樣發現他們有更好的地理流動性。換句 話說，他們發現自己正移居並生活在各種各樣的地方。
這些中產階級都持有幾種相同的`價值觀和原則。認為賺取足夠金錢就可以決定自己經濟命運 的想法，是其中一種比較強烈的價值觀。另外，中產階級的道德觀包括個人的責任感、家庭的重 要性、對他人的使命感以及相信自我以外的事物。
但是在20世紀90年代，這些中產階級的人們發現了成功的代價。1994年，《美國新聞與世 界報道》的一篇調查稱，75%的美國人認為中產階級家庭無法收支相抵。現在夫妻雙方以及他們 的一些孩子都在工作;遙遠的上下班路程變成了常態，兒童看護給家庭帶來了很大壓力，並且公 立學校已經不如以前那樣好了。中產階級的成員不再通過薪水來支付他們的生活所需，而是通過 使用信用卡來維持生活。對於中產階級的理解正在發生變化。
