Ok, so, no I don't fit into any real classic categories. Sure, I have three kids (ages 11,8 and 4), I've been married for almost thirteen years now, and I've had the same career for eleven of those thirteen years.
I make six figures, and I'm white. Yeah? Sounds, even to me, like I'm a classic yuppy scum type...but, well I'm not.
Here is where things get interesting (or boring depending on what you find interesting).
I'm 32 years old. I rent. I don't have a savings account (at least not one with any amount of money in it). My children are home schooled (because we did not want them, in fact, left behind). I am a 'progressive', whatever that means, I think. And no, I am not 'tragically hip'.
I was married at 19. I had my first child at 21. I started my 'career' at 22.
In 2000 I saw the tech bubble burst on the way, and escaped from Silicon Valley by scraping together all of the meager savings I had at the time, and moving my family to a small city in Oregon. Since then I've had like five different jobs, and I've finally managed to find one that I want to keep.
I purchased a house in 2005 with an, arguably, bad loan. Then I started to hear the experts 'warning' of another bust in this market akin to the tech burst, so, we sold our house and broke even.
So, I guess you could say that I am firmly ensconced in the middle class, and, yes, I'm struggling. The tech bubble burst was difficult for us. I saw my income slashed by one half and I only recently began to claw my way back out. Luckily for me I cashed out the little 401k I had in May so I could afford to move my family (hopefully I won't have to do that again for a while), so I didn't get to watch that disappear in the last three weeks, like millions who did. I have no portfolio, so I have been lucky enough to not be directly affected by the stock market implosion.
I have socially liberal views. I hate the reality of war (the US has been at war for the entirety of my young daughters life), but at the same time I have the utmost respect for the armed forces. I am solidly American, and I hate what George Bush and Dick Cheney have done to my country. I am absolutely incensed that the AIG execs went on vacation after we, the tax payers, gave them $85 billion to haul their asses out of the fire, especially since I haven't had a vacation that didn't consist of taking care of home projects, in something like 10 years.
So, for John McCain and Sarah Palin to float the lame argument that Barack Obama is somehow a secret Muslim terrorist make my blood boil. I don't understand that thinking at all. I don't understand people who can even think these baseless accusations are true.
I fear for the well being of the Obamas when I hear people screaming 'Terrorist' in a crowd of idiocy. But I feel almost selfish when I think that Barack needs to lead, to win, to help me, especially when I know that if it were me, I wouldn't have the balls to face that kind of hatred.
There are too goddamn many things actually happening in the world for this kind of thing to be going on.
sigh...