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The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans
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The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans

The Atlantic, 2016

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Following the success of Neal Gabler’s article “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans” in the May 2016 issue of The Atlantic, the magazine’s editor, Scott Stossel, sat down with Gabler to discuss his thesis. The interview is casual and sometimes halting or repetitive, but it slowly reveals a narrative thread about the middle-class trend toward “financial fragility.” Though the magazine article may boast more polish and detail, and also emphasizes personal decisions and economic illiteracy as factors contributing to financial strain, getAbstract suggests that the video makes a worthwhile supplement to the article by providing some additional, fresh political takeaways.

Take-Aways

  • Middle-class Americans are under constant, severe financial strain. Yet the problem largely remains hidden.
  • The cultural beliefs that income defines winners or losers and that hard work inevitably leads to success fuel the secrecy and shame surrounding personal finances.
  • In reality, “financial fragility” is often the result of a divorce, death of a spouse or a poorly timed financial decision – as well as countless macroeconomic factors – rather than extravagant spending.

About the Speakers

Neal Gabler is a writer, lecturer, film critic and author. Interviewer Scott Stossel is a journalist and the editor of The Atlantic magazine.


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