Wait, What Exactly Is “Middle Class” Now?

No one really knows, and it’s like the Supreme Court on pornography — know it when you see it.

About two years ago this week, I went to a guy’s 60th birthday at some country club. As you can imagine by combining the number “60” and the words “country club,” it was a very specific type of affair where guys stood around and mostly discussed (a) money and (b) golf. I fit in incredibly poorly at this event, but still stayed for about two hours, hoping against hope I would find a conversation that was relevant.

I didn’t really, but I did talk to this mortgage broker for a second. He was a nice guy. He was going to my church, too, but I haven’t seen him there recently of late. Anyway. One of the other guys at this party had six kids and belonged to this country club, and his wife didn’t work outside the home. (Six kids itself is work, yes.) I asked the mortgage guy how he thought the other guy was hacking it.

“Lives on credit, dude. A lot of these guys do.”

Indeed. That’s part of what makes the “middle class” discussion so hard. With Instagram and the wide availability of credit products, a lot of people appear to be living middle- to upper, and in reality they’re probably one kid falling off a bike away from thinking about selling the…