rich or middle class?

A recent column in Newsweek by Dan Gross brought the issue of what exactly constitutes "middle class" into the idea marketplace. According to Gross, "On Wednesday afternoon, CNBC's unscientific online poll found that (surprise!) only 35 percent of respondents believed an income of $250,000 qualified a household for elite rich status." What I found most interesting about this column, aside from the statistics about the national median income in the U.S. ($50,223 in 2007) and the median income in the richest town in the country, New Canaan, Conn. ($231,138--still less than the aforementioned $250,000 "rich cutoff"), is the idea that "people rate their well-being not so much based on how much they make and consume, but on how much they make and consume compared to their neighbors"

How much do we do that? How much do we compare ourselves to others around us and determine how well we are doing based on how well they are doing? I confess, I find myself doing this more often than I (anne) would like to admit. It sometimes doesn't seem like it's enough to just be able to pay the bills, get the necessities, and still have a little leftover for fun and saving. Sometimes it seems like we should be able to do and have everything that everyone else has as well. But when I do focus on what we have and not on what others have, I have no choice but to conclude that we're doing okay.

Quick parenthetical: When you read this column (and I encourage you to do so), check out some of the comments by other readers. It made me both disgusted at the attitudes held by some people in this country and curious to meet them at the same time.