NFT Sara

Artist and developed NFt

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Things that are apparently luxury items now in America.

Eating meat more than twice a week.

Going to the doctor before it becomes an emergency.

Living alone.

Saving money.

Retiring.

Having one job.

Buying name brand anything.

Affording the deposit on an apartment.

Seeing a concert.

Visiting family without calculating gas money first.

Genuinely just existing without doing math constantly.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Rent in 1985. $400 a month.

Average wage in 1985. $8 an hour.

Rent consumed roughly 12% of gross income.

Rent in 2026. $1,900 a month for the national average one bedroom.

Average wage in 2026. $35.80 an hour.

Rent consumes roughly 30% of gross income before taxes.

After taxes it consumes closer to 40%.

And that is the national average.

In actual cities where the jobs are we are talking 50% to 70%.

But here is the part nobody says out loud.

The 1985 renter built equity in the economy they lived in.

Their rent was manageable enough to save, invest, and eventually buy.

The 2026 renter builds nothing. Saves nothing. Invests nothing.

Just hands 40% of every paycheck to someone who already owns something.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

$90 for groceries.

Rice. Mushrooms. Graham crackers. Nutella. Two cleaning products. Strawberries. Cauliflower rice. Bread. Ground beef.

$90. With no sign of prices coming down.

At least at a restaurant you don't have to pay for the electricity to cook it, your time to make it, the gas to get there, or watch the total climb and wonder which item to put back.

Groceries shouldn't require us to go into debt just to eat.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

What's the new American Dream?

Affording groceries without doing math at the register.

Going to the doctor without checking your bank account first.

Owning something. Anything.

Having one job. Just one.

Having enough money from that job to be able to afford a good life.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The United States is the only country in the developed world where you can work full time, get sick, go to the hospital, have insurance, do everything right, and still lose everything.

Because of a medical bill.

Every other wealthy nation on earth decided that was unacceptable and fixed it.

America looked at the same problem...

And decided the solution was a $7,500 deductible, a prior authorization, a network restriction, a denial letter, an appeal process, and a GoFundMe.

That's not a healthcare system.

That's a hostage situation with paperwork.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Companies want employees who are passionate about the role for $15 an hour (or less).

What does that mean?

100% committed to the mission. Going above and beyond. Available outside of business hours. Bringing your full authentic selves to work.

With a 3% raise after your annual review if you hit all your metrics which were set after the headcount reduction that doubled your workload.

Passion isn't a compensation strategy.

Workers figured that out.

This is why no one wants to work. It isn't laziness.

It's a collective refusal to pretend the deal is fair.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Your grandfather bought a house at 24 with one income and no degree.

He raised an entire family while working one job that covered his bills and left him enough to enjoy life.

He also had the nerve to retire at 62.

His advice to you?

Just work harder.

Funny how he's become just as out of touch as the people in power.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The gig economy was supposed to be supplemental income.

Beer money. Gas money. A few extra hundred a month.

It became the primary income for millions of Americans who cannot find real work.

Or cannot afford to take a job that does not offer the flexibility their lives require.

And as more people flooded in, the pay went down, competition went up, and there were more drivers per customer.

That meant less money per hour and more miles per dollar.

Until the people who were doing it first realize it's no longer worth it.

And quit.

While new people sign up and the cycle continues.

It just gets worse for everyone in it.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Homeownership used to be the thing you did in your late 20s. It was common.

You saved for a few years. Got a loan.

Bought something modest. Built equity. Moved up eventually.

The whole sequence took about five years from graduation to keys.

Now it takes a $120,000 annual income just to qualify for the median home mortgage.

A $80,000 down payment.

Two incomes. No student debt. Good credit. Perfect timing.

And luck.

That is NOT a housing market.

That is a housing lottery with very long odds and a very small prize pool.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The gig economy didn't create opportunity.

It created the illusion of employment while dismantling the conditions that made employment meaningful.

No benefits. No sick days. No retirement.

No minimum hourly guarantee. No workers compensation. No path to advancement.

Just the algorithm deciding what your hour is worth.

And taking its cut before you see a dollar.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

83% of professionals report experiencing financial stress strain or uncertainty.

Not minimum wage workers. Professionals.

People with degrees and salaries and titles.

36% felt financial stress in just the last 30 days.

71% of millennials making six figures are stressed about money.

67% of Gen Z making six figures are stressed about money.

The number they all dreamed about reaching was supposed to mean they made it.

Not anymore.

Inflation moved the finish line while they were running.

And nobody told them.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Grocery stores figured something out.

You can't stop eating. So they can charge whatever they want.

You will cut other things first.

The vacation. The dinner out. The new clothes. The savings.

Eventually the retirement contributions.

But you will buy the groceries.

Because you have to.

They know that. They price accordingly.

And call it market forces.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Nobody is refusing to work. People are refusing to perform desperation for jobs that aren't worth it.

For example, say there's a job that offers $22 an hour.

Sounds good. But what does it require?

A bachelor's degree. 3-5 years of experience.

Proficiency in seven software platforms. Availability on weekends.

Willingness to travel up to 40% and a positive attitude about the open office environment.

Then offers $19 after three interview rounds with benefits that kick in after 90 days.

And a culture of excellence that means unpaid overtime is expected.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The median full time American salary is around $64,220. Up from $56,000 in 2020. A 15% increase.

Not bad.

BUT over that same period cumulative inflation ran about 24%.

You made 15% more. Everything cost 24% more.

The math on that gap is a 9 point hole in your purchasing power every year that you can never get back.

That's a gap that nobody in power is talking about closing.

And they wonder why 49% of adults under 30 still live at home.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Gen X turned 50 this decade and discovered what 50 now means in America.

Still paying the mortgage they bought at the worst time.

Still recovering from the career disruption of COVID.

Still helping their parents who didn't save enough.

Still supporting their adult kids who can't afford to leave.

Still five to ten years away from a retirement that keeps getting more expensive to reach.

Still showing up. Still not complaining loudly enough for anyone to notice.

Gen X didn't get a golden era.

They got the bill for everyone else's.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

A record 25.2 million Americans under 35 are living with their parents. That is 33% of the entire age group.

49% of adults under 30 are living with a parent right now.

Up from 37% in 2019.

70% of them are employed. They are not lazy. They are doing math that does not work.

The previous record was the Great Depression.

We just matched it.

In what everyone keeps calling the strongest economy in history.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

No. It's not just you. Eating out costs a lot more.

Restaurant prices rose 4.1% in 2025. Roughly double the pace of grocery inflation.

Gen Z quick service spending is down 19 percentage points in two years.

Delivery prices are now nearly 80% higher than pickup after fees and tips.

Restaurants would need to raise prices 26.2% just to maintain a 5% pre-tax profit margin given current cost pressures.

People are doing the math on a $22 burger.

And choosing the math.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The economic pain isn't dramatic. That's what makes it so hard to explain.

It's not a crash. Not a single moment where everything fell apart.

It's the grocery bill going up $40.

Then the insurance renewal.

Then the utility bill. Then the rent notice.

Then the car repair you kept putting off.

All arriving in the same month.

With a paycheck that didn't change.

The slow accumulation of pressures with no release valve.

Is more exhausting than any single catastrophe.

Because at least a catastrophe has an end.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

There used to be a version of America where effort had a reliable return.

Work hard. Get rewarded.

That feedback loop is broken.

The effort is still there. The reward stopped showing up.

And the most dangerous thing that happens when effort stops producing results is that people stop believing the system was ever designed to work for them.

That belief is spreading. And it's not wrong.

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

The middle class is quietly disappearing.

Slowly becoming two groups.

The people who are fine.

And the people who are one bad month away from not being fine.

With almost no one left in the stable comfortable middle that used to define the American experience.

And both political parties talking about protecting the middle class.

While doing nothing that would actually bring it back.