--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was the American middle class. No…" description: "\"“It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more than two or three year's salary, and I doubt the spread in annual wages (except for the ost..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/michael-francis-moore-68881_community_it-was-the-american-middle-class-no-one_2509686.jpg" --- # It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more… ![“It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more than two or three year's salary, and I doubt the spread in annual wages (except for the osteopath) exceeded more than five thousand dollars. And other than the doctor (who made house calls), the store managers, the minister, the salesman…” quote by Michael Francis Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/michael-francis-moore-68881_community_it-was-the-american-middle-class-no-one_2509686.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/michael-francis-moore-68881_community_it-was-the-american-middle-class-no-one_2509686.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/michael-francis-moore-68881_community_it-was-the-american-middle-class-no-one_2509686.jpg) > ““It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more than two or three year's salary, and I doubt the spread in annual wages (except for the osteopath) exceeded more than five thousand dollars. And other than the doctor (who made house calls), the store managers, the minister, the salesman, and the banker, everyone belonged to a union. That meant they worked a forty-hour week, had the entire weekend off (plus two to four weeks' paid vacation in the summer), comprehensive medical benefits, and job security. In return for all that, the country became the most productive in the world and in our little neighborhood it meant your furnace was always working, your kids could be dropped off at the neighbors without notice, you could run next door anytime to borrow a half-dozen eggs, and the doors to all the homes were never locked -- because who would need to steal anything if they already had all that they needed?”” Michael Francis Moore ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote describes a nostalgic view of a strong American middle class with union jobs, benefits, and community trust leading to high productivity. **In simple terms:** Middle class had jobs, benefits, community trust, and high productivity. Key Takeaway Recognize the value of fair wages and community cohesion. Themes labor economics community productivity unionization Mood reflective critical nostalgic Type historical sociopolitical observational When to use this quote - Urban neighborhoods - policy debates - labor negotiations - economic history - social trust Key Concepts Social contract collective welfare middle class stability Questions to Reflect On - How can we rebuild community trust today? - What policies could restore similar benefits? A Different Perspective Modern economies often lack such universal benefits, leading to inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Housing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) [Income](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income/) [Job security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-security/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Quality of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality-of-life/) [Wages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wages/) ## Related quotes > [In order for the E.U. area to stay together, they needed to form a banking union, which meant they needed to have a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athanasios-orphanides/in-order-for-the-e-u-area-to-stay-together-they-needed-to-form-a/) [Athanasios Orphanides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athanasios-orphanides/) > [We are trading away a little bit of our country all the time for this access consumption that we have over what we've produced.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/we-are-trading-away-a-little-bit-of-our-country-all-the-time-for-this/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [“absolute ban on hiring anyone who had ever belonged to a union. 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Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was the American middle class. No one's house cost more than two or three year's salary, and I doubt the spread in annual wages (except for the osteopath) exceeded more than five thousand dollars. And other than the doctor (who made house calls), the store managers, the minister, the salesman, and the banker, everyone belonged to a union. That meant they worked a forty-hour week, had the entire weekend off (plus two to four weeks' paid vacation in the summer), comprehensive medical benefits, and job security. 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