I make 370k per year and live in a 500 sqft studio in with my gf (who makes 120 of that). We have student loans, a little credit card debt and so on. We likely can never buy a house in Berkely and really are thinking hard if we can afford one kid.

We rent our time just like anyone else and eventually our time will be worth less. But right now we are taxed heavily to be middle class.

No, it's that 53k a year is near poverty but no one wants to tell America that the majority of its citizens are so badly compensated for their time.

Median income =/= middle class