On the other hand, there was a steady and overwhelming support towards Donald Trump’s campaign message particularly with regard to the way he was going to deal with the trouble the middle class are facing. In this regard, Trump adopted a narrative that portrayed him as the right person to not only improve the economy but also the livelihoods of individual persons in the economy, and especially in the middle class (Martin 2016). Speaking from this point of view, the emergence of the middle class as a serious battle ground between political parties in the United States is a key indicator that this demographic group in the economy faces a risk. Research and studies indicate that the middle class are the majority voters in the United States (Michelmore 72). Therefore, they constitute the main groups in the American society that politicians target when seeking elective office. Importantly, the strong focus on their economic welfare among politicians is a clear indicator that the major aspect that threatens this demographic group in the United States is related to their economic welfare. In this case, politicians from both the Democrat and the Republican political parties focus on proposing ways through which they would uphold the rights of the middle class as far as self-sustenance is concerned.
另一方面，唐纳德·特朗普的竞选口号得到了稳定和压倒性的支持，特别是关于他如何应对中产阶级所面临的麻烦。在这一点上，特朗普采用了一种描述他是正确的人不仅改善经济，而且个人的生计的经济，特别是在中产阶级（马丁2016）的叙述。从这个角度讲，中产阶级的出现成为美国政党之间的一个严重战场，这是经济中这一人口群体面临风险的一个关键指标。研究表明，中产阶级是美国的多数选民（Michelmore 72）。因此，他们构成了美国社会的主要群体，政客们在竞选公职时瞄准了这些群体。重要的是，政客们对经济福利的强烈关注清楚地表明，威胁美国这一人口群体的主要方面与他们的经济福利有关。在这种情况下，民主党和共和党的政客们都将重点放在提出如何在自我维持方面维护中产阶级的权利上。
There are a number of issues that threaten the middle class in the United States. To begin with, one of the greatest threats that this demographic group faces is the growing level of inequality between the rich and the poor in the American society. Research and studies reveal that the level of inequality in the United States has reached a record high since the 1960s and 1970s (Shapiro 8). In line with this, the gap between the rich and the middle class continues to grow, thus undermining the economic welfare of the middle class. In his analysis, Shapiro points out that due to the decline in household income of the middle class, most people in this demographic group are unable to generate wealth, acquire property and invest in different areas of the economy. As a result of this, most of people in this group are unable to invest and secure their future, with a majority of them drifting downwards towards the lower class in society.
有许多问题威胁着美国的中产阶级。首先，这一人口群体面临的更大威胁之一是美国社会贫富之间日益严重的不平等。研究表明，美国的不平等程度自20世纪60年代和70年代以来达到了历史更高水平（Shapiro 8）。与此相一致，富人和中产阶级之间的差距继续扩大，从而破坏了中产阶级的经济福利。夏皮罗在分析中指出，由于中产阶级家庭收入的下降，这一人口群体中的大多数人无法创造财富、获得财产和投资于不同的经济领域。因此，这一群体中的大多数人无法投资和保障自己的未来，他们中的大多数人向下漂流到社会的下层阶级。
The growing level of income inequality in the United States continues to worsen each year. Recent study findings reveal that whereas 62 percent of the aggregate income of the United States was shared among people in the middle class in 1970, only 43 percent of this income was shared among this demographic group in 2014 (Pew Research Center 4). On the other hand, while the upper class shared only 29 percent of the aggregate income in 1970, in 2014 the upper class shared 49 percent of this income (Pew Research Center 4). Considering the fact that currently the majority voters in the United States are in the middle class, if the current level of income inequality is not reverse, the lower class will soon become the majority voters in a near future.
美国日益严重的收入不平等状况每年都在继续恶化。最近的研究结果表明，在1970的中产阶级中，62%的美国总收入是在中产阶级中分享的，2014的人口群体中只有43%的收入是这样的（皮尤研究中心4）。另一方面，尽管1970年上层阶级只占总收入的29%，但2014年上层阶级占总收入的49%（皮尤研究中心4）。考虑到当前美国大多数选民都处于中产阶级的事实，如果当前收入不平等水平不逆转，那么不久的将来，下层阶级将很快成为多数选民。
Importantly, the inequality problem continues to feature in different political rhetoric. For example, in the 2015–2016 election cycle the Republican campaign team promoted the fact that if elected into office as the president of the United States, Trump will ease the economic burden that the middle class face in society through tax cut measures, and as such, boost the economic welfare of this demographic group (Matthews 2016). While this is the case, the questions that emerge regards whether political promises such as tax cuts help improve the economic welfare of the middle class and as such, reduce inequality in society. An International Monetary Fund analysis of tax cut policies could improve the welfare of the middle class and as such, reduce the gap between them and the upper class in the economy (Lizarazo, Peralta-Alva and Puy 6). However, for such tax cuts to be effective, they need to specifically target the middle. With this in mind, an evaluation of President Trump’s tax cut indicate that whereas they target the middle class, they also involve a section of income earners who can be categorized as the upper class in the American economy (Jericho 2017). As a result of this, these tax cuts are too weak to reduce the gap between the middle and upper class in this society.
重要的是，不平等问题仍然存在于不同的政治论调中。例如，在2015-2016年的选举周期中，共和党竞选团队宣传了一个事实，即如果当选为美国总统，特朗普将通过减税措施减轻中产阶级在社会中面临的经济负担，从而提高这一人口群体的经济福利（Matthews 2016）。尽管如此，但出现的问题是，减税等政治承诺是否有助于改善中产阶级的经济福利，从而减少社会不平等。国际货币基金组织对减税政策的分析可以改善中产阶级的福利，从而缩小他们与经济中上层阶级之间的差距（Lizarazo、Peralta Alva和Puy 6）。然而，要想让这些减税措施有效，它们需要专门针对中产阶级。考虑到这一点，对特朗普总统减税的评估表明，尽管减税的对象是中产阶级，但也涉及到美国经济中属于上层阶级的一部分收入者（杰里科，2017年）。因此，这些减税措施太弱，无法缩小社会中上层阶级之间的差距。