Why the middle class should want to pay higher taxes

A stronger welfare state benefits even those in the upper half of the socioeconomic ladder

The middle class can benefit from social democracy

In America, being middle-class is certainly better than being poor. But it could be better — and social democracy offers the way.

Matt Bruenig has calculated that for people in the bottom half of the income distribution, America does objectively worse than the Nordic nations. But what about the upper half — people from the median income on upward, 1 percenters excluded? (Let's call them "Comfortable Americans.") They would benefit from social democracy as well. Taxes would be substantially higher, but the stress, expense, and insecurity of managing college, retirement, and more would be reduced.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.