If 'middle class' means upper middle class professionals, then it is a stupid term. Like Obama said, bless his heart, the top 6% is not in the 'middle'. That's not what most people mean by 'middle class' even if it is some traditional 200 year old definition.

It's very simple. If you say "rich and non-rich" then the dividing line is the median income. If you say "poor, middle, and rich" then the dividing line is bottom 20%, 21-79%, and top 20%. To define only the super-duper rich as "rich" is total bullsh*t IMO. All it does is justify the greed of the $130,000 family that only looks up and wants more instead of looking down at the vast, vast majority that has so much less.

As long as my income is below $15,000 a year, I can never see people over $80,000 as non-rich, except for the fact that I consider having to live in a major metro area like NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston, DC, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, San-San, Seattle, Phoenix, St. Louis, KC, Twintown, etc., etc., etc. as some kind of cruel and unusual punishment.