This country has the very same problem Germany had following WWI. The top one per cent or so is manipulating and destroying the middle class, and increasing numbers are likely to go hungry. We're not alone, Great Britain is facing the same dilemma. Whether the wealthy like it or not, the middle class holds this country together, so the rift between the rich and the poor doesn't grow too large. If it does, the country faces an explosion, pure and simple.
The middle class can negotiate a peace between the opposing sides because we're not only talking about economics here, we're talking about cultural cohesiveness. We're talking about whether American society can get the hell off drugs and talk openly to each other. We're also talking about whether or not the American elite can come down off their high horse for the sake of the cohesiveness of the social fabric. Were enough of us born yesterday?
Our high strung universities aren't helping the situation one bit, as they dictate exorbitant costs and dictate what the students can learn. This is the very reason for subjects as liberal arts, to teach people that there are other things to look at than business.
I can't even finish a degree in geography, the biggest subject on the planet, because colleges won't teach it. Here is something our schools will not teach either: the incentive to learn, for learning's sake, and not making money. I'm not even sure colleges believe in the Spirit of doing community service for free. But lots of people in this country do! God Bless Americans who use their heads!