You are completely incorrect. Middle and lower (economic) class people very much matter to the economy.

I don't know how to explain something that is plainly true but plainly insensitive.

The guys who clean the stadium and sweep the court are needed for the games to happen. They are called the backbone of the stadium because they provide support. But the economic backbone of the stadium, the ones making the whole thing worthwhile, are the players, and unsurprisingly they are paid the most. It's not nice to say that, but I doubt you ever paid $80 to buy overpriced beer and snacks to sit in a seat to watch someone mop a basketball court.

The bedrock of the US economy are high skilled high compensated workers. The US is an advanced economy. Hits to it's cashier, shelf stocker, screw turner, or retail worker are not really meaningful hits. If they were, the economy would have collapsed in 2020. Instead it became clear that the "players" weren't taking a hit, they were just working at home, and the economy ripped as uneeded stimulus for them poured in.

	▲	loeg 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		People are paid at different rates, but the thing to understand is that there are lot more people not getting paid professional athlete salaries. They matter in aggregate. Hypothetical hits to 20-50% of labor are significant and cannot be compensated for by any amount of white collar productivity. 2020 was hugely disruptive and the stock market did tank for a while. But the actual impact on labor was relatively modest? Cashiers and retail workers largely continued to do the same jobs, which are necessary for a functioning economy. Hospitality and travel are what got hit (and covered by PPP).