This perception that "lower ranks" are becoming poorer is just empirically not true.

On every metric, people in all income brackets are earning more on both a gross and COL-adjusted basis. It is the case that top quintile income has increased more than bottom quintile income, but a faster relative increase does not mean the other group is getting poorer.

The other very interesting thing is that there is statistically not really a "upper ranks" and "lower ranks". The majority of people in the 1% each year are there for the first (and often only) time. And a very, very small percentage of people in the bottom percentiles remain there for their whole life.

Some interesting research:

* 12% of the population will find themselves in the top 1% for at least one year

* Nearly 70% will spend at least one year in the top 20%

* More than half will have at least one year in the top 10%

* While 12% may reach the top 1% at some point, a mere 0.6% stay there for 10 consecutive years

All of that is to say, the idea that there are is some entrenched upper class waging war against some entrenched lower class is just empirically not true. If you dig through the data what you'll find is:

1. People who are just entering the workforce don't make a lot of money

2. As people spend time in the workforce, they make increasingly more money

3. When they retired, they start making less money but tend to have assets to live on

It's far more dynamic than most people's intuition leads them to believe.