Matt Yglesias catches NBC’s David Gregory saying “it isn’t just the fat cats, it’s you and me” when, in reality, Gregory is almost certainly a fat cat. And I think Matt’s exactly right about why that happens: people tend to think their reality is “normal” and define poor and rich as those significantly below or above them in the hierarchy rather than against the statistical median.
It’s also why appeals to tax “the rich” are so powerful. Almost everyone, even those making incomes well into the six figure range, figure they’re excluded.
