Your Willingness To Defend The Status Quo Depends On Your Perception Of Social Mobility

However, 64 percent of Americans in a 2014 New York Times poll said they believed that they could be born poor, work hard and become rich in their lifetimes. Americans also disproportionately tend to believe they’re “middle class” — a 2015 Pew survey revealed that 47 percent believe themselves to be middle class, 29 percent think they are lower-middle class, and 11 percent say they are upper-middle class. In other words, about 9 in 10 Americans believe they are in the middle class.