When you are in the top 10% by income claiming to be in the middle you are failing to realize that their are some 250 million people in your own country that are below you. The people who make your coffee, butcher your meat, package your products. You are failing to realize that there are 100-200 million people living either an actual middle class life or are in poverty by any standard you would understand.
Living in a place with high costs is a choice. It’s s choice that wealthy people get to make. Living in San Francisco in a small studio on a $100k+ salary and jokingly “feeling poor” is a choice that wealthy and privileged people get to make. It’s a choice I’ve made. It’s probably a choice you’ve made. But I’m not going to pretend for a moment, if I’m being honest, that my life even approaches an actual middle class life. I get to live in one of the best places on the planet with the best food, weather, museums, drinks, bars, technology, etc.. I have access to the best of everything… how the hell is that being in the middle? Go spend a summer in middle America where everything is cheap and see how most people actually live. Hell, take the BART to the end of the line and drive one town further and try living and working there for a bit.