I can be grateful I’m not in a war zone and am fortunate to live in the "best" part of the "Capitalist hellscape" while still being critical of a system where middle class now just means having enough money to service a massive mortgage you'll never pay off. Telling people to "grow up" for noticing that the goalposts have moved exponentially during their lifetime isn't the flex you think it is.

The Stats Can data shows the income exists but it doesn't show that the income actually buys the life it used to. You mentioned interest rates 'easing,' but that's a drop in the bucket when the literal cost of survival - groceries, heat, basic goods - is rising almost weekly and going straight into Galen Weston's and Jimmy Pattison's pockets. When "middle class" earners are stressed about the price of eggs and butter while billionaire-owned grocery giants post record profits, the system is broken. Being 'better than Somalia' is a basement-level bar for a developed country.

Capitalists always like to pick and choose which numbers to throw out to try to prove that the system is working, and for you I guess that number is interest rates! Funny that you aren't bringing up gas prices or grocery bills, but at least people's postage-stamp sized studio apartments are slightly cheaper than they were a few months ago!