Speaking of weird, in 1790 90% of the labor force in the United States were dedicated to farming. By 1850 that percentage had declined to about 70% and by 1900 it was less than 50%.
These are the occupations of my ancestors during that period:
Lawyer
Saloon owner
Vaudeville entertainer
Judge
Chiropractor
Engineer
Butcher
Milk broker
Cooper
Laborer
Cigarmaker
Cowboy (as in cattle drives on trails in the West)
That’s pretty different from normal people.
Your family was upper middle class, on average. In the 1930 census, my paternal grandfather was a washerman in a laundry. My maternal grandfather was a steamfitter in a MA textile mill. Nowadays my wife and I are retired professionals, and decidedly upper middle class, and possibly lower upper class. You and your wife seem to be the same.
While I and my sisters achieved middle class (our parents being working class), it didn’t stick.. One of my sisters has two 50 year old sons living with her, because they can’t find jobs that would allow them to move out and begin their own families.
The collapse of American incomes and living standards is truly appalling. This country is dying.
The UK is rapidly devolving into a full blown police state. If Harris/Walz win, we will join them.
Ironically, if you want to live in a traditional, Christian culture that is more or less democratic, you will have to emigrate to Russia proper.
That was my father’s family. He was a lawyer, his father was a saloonkeeper, his grandfather a judge, his great-grandfather a milk broker. My mom’s family was about as poor as you can get. My maternal grandmother grew up living in a houseboat on the banks of the Mississippi that they rented. That was the lowest of the low. One room. A stove for heating. No running water (other than the river).
My siblings and I are all middle class, possibly upper middle class. Certainly in the top 10% of income earners. All but me and one of my in-laws, a doc, are retired.