The Rich Have Their Hedge Funds and the Middle Class Have Their Houses

The housing market is looking pretty sick here in the Midwest. I knew it was at its worst when I read that the majority of individuals purchasing $350,000 to $650,000 homes in my area were in their late 20's with incomes of less than $100,000. How is that possible?! It is going to be a sad state of affairs when their ARMs re-set and mommy and daddy need to bail them out. Here is one of the better quotes that I have seen lately:

The US has successfully transitioned itself to a bubbleocracy where
speculation is central activity of the economy. The rich and wealthy speculate
through hedge funds and private equity funds, the middle and upper classes
through real estate and the working class through lottery tickets and gambling.
From the lowest to the highest economic stratas of society, speculation has
become the central preoccupation of the nation. However, the most populous
economic strata in society is the middle class and hence the primary path to
being a bubbleocrat is still seen to be through speculation in real
estate.