I agree with those who speak about the importance of the middle class. I also hope the middle class some day can consist of folks who have to scrape a little less than they have to now.

Historically, we have had five classes: the very poor, the poor, the middle class, the wealthy and the very rich.

I think a new class that I like to call the real upper class is developing. It consists of a new young generation of smart, clear thinking, unselfish, energetic, giving, hopeful young people with a healthy sense of humor.

Many have struggled through college owing unbelievable loans. Many have been blessed to have scholarships or parents able to pay their way, and they have no or few loans. Some have not attended college.

So many of these young people care not just about their country or about their jobs but about the welfare and safety of their whole world.

I know four young adults who were lucky enough to have their college bills paid, and they are giving back in disparate ways. One is teaching school in American Samoa. One is teaching in a Navaho Indian Reservation in Arizona. One is working on a farm in Norway, seeking to understand European culture. The last is working his way through a police academy.

So many young people I know, whether searching for a job to pay back loans or giving back to the world in their own way, are the hope of our world. They are a new class — rich or poor — a real upper class. And mine say they are voting for President Barack Obama.

Dorothy Cleaver, Skowhegan