1650
submitted 8 months ago by ooli@lemmy.world to c/workreform@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world -3 points 8 months ago

The point is about taking absolutely valid class identifiers and trying to pretend they don't exist is dumb. I haven't said a damn thing for or against communism.

[-] Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I haven’t said a damn thing for or against communism.

Neither have I.

valid class identifiers

I don't know if that's true. The modern definition of "middle class" is very fuzzy and poorly defined. Sometimes tertiary education is a requirement, sometimes not. Sometimes it's about professional certification. Sometimes it's about whether you're a manager.

Even if you're looking at a definition that only cares about income and nothing else, that's still a pretty terrible definition. Cost of living is drastically different depending on where you are. Somebody in New York might be middle class, but lives like a member of the lower class compared to someone on that same income in Kansas.

If we then ignore income and only care about standard of living, does that mean someone living frugally and saving a lot of money becomes lower class due to their spartan lifestyle? Instinctively, that seems wrong.

EDIT: I should mention that I find the worker/small owner/owner distinction more useful than the lower/middle/upper distinction because it's far better at figuring out who has interests that are aligned. Workers, generally, want higher wages. Small owners and owners are aligned on lower wages, but are not aligned on taxation and regulation. Interestingly, small owners and workers tend to be aligned on minimum wage for competitiveness reasons vs the owners.

this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
1650 points (96.1% liked)

Work Reform

9857 readers
140 users here now

A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

Our Goals

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS