How do YOU define the classes?

[keelba]

Most people, if you were to ask what the difference between the classes is, would throw out some number. One person might say that anyone earning less than $20,000 / yr. is considered among the lower class and anyone over $250,000 / yr. is considered among the upper class and anyone in between is in the middle class. Others might use numbers like $10,000 and $500,000. The numbers really don't matter to me. I have a different way of considering the classes and I think it is a very important distinction people need to make.

To me, the lower class is defined by anyone who depends upon someone else for theirs or their family's survival. That may be living at home with the parents, subsisting off of unemployment or Social Security checks, welfare, food stamps, or any other aid that might help them to surivive. Now it is possible that someone may choose to be collecting Social Security because, heck, he has paid into it for the past 52 years, but he does not depend upon Social Security and it wouldn't majorly disrupt his life if he didn't get it. That is a different story. I mean if someone is dependent on others than he is among the lower class. This person or his whole family would not survive without this aid. He might have a job. He might even drive a decent car and live in a decent home. He could tell himself that he is in the upper-lower class if that makes him feel better but he is still dependent on others to live and that puts him in the lower class.

The upper class are those who make money work for them and, if necessary, could live from this income. They may choose to have a job as additional income but it wouldn't matter. They know how to make money work for them. Someone may have investments that bring in only $100,000 / yr. but this is still far more than the median income for families in the US. I would consider this person in the upper class. He does not have to worry about losing his job. He likely gets many tax advantages for those investments and pays far less tax that someone working to earn $100,000 / yr. You could say this person is in the lower-upper class if you like but the bottom line is, this person is making money from money.

Everyone else is in the middle class. Someone may be a professional like doctor or a dentist making $500,000 / yr. but if he stops working, he stops making money. When people talk about the middle class shrinking, to me this is what they really mean, whether they know it or not. Each day, more and more Americans are becoming dependent upon others to survive. When our leaders and politicians talk about "the rich" they are referring to these people, not the rich as I've described above. The upper class has all kinds of tax breaks that protects them because of the way they make their money. Our nation is becoming more and more dependent upon the middle class rich taking care of the poor and they are being taxed more and more and working harder and harder just to make ends meet. While the ones at the top just keep finding it easier and easier to make even more money.

I believe that very soon, possibly within just a few years, there will be no middle class at all by this definition. Everyone is going to be receiving help just to survive, except for the upper 1% who will be making even more money by that time.

Do you agree with this definition? Would it change things if everyone used this definition? Would we still have people clamoring for "Change you can believe in" during the next election? Would people realize that entitlement programs are hurting us more than they are helping?  What are your thoughts?

[username18333]

. . .

Everyone else is in the middle class. Someone may be a professional like doctor or a dentist making $500,000 / yr. but if he stops working, he stops making money. When people talk about the middle class shrinking, to me this is what they really mean, whether they know it or not. Each day, more and more Americans are becoming dependent upon others to survive. When our leaders and politicians talk about "the rich" they are referring to these people, not the rich as I've described above. The upper class has all kinds of tax breaks that protects them because of the way they make their money. Our nation is becoming more and more dependent upon the middle class rich taking care of the poor and they are being taxed more and more and working harder and harder just to make ends meet. While the ones at the top just keep finding it easier and easier to make even more money.

I believe that very soon, possibly within just a few years, there will be no middle class at all by this definition. Everyone is going to be receiving help just to survive, except for the upper 1% who will be making even more money by that time.

. . .

(Red colorization mine.)

How would that “help” (keelba) ultimately be funded?

[Giggs]

There is no such thing as 'class'. Don't buy into these bullshit categorizations.

[Q7]

I don't know about class but for me credit rating is good enough. If you are earning a lot but is heavily in debt, the rating score might not be that good. So the categorization based on earning alone will not reflect the actual scenario.

[cr1776]

There is no such thing as 'class'. Don't buy into these bullshit categorizations.

This.

It is a method of dividing people to stir up resentment in order to keep their control in place. The athoritarians like to divide and control in order to keep their wealth and power.  If you are talking about the US, look at income statistics over a decade or two.  The "rich" one year are very often not on it ten years later.  It is very fluid and that is the nature of a free country.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

There are two classes, the ones that have to re-check their wallets and accounts before the month ends and the ones that don't.

[grendel25]

I'm reminded of Plato's allegory of the cave.  Even though we are more aware of the cave and what liberty may be outside of it... we are still cavemen.

[pereira4]

There's a study that says people stop caring that much about money past a certain point, only some people get obsessed with being super millonaires.

[Selena Gomez]

just looking with another member and googling about it
i can found the suitable classes for me

[thresher]

Classes are broken.
Dumb lazy sally, who was pregnant at 16 and has 3 kids who makes 30k gets all sorts of assistance.  Hard working Jenny who didn't get knocked up carelessly, makes 30k and pays for all of dumb Sally's shit, and her children.
Who is the lower class?  The person who is being taxed for everything, or the dumb slut who is getting a free ride and gets free healthcare, food, and god knows what else.
The issue is there is no point in being middle class, which is why it is dying.

[croato]

There are slaves, free men and masters like allways in human history just in earlier ages there were more free folks than now.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

There are slaves, free men and masters like allways in human history just in earlier ages there were more free folks than now.

Are you serious? In early ages everyone was literally a slave, at least nowadays you can have some sort of sense of freedom if you have a deecnt wage.

[zimmah]

. . .

Everyone else is in the middle class. Someone may be a professional like doctor or a dentist making $500,000 / yr. but if he stops working, he stops making money. When people talk about the middle class shrinking, to me this is what they really mean, whether they know it or not. Each day, more and more Americans are becoming dependent upon others to survive. When our leaders and politicians talk about "the rich" they are referring to these people, not the rich as I've described above. The upper class has all kinds of tax breaks that protects them because of the way they make their money. Our nation is becoming more and more dependent upon the middle class rich taking care of the poor and they are being taxed more and more and working harder and harder just to make ends meet. While the ones at the top just keep finding it easier and easier to make even more money.

I believe that very soon, possibly within just a few years, there will be no middle class at all by this definition. Everyone is going to be receiving help just to survive, except for the upper 1% who will be making even more money by that time.

. . .

(Red colorization mine.)

How would that “help” (keelba) ultimately be funded?

be getting even more debt to the rich of course.

how else is every fucking country in the world trillions in debt?

To whom do we owe this debt?

[chipzac]

i think classes ar broken.

[croato]

There are slaves, free men and masters like allways in human history just in earlier ages there were more free folks than now.

Are you serious? In early ages everyone was literally a slave, at least nowadays you can have some sort of sense of freedom if you have a deecnt wage.

Modern masters invented financial slavery. Now practicly there is no free folks and masters was allways rare anyway. Sad fact is now most of ppl dont even know they are slaves.

[Erdogan]

The only relevant class concept of today is the political class, or those who falsely believe that they can trample on others' rights, and the rest of us.

[keelba]

There is a sign I have in my cubicle at work to remind me:


     Gold is the money of Kings

     Silver is the money of Gentlemen

     Barter is the money of Peasants

     Debt is the money of Slaves


Of course, this was printed before Bitcoin existed.

[Mutley]

There is no such thing as 'class'. Don't buy into these bullshit categorizations.

This.

It is a method of dividing people to stir up resentment in order to keep their control in place. The athoritarians like to divide and control in order to keep their wealth and power.  If you are talking about the US, look at income statistics over a decade or two.  The "rich" one year are very often not on it ten years later.  It is very fluid and that is the nature of a free country.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. If people lose their money to they stop being upper class? If the poor earn their wealth do they suddenly transition into the upper class? It's just another form for people to discriminate.

[username18333]

. . .

be getting even more debt to the rich of course.

how else is every fucking country in the world trillions in debt?

To whom do we owe this debt?

However, that debt would not be held by “the poor” (keelba), for, if it were, these would not be “receiving help” (keelba) in the vein of conventional “social assistance.”

[BillyBobZorton]

There is a sign I have in my cubicle at work to remind me:


     Gold is the money of Kings

     Silver is the money of Gentlemen

     Barter is the money of Peasants

     Debt is the money of Slaves


Of course, this was printed before Bitcoin existed.

Then who was litecoin?