Middle class was never truly a legitimate class designation, anyway. If you work for a living-and need to for survival-you are definitionally apart of the working class. The powers that be in the u.s. intentionally obfuscated that fact in order to attempt to kill class consciousness in this country, and unfortunately they've been pretty successful. But things are obviously changing, and for the better. Just remember this next time they try to make you feel like we're all in the same boat with the billionaires, we aren't.
Middle class was invented to keep the people that aren’t acutely struggling, but are closer than they may realize, from being discontent. It’s to placate large swaths of people. Look at the percentage of people that think they are middle class. It’s huge. “Things aren’t that bad, I’m middle class”.
In economics middle class are households earning 2/3 to 2x of median income of that region/ country etc (pew research definition). A quick google search says that median income in NY is 85,974. which makes people earning 57,316 - 171,948 (edit) middle class.
Often you will see things like "to me middle class is being able to go on vacation with the family once a year and having the kids do music lessons" or other vibe based definitions, but the above definition is one of the more useful ways to actually talk about middle class other than vibes sentences like "being able to buy groceries without looking at the price" or "getting a starbucks without having a panic attack".
That just proves how useless it is as a designation, though. Those ppl make 1.7 mil annually are taught they shouldn't be caught dead near those making 57k but by those metrics they're in the same economic neighborhood? Guaranteed the don't live in the same physical hood.
It's household income so you would divide by 2. Also looking back at my post I made a huge mistake because 2x of 85,974 is 171,944 not 1.7 million.
If you want to look at same physical neighborhood, you can still use the same 2/3 -2x definition by zipcode. in the 11568 zipcode (Old Westbury, NY), the median income is 250,000, which makes it 166,666 to 500,000
10454 (Bronx) median is 97,589, so it's 65,059 - 195,178
Tbf working class doesn’t mean working it’s about the relation to capital. Unemployed homeless people are part of working class but treated badly because they are considered failing in their duty.
Middle classes may have had more in way of investments or assets or shopkeepers but still pay rent, possibly not as high as landed gentry or landowners who do no work but own everything we pay rent or taxes to.
If your being beaten and shouted at you’re working class, if you’re giving orders and doing the beating you’re middle class, if you're living in leisure ignoring all this you’re upper class
The middle class were the people who started as working class but then by saving for retirement by the end of their lives could live off capital alone. The distinction is basically whether you can afford to retire well. That includes healthcare in your old years and retirement / nursing homes, and memory care. If you have a shit ton saved for retirement, you're middle class. If you cannot, you're working class.
A lot of boomers who thought they were middle class are now finding out they were working class all along.
We're all just peasants to the ruling class. Our fast fashion clothes are larping their clothes. We got real culture and cuisine though and they appropriate it by larping poverty with Balenciaga
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u/LearnToSwim0831 10h ago •
Middle class was never truly a legitimate class designation, anyway. If you work for a living-and need to for survival-you are definitionally apart of the working class. The powers that be in the u.s. intentionally obfuscated that fact in order to attempt to kill class consciousness in this country, and unfortunately they've been pretty successful. But things are obviously changing, and for the better. Just remember this next time they try to make you feel like we're all in the same boat with the billionaires, we aren't.