4 ms·

The distinction between middle class and lower class is such a strange one to me. The majority of the middle class still rely on employment to survive. Yes, the

The distinction between middle class and lower class is such a strange one to me. The majority of the middle class still rely on employment to survive. Yes, they make more and therefore have more stuff, but their relationship to the economy as a whole is not fundamentally less precarious than the lower class. They're all working class.

Tycho 11y ago
don't you think blue-collar and white-collar employment are fundamentally different? it's true that in both cases you need a paycheque to survive, so they are perhaps more similar to each other than to truly self-sufficient life styles or the FUM class (fuck-you money), but that doesn't eliminate the important distinctions that remain between them
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  Not really. I remember some years back waiting in line at a boat dock and mentioning to my friend the parade of new shiny boats towed by new shiny trucks. His reply was, "look who owns all those expensive boats: plumbers and electricians. They're the ones who make the real money." The "irony" that a friend of mine who is an EE with an MBA and manages group at a large corporation was looking into getting a low-voltage electrician's license was not lost on me.
  - otoburb 11y ago
    The sticking point for your friend is that apprenticeship or equivalent and relevant electrical experience requirements tend to be full-time.
ArkyBeagle 11y ago
The whole schmeer is wildly incoherent and will never make any sense. I've done the "real estate because schools" thing; that school system imploded because of the local gentry interfering with it. That system also had a 33% dropout rate while the valedictorian went to Harvard medical. You have to use public schools as a resource for getting your kids educated. Teaching is semi-de-professionalized because of careerism and magical thinking. My youngest went on the basically teach time management to lost little children at an expensive private university. Now she's shut of the whole education system. Turns out training dogs is a better business model.

Tycho 11y ago

don't you think blue-collar and white-collar employment are fundamentally different? it's true that in both cases you need a paycheque to survive, so they are perhaps more similar to each other than to truly self-sufficient life styles or the FUM class (fuck-you money), but that doesn't eliminate the important distinctions that remain between them

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
Not really. I remember some years back waiting in line at a boat dock and mentioning to my friend the parade of new shiny boats towed by new shiny trucks. His reply was, "look who owns all those expensive boats: plumbers and electricians. They're the ones who make the real money." The "irony" that a friend of mine who is an EE with an MBA and manages group at a large corporation was looking into getting a low-voltage electrician's license was not lost on me.
- otoburb 11y ago
  The sticking point for your friend is that apprenticeship or equivalent and relevant electrical experience requirements tend to be full-time.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago

The whole schmeer is wildly incoherent and will never make any sense. I've done the "real estate because schools" thing; that school system imploded because of the local gentry interfering with it. That system also had a 33% dropout rate while the valedictorian went to Harvard medical. You have to use public schools as a resource for getting your kids educated. Teaching is semi-de-professionalized because of careerism and magical thinking. My youngest went on the basically teach time management to lost little children at an expensive private university. Now she's shut of the whole education system. Turns out training dogs is a better business model.