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I am a “class bullshitter” within the American class system because I stubbornly refuse to believe that selling my labor for a high price and paying a lot of re
by closeparen 5y ago
I am a “class bullshitter” within the American class system because I stubbornly refuse to believe that selling my labor for a high price and paying a lot of rent puts me in the same class as people who buy labor and collect rent.
I also don’t think these are identity traits of mine; rather they are contingent facts about living in a HCOL area. If I were slinging code 9-5 in e.g. Chicago then no one would doubt I was middle class.
- xemdetia 5y agoI would agree. In the US any class is defined by the social safety net they have and in the current workforce it's often entirely self funded with many parents/older generation reaching into the pockets of their children for labour or money. Even people living a 'middle class lifestyle' are one bump or bruise away from losing everything. Since the UK has a different expectation of a social safety net I can see how things might go in a different direction. If I was not constantly under the risk of healthcare costs blowing up what little I have built up then I probably would consider myself middle class. But since my income stops as soon as I stop and I don't have a huge runway to get going again I don't feel like I'm in the middle at all.