That's not the point. > Which is why your argument has no merit. I could have stopped being "working class" with a 400k/year salary any time I wanted and lived

That's not the point. > Which is why your argument has no merit. I could have stopped being "working class" with a 400k/year salary any time I wanted and lived from my investments but I didn't. You owned capital investments that kept you comfortable without the need to be exploited, at that point you crossed the class division from worker to a capitalist. You said it yourself... I picked the 200-400k range because it's been thrown around on this thread, that compensation is far away for most of SWEs in the world. Of course if you earn that and invest (and thus becoming a capitalist) you can be free from exploitation. Most workers, even SWEs, in the world cannot cross that chasm. You are a capitalist, not working class. You just choose to work.