IMO they (Lawyer, MD, some C level execs) are lower upper class. Tech professionals are Higher middle class. A friend of mine once shared learnings from a univ

IMO they (Lawyer, MD, some C level execs) are lower upper class. Tech professionals are Higher middle class. A friend of mine once shared learnings from a university class that talked about markers of each class. Lower class can be marked by immediate gratification (sometimes out of need): Buying a bag of chips and soda because you need calories now, spend that tax refund on a TV because you want something to make yourself feel better and you "know" the end of your poverty/pain isnt ever coming, better to spend today than wait for a broken promise to come true. One of the middle class markers is deferral of gratification for greater future gratification: buying a home instead of renting forever, going to school to eventually make more money, buying a jumbo pack of toilet paper today to save 12c a roll for the next year. The upper class marker is that of unlimited gratification and a separate economic; You can have anything you (reasonably) could want and the basis of your life is not monetary/material but more about economic power, political influence, access to inaccessible people and places. Examples might be anything that is actually "exclusive" (as opposed to the marketing term applied to everything), relating to and breeding with people at or above your ranks and, various markers of your importance in this world to show off to others (Awards, recognitions, philanthropy) ...