Reply to The DC Legal Proletariat Isn't Rich

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The endless debates on DCUM about whether double income families with a $500K to $2 million in HHI are rich seems to result from a conflation of income distribution data-based definitions of "rich" and more reasonable definitions of wealth based on net worth.

Marx provided some useful social definitions of class in a capitalist society.

In our flavor of capitalism, there is [b]no monarchs. aristocracy, nobility, etc[/b].  The closest analogues in our society are life-long officials in the Supreme Court, professional politicians Congress and dynasties that have easier access to the Presidential office nationally or the Governorship in States.  These comprise a small number of people in our society.

We have a [b]peasantry[/b] in our society which tracks with peasantries in history.  These are the folks today fighting to survive on or close to minimum wage, struggling economically through life.  This is the analogue to the lower social and economic classes in our society.

There is a bourgeoisie which is defined simply as those who are able to live well from the proceeds of their ownership of capital.  Work is optional.  Some choose to work hard to preserve or expand their capital, but the key is that work is a choice. This is the analogue to the upper social and economic classes in our society.

Finally there is the proletariat which is defined as the class that exchanges their time and labor for money and that is, for all intents and purposes, the only thing that they have to earn a living.  This is the analogue to the middle social and economic classes in our society.

Most high legal HHI households in the DMV that are on DCUM either fall in:

the proletariat if they lack enough net worth to produce the income needed to replace their income from work or the income needed to maintain their HHI lifestyle

and

the bourgeoisie if their net worth is greater than the amount they need to generate the income to maintain their high HHI lifestyle independent of what they choose to do for work.

The Bourgeoisie is rich. The Proletariat is struggling to survive socially and economically and to transition from upper middle class to rich.

If you have a $2 million HHI but you are one pink slip away from bankruptcy because you spend in a way that leaves you in a hole every month, it is a tragic position in our society.  You don't control your time and your security depends on not being hit by a car or having an event that keeps you from working.  But no one will shed a tear if they slip and fall.

Regardless of how you feel about Marx's views on his ideal society, which suffers from a poor economic incentive structure, his observations about capitalism and its structure appear useful.[/quote]

Proletariat point doesn't make sense because the HHI lifestyle can keep going higher at people's discretion.  Meanwhile, someone doing extreme frugal retirement living off their assets would meet your criteria of bourgeoisie.[/quote]

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