-
Hmm, you seem to misunderstand me. Marx distinguished 2 classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat (ed.: I’m including the lumpenproletariat) . If someone depends on their labour to survive they’re part of the proletariat, whether they’re white collar doctors with two houses and a mortgage or blue collar factory workers scraping to get by.
You seem to have missed the whole bit where he talked about the petite bourgeoisie as a transitional class (and not in a temporal sense).
Distinguishing strongly between ‘middle’ and ‘working’ class is, in my limited experience, peculiarly British.
You're right; your experience is limited.
itsbruce-
I’d hoped you’d mention that, as the transitional nature of the petty bourgeoisie in the UK seems to refer mainly to their value system, which they align with the upper class’. Their chances of actually transitioning from middle to upper class in the UK appears to be significantly (laughably) smaller than in other countries.
You're right; your experience is limited.
Then enlighten me, which other countries have this distinction? I don’t doubt they exist, but having lived across most of the Americas I’m unaware of them. There’s certainly an upper-middle class that includes micro capitalists and white collar workers, and they also delude themselves into thinking they’re different from the middle class.
Eseman
Hmm, you seem to misunderstand me. Marx distinguished 2 classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat (ed.: I’m including the lumpenproletariat) . If someone depends on their labour to survive they’re part of the proletariat, whether they’re white collar doctors with two houses and a mortgage or blue collar factory workers scraping to get by.
Distinguishing strongly between ‘middle’ and ‘working’ class is, in my limited experience, peculiarly British. Lawyers and doctors are generally middle class, manual labourers are generally working class, and neither appreciates being told they’re the opposite. Thing is they’re both proletariat i.e., working class, but the white collar workers or ‘middle’ class are thrown a feel-good bone by not being bundled together with the ‘working’ class. Ed.: this is what I meant by breaking class awareness.