• Neato
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    5 months ago

    As with many terms describing social class, working class is defined and used in many different ways. One definition, used by many socialists, is that the working class includes all those who have nothing to sell but their labour. These people used to be referred to as the proletariat. In that sense, the working class today includes both white and blue-collar workers, manual and menial workers of all types, excluding only individuals who derive their livelihood from business ownership and the labour of others.

    Emphasis mine. I’m not sure how the OP differs in this definition. If you HAVE to work to survive, you aren’t earning a livelihood from ownership and the labor of others (passive income).

    • iopq@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      So the poor CEO making a few million a year who is only selling his labor to the company, is working class. The guy who retired at 70 is upper class because he’s living off his investments

      • Neato
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        5 months ago

        Only if he needs that job. But he probably has enough stock options he could retire.

        • iopq@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          So now some random office worker with stock options is upper class? Tech companies often offer them as part of compensation, not sure about other ones