Rand BarthelSep 18, 2023
JindrⒶ (in shell)

Making a distinction between "the exploited" and "the exploiters" is a really big oversimplification. If one wants to use Marxist analysis in their daily life, this is not gonna help.

Like, obviously there is a difference between billionaires and the rest of us. Obviously, a rich IT worker is not really "as evil" as Elon Musk. But that's like all the insight you will get from this framework.

Terms like middle class help, because they actually (somewhat) meaningfully describe reality. There are not only 2 classes in a society, there are more. And there are different societies with different class compositions.

And what class you're from actually really influences how you're thinking and behaving. I come from upper middle class (approximately). When I went to college I was like "of course I want to go to college what do you mean". I had friends in college before I went there already.

My friends "lower on the social ladder" rarely went to college and if they did, it was without the support of their surroundings (if I may speak for them). It was a bigger deal.

And that's just one example of a huge difference.
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Sep 17, 2023 at 3:00pmWeb
Show threadJindrⒶ (in shell)Sep 17, 2023

I honestly think that your class background shapes your character about as strongly as your assigned gender at birth.

Being aware of our class backgrounds and the biases that come from it is really important when working in radical collectives. The revolution will be across class background so to speak. And we need to learn how to overcome the fear or antagonism people might feel against each other.

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Show threadJindrⒶ (in shell)Sep 17, 2023

As I said, in different societies there will be different classes. I think it is important for us to have a think about which classes there are in the societies we live in.

We need more nuanced models lower class, middle class, upper class.

For example, in the Czech society, Daniel Prokop made an interesting study (which my Czech peers know) that identified 6 social classes:
https://www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-domov/ceska-spolecnost-vyzkum-tridy-kalkulacka_1909171000_zlo

It surely has flaws, but I guess it's good thing to use as a start.

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Unikátní výzkum: česká společnost se nedělí na dva tábory, ale do šesti tříd. Zjistěte, do které patříte vy

Sociologové ve velkém výzkumu pro Český rozhlas rozdělili českou společnost do šesti společenských tříd. V online kalkulačce si můžete vyzkoušet, do které jejich model zařadí vás.

iROZHLAS.cz
Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Sep 17, 2023
@jindra There's still no middle class though. "Middle class" is an abstract term that anyone can shapeshift to fit themselves in it even if they're a small business tyrant
Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Sep 17, 2023
@jindra I'd go as far as saying middle class as a term, or a valid classification, was made up by (neoliberal) economists and similar jerks as a part of the claim poverty is no more