i think this ignores the material demographic reality that whereas when that quote was said most of the world was the proletariat, now most of the world is middle class (at least, the world that Lemmy users live in)
The middle class has been shrinking my entire adult life. The gap between people who start with nothing and work their way up and the people who start with a massive boost and accelerate in wealth accumulation faster than the bootstrappers ever could has grown by an astounding multiple in the past 50 years.
i think this ignores the material demographic reality that whereas when that quote was said most of the world was the proletariat, now most of the world is middle class (at least, the world that Lemmy users live in)
The middle class has been shrinking my entire adult life. The gap between people who start with nothing and work their way up and the people who start with a massive boost and accelerate in wealth accumulation faster than the bootstrappers ever could has grown by an astounding multiple in the past 50 years.