That's actually a different version of "class" that's used in other parts of the world. I think the UK uses (used?) it...
In that sense, "class" is about your station in life. A skilled merchant might make more money than a landed noble (especially when the industrial revolution started to take hold), but was still considered to be of a lower class, because one is a noble, and the other just a merchant - almost a *worker*!. In that day, a laborer never made very much, and that's why "working class" is often equated with poverty.
I'd guess that a steelworker would be "working class" and the white collar folks are a different, nominally higher, class, even if the steelworker is making a lot more money. Because in that system, relative wealth isn't part of the measurement.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-04-04 05:32 pm (UTC)In that sense, "class" is about your station in life. A skilled merchant might make more money than a landed noble (especially when the industrial revolution started to take hold), but was still considered to be of a lower class, because one is a noble, and the other just a merchant - almost a *worker*!. In that day, a laborer never made very much, and that's why "working class" is often equated with poverty.
I'd guess that a steelworker would be "working class" and the white collar folks are a different, nominally higher, class, even if the steelworker is making a lot more money. Because in that system, relative wealth isn't part of the measurement.