There is no such thing as “middle class”

Leah Rowe

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Article published by: Leah Rowe

Date of publication: 13 February 2023

Introduction

I’m basically a libertarian. What you do with your life is your business, and nobody has the right to tell you any differently. Obviously in the real world we all have to compromise and accept some small sacrifices, but that is where I lean. I joined the Conservative party (UK one) in late 2022.

Trans rights? I’m trans myself. Trans rights are human rights. Religious rights? I’m an atheist and think you’re all nuts, but: fair game. Property rights? Sure thing. Government telling me what I can and cannot do with my own body? Fuck off. Welfare state? Ideally we’d have zero percent unemployment but we don’t, so fair enough.

I could rattle on and on but you get the point. I’m liberal on social issues and want compassionate but sensible government, and sound money. Got it?

I used to be a socialist, but my views turned, over many years. I’m basically a moderate Tory. The article you’re about to read is actually about views I’ve always had; the same views can be argued from a left- or right-wing angle (if argued from a left-wing angle, you might add Universal Basic Income to the mix, which is something I’m not entirely against either as it does have some merit, and was literally invented by a libertarian… boring. You want to read the article, right? Look up Negative Income Tax afterward, if you’re as bored as I am)

I’m a small-c conservative. I’m not like the whores you see on TV. Anyway, here’s the fucking article:

(this article was restored during May 2024, having previouslyy been deleted in November 2023, but I decided to restore it. The above text is changed because the old text was shit, but the article below is unmodified)

Class is bullshit

Class is a concept that says humanity is separated into different groups. The typical types of class that you will hear about, in many countries, are:

These three terms describe exactly the same people. Upper class just means a higher wage, and middle class means middle-income earners. “Working class” is used to refer basically to low-wage workers, but I regard the other two types of people above as working class too - the existence of those terms middle and upper class, are designed to pit all working class people against each other, so that they don’t think about the ruling class.

To be more clear: I think these terms are designed to muddle people’s thought patterns, so that they literally do not think clearly about the nature of the world. The people that sit outside these groups (the ruling class, or owner class as I like to collectively call them) might, intentionally or otherwise, use the above three terms to confuse people - for example, if you run a company that hires 10 people, you don’t want those people suddenly thinking about overthrowing you or (more likely) starting a competing company, so you divide them: give the really smart people capable of that a much higher salary, but not too high (50-80k should be enough to satiate most of their desires), and the really thick ones that can’t do basic maths or string two sentences together, have them scrub the toilets.

Very rarely (by design) will you hear of these classes:

The term ruling class is the one you’ll hear, but I dislike this term too, because it’s factually inaccurate. There is only so much that one person can do, or a small clique of people can do. The reality is that humanity only functions collectively, but some of us are simply more intelligent than others, so we learn to control our lessers.

Did I mention I used to be a socialist?

I spent a lot of time in hardcore communist groups, so I also learned about their way of thinking, and I learned about things such as “class warfare” (when one class tries to seize rights and status over another; sometimes, this is referred to as class struggle - go read marx/engels if you want).

(one of my friends used to be a member of the communist party and I basically went there to hang out with him for one weekend once. I met Robert Griffiths, the leader of the Communist party, even gave him some advice about how to improve his shit website, and he didn’t take my advice)

The way I see the world is very simple, in that I see only these classes:

In both groups, there are people with less, and those with more, but the two groups are very distinct. To be more clear then, let’s split them up for the purpose of argument:

And on the owner side (each group has similar income to the equivalent worker level):

Regardless of income level, these are the two classes: workers/non-owners, and owners. The difference between them is not one of money per se, but one of mindset. One seeks to dominate, and the other has either no power, or doesn’t seize the power they could have.

Within the worker class is where the media tells us to look, because the owner class consists of people who rule the world and want to keep their power. For example, Rupert Murdoch (who owns a lot of the press around the world, where you get news from) is one of the most powerful members of the owner class.

The worker (non-owner) class mindset is drilled into most of us from birth. When we go to school, we are taught all the wrong lessons: get good grades in school, go to university later on, and get (apply for) high paying jobs - we are taught to accept controls on what we can do, and to not strive to break free. We are taught that being on a 100k salary is a very good thing; it is better than getting less than 100k, but it’s not what your goal should be.

The owner classes, regardless of how financially successful they are or how hard they work (some have more money and/or time than others), we think very differently. We are just as interested in a great variety of things (whatever we’re drawn to, in my case computer science), and we want to make the world better, but we think in terms of how we can empower ourselves, and we tend to think on a much longer term than most people. We tend to be more more selfish, and definitely more greedy, because that is what’s needed to thrive. Sometimes we fail, just like everyone, but we pick ourselves back up, and we always see ten different choices in everything; the worker mindset teaches you to only see 1 choice: get a new job when you get fired, and do as you’re told, be “nice” to others".

It is the difference between the Jedi and the Sith, for want of a (admitedly very cringeworthy) analogy. I am a sith lord at heart. I think for myself, and I do everything in my power to resist being controlled; for example, I’ve not had an employer since 2011 (my company, Minifree Ltd, is my employer, but I own that company and I’m the only shareholder - it’s all mine, and I get to take home 100% of the profit, after tax).

An owner is someone who can control one or more workers, and make a living without doing much work themselves; if they can wing it on an hour or two per week and survive even if they go awol for six months (because they have workers, and managerial staff, all kinds of people, running their affairs).

“Owner” means that you control the means to produce wealth. Wealth is not how much money you have available, but how much money you’re able to make at the present time.

An owner cannot become homeless or go hungry by being fired, because they either cannot be fired, or they have many sources of income to mitigate this; an owner can still perform work, but they don’t have to.

An owner is in control, by definition. The owner answers to nobody but themselves.

I suppose then, you could think of it instead as these classes:

If you’re a doctor, on £300k per year, more power to you. You probably love your job, otherwise why would you do it? If you run your own private practise, with staff that you control, you are then are an owner. If you work for an NHS hospital, you are most certainly not an owner.

If you’re an accountant, and you make £100k per year: great! You’re an owner if you run your own firm; if you work for an existing firm, that you do not control, then you are not part of the owner class.

You may be working for an employer, but also own a source of wealth: I suppose then you are a part-owner of your wealth.

That’s it, really. The simple explanation is this:

If you can be sacked/fired from a job, and this would result in total loss of income, then you are a non-owner, because you do not control the source of your wealth. You’re a non-owner if there’s a big red button that someone can push to make your life a living hell.

A non-owner is under control of an owner. This is the nature of the world, and it is always going to be that way (and it always has been that way). This paradigm is especially true in socialist countries, which have a lot less owners; in those places, the owner class is a much more concentrated group of power-hungry people who tell everyone else what to do, and the result is that the average person is very poor indeed - in capitalist countries, the size of the pot (national GDP) is always higher, and the owner class is more evenly distributed, with a few people at the top who do have a lot of power, but a lot more people who are… not rulers, not nationally, but they rule their own particular castle, and they have real freedom. - the other extreme end of the scale (opposite of communism or socialism) is fascism, and it’s basically the same thing as communism, in that power becomes too concentrated into an elite few who tell everyone else what to do: communist and fascist countries both execute or torture people who dare to challenge authority, and they both put restrictions on free commerce for example, or on access to information/education resources, because the rulers of those countries fear the loss of the ego trip that is their absolute unlimited power. Both communism and fascism should be avoided, at all costs, for the sake of freedom.

Time

Time is something else that most people overlook.

When we think of class, we think of money, but in my opinion, time is the most critical factor of all.

The purpose of money is to pay for things, but making money takes time - this is either your time or someone elses time. The purest type of owner (in the owner class) is someone who does not need to do work (spend time) themselves, but can command others to do work for them, to exclusion. That is what it means to be an owner.

Time matters more than money, but money matters too. You should try to have enough money to make you happy in life, but your biggest priority should be to have time to spend in your life on whatever you want - be it family (this is how most people spend their time), and/or some intellectual or creative pursuit, or recreational activity, whatever you want.

That, right there, is one of the things that the worker (non-owner) class is taught to overlook, by design. You are literally told, from a very young age, that you should get a job. Literally, the question, what do you want to be when you grow up, is a trap. You probably fell for it, as I did (not) - I recognised when I was 15 that it was a trap, and it’s why I’ve lived my life the way I have.

I value my time. A true owner controls how they spend their time.

I value my intellect, my creativityy, and my ability to use it in ways that improve my standing in the world, or otherwise amuse me. I do not want to work 40 hours per week, and I don’t. I’ve quit or been fired from every job I’ve ever had, because I simply refuse to accept orders from another owner - I’d rather be an owner myself. An owner of my time.

In poverty and in wealth, time is the thing you should value most.

You are going to die. Make every second count.

I wanted to say more, but I got bored. This article is being published as-is, in the state it’s in as I run git push to publish this article. I shall make no further changes.

Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day. Think for yourself. Live free. (and fuck you)

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