Middle class has no Marxist category. It's just a social conception that means "not elite" and "not quite a plebian". In the days of heredity nobility, the bourgeoisie we're widely considered the "middle class" below the aristocracy and above the small proprietors and serfs. Over time, middle class came to mean "petit boug and higher paid workers" which it basically is today. It's an aspirational category, and America has always been about aspiration. Nowadays, it's harder and harder to live a "middle class lifestyle", so fewer and fewer workers are able to be apart of it. I'd say $75k a year for a single person or like $120-140k for a family is what it takes to live "middle class" now, so it's out of reach for most.
Middle class has no Marxist category. It's just a social conception that means "not elite" and "not quite a plebian". In the days of heredity nobility, the bourgeoisie we're widely considered the "middle class" below the aristocracy and above the small proprietors and serfs. Over time, middle class came to mean "petit boug and higher paid workers" which it basically is today. It's an aspirational category, and America has always been about aspiration. Nowadays, it's harder and harder to live a "middle class lifestyle", so fewer and fewer workers are able to be apart of it. I'd say $75k a year for a single person or like $120-140k for a family is what it takes to live "middle class" now, so it's out of reach for most.