[carnagii]

Class is not about money. This was an iron law up until a couple hundred years ago but the American attempt to create a classless society obscures it. The earlier belief that class was about "blood" was crude and probably mostly inaccurate (although genetic affinity does confer some benefits to a group) but the real mechanism for class transference is more likely the unconscious education that children receive from interacting with their parents and their peer group.

European history is full of destitute monarchs and nobility. The key to understanding the elite is that they are usually not wealthy - they are deeply in debt most of the time and that is what makes them seem so successful.

To understand this simply: suppose you have lots of money. naturally people will try to take it from you and may even kill you to steal it. On the other hand suppose you have lots of debts. Your creditors must keep you alive in order to recover their money and will steer business your way because they have a stake in whatever you earn.

So, counterintutitve as it may seem, having (the right) debts will make it easier to succeed then having lots of money.