[ClumsyPilot]

"I consider myself middle class, I have advanced degrees and work in a scientific field"

Maybe what we understand as middle class is actually just a well-fed pleb.

Real middle class probably should have control of their day at least, so we have almost no middle class.

[chii]

> Maybe what we understand as middle class is actually just a well-fed pleb.

I think that has always been the case - the middle class is what civilization rests on for productivity and creation of goods and services. They are the most exploited bunch, but some smart ones have managed to save and invest enough to escape that middle class, and into the financially independent class (which may be previously called the landed gentry).