this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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There is no true definition of middle class. People making only $30k a month consider themselves middle class and people making $1 million also think they are middle class.
There is no 'middle' class. There is only ownership and labour.
I would argue there are at least 3 classes:
The impoverished class that makes their living from the charity of others
The working class that makes their living from their labor
The ownership class that makes their living from owning things
You basically can't live on charity one of the classes you mentioned almost doesn't exist
in sane countries you actually can go quite far on charity alone, most every civilized place on earth outside of the US fully understands that most crime is done out of desperation than anything else...so they insure there are plentiful safety nets.
rock bottom in austrailia doesn't compare to rock bottom in (insert red state of choice)
Fair enough, but in a more just system, the impoverished class would barely exist, if at all.
FTFY :P
Thanks
How about those that own things and control people so much that they can somehow get enough charity to live off it?
I somehow fail to understand how that manages to be a viable method.
FTFY. You’re welcome.
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Ha! Many thanks
There are people who are fully owners and don't do any labour, and those who subsist entirely on their labour and don't own anything. Would it be fair to say that the middle class is anyone who works but still owns a non-zero amount of appreciating or revenue-generating assets?
If we guesstimate middle class by comparable lifestyle when the term was coined, it starts around 250k in today money. Comfortable house, lots of kids, multiple cars (but not luxury), at least one real traveling vacation every year, never worrying about paying bills or buying food, all while saving enough to retire by 55. There aren't many people in the US with the income to match that. I'd say the middle class is dead.
I always take the middle class as the threshold where you have sufficient passive income to afford a dignified lifestyle without needing to work anymore but may choose to.
Examples would be landlords with a decent portfolio, business owners where all the work is done for them, and people with substantial savings and investments.
If you have to work to pay the bills, no matter how much you're on, you're working class. This can even include millionaires in high cost lifestyles.
If you're so rich that you no longer need to care about the value of money then you are upper class.
"I always take the middle class as the threshold where you have sufficient passive income ... Examples would be landlords"
Please don't bring parasites into this
That's a lot of caveats.