I increasingly find it more useful into “middle class” in terms of work than standard of living
Lower class = below the API
Middle class = lower half of above-API work
Upper class = top half of above API work
Leisure class = non-working halo around middle and upper
Conversation
Most useful agency is now middle class
Upper class has only one mode of weakening agency: investing
Lower class is trapped in gamified mazes they can’t escape that take up all their time/attention/energy
Middle class has all the inflation resistant skill capital
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Think about it this way: if you are 24 and have solid ML programming skills you’re in a much better position than someone with no aptitude for anything above burger-flipping skill, but with (say) $2m.
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They’ll struggle to deploy the capital meaningfully and will likely end up just consuming the $ or investing in dumb shit that loses money.
Your NPV is higher and you’ll have no trouble deploying your knowledge capital easily.
If inflation goes up it gets worse for them.
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