Changes

'''Economic classes''' are generally divided into the [[rich]] upper class or [[aristocracy]], the [[middle class]], and the [[poor]] lower class. People in the upper class are so [[wealth]]y that they don't have to work. The middle class work for a living midway in comfort between wealth and poverty. They can be either [[white collar]] or [[blue collar]] workers. The lower class are so poor that they often beg for alms as in the [[untouchables]] [[caste]] in [[India]].

'''Economic classes''' are generally divided into the [[rich]] upper class or [[aristocracy]], the [[middle class]], and the [[poor]] lower class. People in the upper class are so [[wealth]]y that they don't have to work. The middle class work for a living midway in comfort between wealth and poverty. They can be either [[white collar]] or [[blue collar]] workers. The lower class are so poor that they often beg for alms as in the [[untouchables]] [[caste]] in [[India]].

The conditions of the three classes has varied by time and place. In free societies, [[upward mobility]] makes it possible for poor people to become middle class, and this is rather common. Less frequently, middle class people become rich.

The conditions of the three classes has varied by time and place. In free societies, [[upward mobility]] makes it possible for poor people to become middle class, and this is rather common. Less frequently, middle-class people become rich.

In [[List of Communist States|Communist]] countries, as in other highly stratified societies, people rarely change class. This is ironic, because [[Communist]]s justify the revolutionary overthrow of "[[Capitalism]]" by saying they will create a [[classless society]], but actually they just replace the old upper class of with a new one; see [[Nomenklatura]].

In [[List of Communist States|Communist]] countries, as in other highly stratified societies, people rarely change class. This is ironic, because [[Communist]]s justify the revolutionary overthrow of "[[Capitalism]]" by saying they will create a [[classless society]], but actually they just replace the old upper class of with a new one; see [[Nomenklatura]].

* “The way to crush the [[middle class]] is to grind them between the millstones of [[taxation]] and [[inflation]].” -- [[Lenin]]

* “The way to crush the [[middle class]] is to grind them between the millstones of [[taxation]] and [[inflation]].” -- [[Lenin]]

==See Also==

==See also==

* [[Social class]] and [[Economic class]]

* [[Social class]] and Economic class

* [[Upward mobility]]

* [[Upward mobility]]

* [[Aristocracy]] or [[Nobility]]

* [[Aristocracy]] or [[Nobility]]

----

----

* [[Caste system]]

* [[Caste system]]

* [[Brahmin]]s -- priests and scholars

* [[Brahmin]]s—priests and scholars

* [[Kshatriya]] -- [[warrior]]s and [[noble]]s

* [[Kshatriya]] -- [[warrior]]s and [[noble]]s

* [[Vaishya]] -- [[merchant]]s and [[farmer]]s

* [[Vaishya]] -- [[merchant]]s and [[farmer]]s

* Shudra -- artisans and those of the [[serf]] class.  

* Shudra—artisans and those of the [[serf]] class.  

* [[Untouchables]] -- the lowest [[social class]]

* [[Untouchables]]—the lowest [[social class]]

==References==

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

{{reflist|2}}

==External Sites==

==External links==

* http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/the-real-meaning-of-downward-class-migration

* http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/the-real-meaning-of-downward-class-migration

* http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/do-not-make-fun-of-those-that-have-fallen-out-of-the-middle-class-you-could-be-next

* http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/do-not-make-fun-of-those-that-have-fallen-out-of-the-middle-class-you-could-be-next

[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Sociology]]

[[Category:Sociology]]

[[Category:Marxist terminology]]

[[Category:Marxist Terminology]]

[[Category:Communism]]

[[Category:Communism]]

[[Category:Feudalism]]

[[Category:Feudalism]]