It's The World I Know
Everyone knows the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes, even if only as the elite versus everyone else. Most know the petit bourgeoisie and the peasantry, even if only as the middle class versus the homeless and destitute. Few know or accept that there is both a lumpenbourgeoisie and a lumpenproletariat, those declassed and operating outside the primary wage relation, from criminal networks at the top to the dispossessed at the bottom. The proletariat and peasantry are seen as one group by the capitalist system: the wage-slaves. Making the various bourgeoisie classes the wage-masters, though the criminal strata exist at every level, from Epstein's networks to the street corner and the trailer park. Steinbeck supposedly coined the term "embarrassed millionaires," and I say he left out two groups among the wage-slave class: the "embarrassed masters" and "embarrassed politicians." Those people who think they are down on their luck and just...
