Being a hired employee in a great-paying job - which I am - is actually the hallmark of the middle class. You can argue about what strata of the middle class you are in. Lower, Upper, Really Upper. I've-got-three-commas-because-I-was-employee-235-at-Google Upper. Whatever. You're still a hired hand, and you are middle class.
I disagree strongly. There comes a point in the life of a few lucky people when they
choose to work because they want to, not because they have to. Employees with all those commas fit that description perfectly. If they stay at their jobs, it's not because they need that paycheck to pay the mortgage next month. It's because working is more fun than not working at the moment. They might decide next month to try their hands at [insert self-funded project name], or they might not. This freedom makes them very much NOT in the middle class.
Looking like something doesn't make it so.
