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Being towards death

Heed not to the tree-rustling and leaf-lashing rain, Why not stroll along, whistle and sing under its rein. Lighter and better suited than horses are straw sandals and a bamboo staff, Who's afraid? A palm-leaf plaited cape provides enough to misty weather in life sustain. A thorny spring breeze sobers up the spirit, I feel a slight chill, The setting sun over the mountain offers greetings still. Looking back over the bleak passage survived, The return in time Shall not be affected by windswept rain or shine.
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Which class do you belong to? Uncovering the truth of social stratification

#读书摘要200
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The text analyzes the current social class structure, depicting it as a pyramid divided into nine levels and four dimensions: officials, businesspeople, workers, and farmers. It highlights the disparities in opportunities and resources among different social strata, emphasizing that understanding these dynamics is crucial for navigating society. ### Key Points: 1. **Social Class Structure**: The society is structured as a pyramid with three main tiers—upper (1-3), middle (4-6), and lower (7-9)—based on power, wealth, and intelligence. 2. **Upper Class (1-3)**: A small elite controlling power and capital, difficult for outsiders to penetrate. 3. **Middle Class (4-6)**: Comprises professionals and stable middle-income earners, facing intense competition and limited upward mobility. 4. **Lower Class (7-9)**: Struggling for basic survival, with low resilience to risks and limited opportunities for advancement. 5. **Mobility Challenges**: Ascending the social ladder is difficult, with significant barriers between levels. Education and capital are crucial for upward movement, while economic downturns can easily push individuals down. 6. **Future Trends**: Urbanization and the digital economy may offer new opportunities, but the alliance of power and capital could exacerbate existing inequalities. 7. **Strategies for Advancement**: Individuals in lower tiers should acquire scarce skills, while those in the middle should focus on asset accumulation to avoid downward mobility. The analysis concludes that the social class system remains entrenched, with clear rules that dictate success and failure. Understanding these rules is essential for navigating the complexities of social mobility.

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A Panorama Analysis of Current Social Classes#

Everyone lives in society, but most people have never truly understood it. Some enter large companies right after graduation, while others send out 100 resumes but hear nothing back; some have family help to buy a house, while others save for ten years for a down payment but can't keep up with housing prices; some easily earn a million a year, while others work 996 overtime just to make ends meet. Why do different people have such vastly different lives, work, and fates? To truly understand this question, one must have a basic understanding of social classes.

What does society really look like? How does it operate? This question seems simple, yet few can answer it, but it constantly influences everyone's fate. This question should be the first lesson for everyone entering society, but unfortunately, no one teaches it:

  • Schools won't teach it; textbooks only say "everyone is equal" without telling you that resource distribution is vastly different;
  • Parents don't know how to teach it; the previous generation was swept along by the tide and many didn't have time to see the rules of society clearly;
  • Society dares not teach it because vested interests hope the lower classes remain complacent, ideally never thinking too much.

Because only those who can see the rules clearly can find the breakthrough points in life.

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I. The Essence of Social Class Structure: A Nine-Layer Four-Dimensional Pyramid#

Current society presents a typical pyramid structure, built on three core elements: power, wealth, and intelligence. It can be vertically divided into nine major classes and horizontally categorized into four dimensions: officials, business, labor, and agriculture. This structure reflects both the path dependence of historical evolution and the integration of market economy and institutional characteristics.

Vertical — Nine Major Classes#

  • Upper Class (Levels 1-3): A very small number of people who control the lifeblood of society
  • Middle Class (Levels 4-6): Wealthy urban populations, middle-income groups
  • Lower Class (Levels 7-9): Barely making ends meet, with zero risk resistance

Horizontal — Four Major Groups#

Regardless of the level, one cannot escape these four identities:

  • Officials (power system)
  • Business (capital system)
  • Labor (intellectual or physical laborers)
  • Agriculture (lower class under urban-rural differentiation)

II. Vertical Analysis: Nine Major Classes#

From a vertical perspective, society can be divided into nine major classes, with the logic of class division being the chain of "power — capital — labor."

  1. Upper Society (Levels 1-3): Absolute controllers of power and capital
    The core feature of this class: power and capital are highly concentrated, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to enter, relying on intergenerational transmission or special opportunities.

  2. Middle Society (Levels 4-6): A competitive arena for professional abilities and local resources

    • Level 4 (Elite Ceiling): Famous professionals, medium-sized business owners, core executives of large enterprises, the limit of ordinary people's struggle, requiring support from upper-class connections.
    • Level 5 (Stable Middle Class): Small and medium-sized business owners, middle-level managers, professors, multiple property owners, well-known professionals, possessing careers but with narrow upward mobility.
    • Level 6 (Knowledge Workers): Owners of micro-enterprises, potential white-collar workers, young university teachers, relying on education but facing severe competition. Core feature: primarily intellectual labor, intense competition, Level 4 represents a "glass ceiling," while Levels 5-6 easily fall into "middle-class anxiety." One can rely on education, skills, and connections to break into Level 4, but competition in Levels 5-6 is fierce, and a slight misstep can lead to a fall.

  3. Lower Society (Levels 7-9): Survival pressure and mobility traps

    • Level 7 (Urban Marginal Groups): Ordinary clerks, regular employees, small individual entrepreneurs, affluent farmers, barely standing but with no asset accumulation.
    • Level 8 (Physical Laborers): Non-regular workers, lower-level workers, ordinary farmers, can only maintain basic living standards, with extremely low risk resistance.
    • Level 9 (Social Bottom): Unemployed, low-income employees, remote poor farmers, unable to meet basic living needs. Core feature: primarily physical labor, internal mobility within the class is easy (e.g., from Level 7 to 8), but crossing into the middle class requires breaking through systemic barriers.

III. Horizontal Analysis: Four Dimensions of Officials, Business, Labor, and Agriculture#

  1. Officials (Power System): This section is omitted.

  2. Business (Capital System)

    • Upper Class: Billionaire business owners (Level 3) closely tied to policies.
    • Middle Class: Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (Levels 4-5) rely on a balance of market and policy.
    • Lower Class: Individual entrepreneurs (Level 7) face significant survival pressure and are easily impacted by economic fluctuations.

  3. Labor (Intellectual/Physical Labor)

    • Middle Class: Senior technicians, professional managers (Levels 4-6) exchange knowledge for compensation.
    • Lower Class: Workers (Levels 7-8) trapped in a "low skill — low income" cycle.

  4. Agriculture (Land and Labor)

    • Only existing in the lower class: A clear divide between affluent farmers (Level 7) and poor farmers (Levels 8-9), reflecting the imbalance in urban-rural resource distribution. "Agriculture" completely disappears in the upper and middle classes, and crossing the urban-rural divide is difficult; "labor" must transform to reach the middle class, while pure laborers are forever stuck below Level 6.

IV. Social Mobility and Structural Contradictions#

  1. Upward Mobility Channels

    • Education: Level 6 (college graduates) → Level 4 (elites) is the main path, but the devaluation of prestigious degrees intensifies competition.
    • Capital Accumulation: Level 5 (small business owners) → Level 3 requires a hundredfold capital leap, relying on policy dividends or risk speculation.
    • Promotion within the System: Level 6 → Level 4 requires connections and opportunities, with 90% stopping at the exam.

  2. Downward Risks

    • Middle Class (Levels 5-6) can easily slide down to Level 7 due to unemployment, illness, or economic crises.
    • Lower Class (Levels 7-8) has weak risk resistance; a major illness or unemployment can plunge them into Level 9.

  3. Structural Dilemmas

    • Power Solidification: The upper class (Levels 1-3) is extremely closed, with capital and power mutually reinforcing.
    • Middle Class Shrinking: Levels 4-6 are squeezed by high housing prices and education and healthcare costs, with some sliding into "new poverty."
    • Large Lower Class: Levels 7-9 account for over 60% (according to urban-rural income data), but "poverty alleviation" from Level 8 to 7 is easy, while "leaping" from Level 7 to 6 is difficult.

V. Laws of Class Mobility#

  • Easy Mobility (Within the Lower Class)

    • Level 9 → Level 8: Poverty alleviation or moving to the city can suffice.
    • Level 8 → Level 7: Learning a skill (like operating an excavator) can raise monthly salary from 3000 to 8000.

  • Difficult Transitions (Key Thresholds)

    • Level 7 → Level 6: Requires education + entering the system/large companies, with an elimination rate exceeding 80%.
    • Level 5 → Level 4: Requires capital accumulation of millions or upper-class connections, with ordinary people's probability < 1%.
    • Level 3 → Level 2: Non-blood or mentor-student relationships are nearly impossible.

VI. Future Trends: From Pyramid to Spindle Shape?#

  1. Optimistic Signals

    • The population of Level 8 (ordinary farmers) is decreasing, and urbanization is pushing some groups into Level 7.
    • The digital economy is creating new professions (like internet celebrities and freelancers), providing non-traditional upward paths for Level 6.

  2. Pessimistic Challenges

    • The alliance of power and capital exacerbates monopolies in the upper and middle classes.
    • Educational competition further narrows the channel from Level 6 to 4, with "lying flat" culture spreading.

VII. Coping Strategies#

  • If at Levels 7-9: Learn scarce skills (like elderly care/postpartum care, new energy maintenance) to avoid low-end competition.
  • If at Levels 4-6: Accumulate quality assets (core properties, hard skills) to prevent downward mobility.
  • If aiming for Level 4+: Seize policy opportunities (like AI, carbon neutrality) to bind with power or capital.

VIII. One Last Word#

The essence of the nine-class system is a "limited mobility society dominated by power and capital": the upper class (Levels 1-3) takes the largest share of the cake, the middle class (Levels 4-6) struggles in stock competition, and the lower class (Levels 7-9) hovers above the line of subsistence. Social stratification has never disappeared; it has just become more hidden. Those who see the rules clearly may not necessarily win; but those who cannot see them are destined to lose.

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