In reading Cerriere's Answer, I was struck by the line " . . . if, by class, we mean the amount of economic control you have over your work." (Seems to be almost the same as the "pawn your license" critique.) I found this definition remarkable because it turns on its head assumptions about class as a descriptor of purchasing power, political clout, or relationship to industry/productivity.

In some ways, when we graduate, we get to pick our "class" in that we can decide how much control over our work we will maintain. My friend's argument was that biglaw associates produce consumable goods (memos and briefs) at an hourly rate, a better argument seems to be that they are not part of the upper class because they maintain no real decision making authority over how their time is spent or their work is used.

It isn't, necessarily, an all or nothing proposition. There are places between hanging your own shingle and Cravath that offer various degrees of autonomy. And, perhaps servitude is a more comfortable place for the risk-adverse. Nevertheless, as the firms continue to throw goodies in our face, it is interesting to think about whether they are inviting us to partake in the consumption of them, or whether we, as associates, are like the servants Veblen talks about who work to show off the master's wealth but who do not truly have any of their own.

-- AdamCarlis - 27 Mar 2008

I'm not sure the "if by" you point out in Cerriere really makes much difference for the classification you imply when you say that one class is the "capitalist/ruling/upper." There are all sorts of classifications, and I think that (say) purchasing power and control over one's work shouldn't even be considered on the same continuum (just as some would probably argue that purchasing power and blue-blooded breeding are on different and not always coincident scales).

Dictionaries talk about "socioeconomic" classes but I think there's a great case for splitting them and leaving you with the less shocking idea that fresh biglaw associates are of a high economic and mediocre social class.

-- DanielHarris - 27 Mar 2008