Abdul El-Sayed has been vocal about who he thinks the Democratic Party should prioritize. While addressing the United Auto Workers earlier this summer, he, now the Democratic Senate nominee from Michigan, expressed it was “about time” for Democrats to be “solidly on the side of working people.”
Though he isn’t affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, El-Sayed identifies as a capitalist. Still, his association with Bernie Sanders positions him among the notable voices of the economic left, opposing corporate influence and wealthy elites as he advocates for an economy that benefits everyday workers.
Interestingly, El-Sayed’s background is not your typical working-class narrative—he’s a Rhodes Scholar with medical and doctoral degrees from prestigious institutions. Yet, in today’s climate, he’s hardly alone in this regard.
Lunch Box Imagery
Once, “working class” conjured an unmistakable image of a man named Sal, sporting calloused hands, lugging a steel lunch box, and laboring early in the morning to ensure his children had decent shoes. Fast forward to a recent Pew Research Center report that found 60% of Americans now feel “working class” resonates with them—this includes half of college graduates and notably, half of those in upper-income brackets.
But who fits the “working class” label today? Historically, this question isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Under the Marxian lens, it refers to individuals who earn their living through labor, rather than ownership of assets. By these standards, an adjunct professor might actually have a stronger claim to proletarian status than a self-employed plumber who has a small team.
However, the typical image most associate with the term doesn’t quite reflect that reality. Over the 20th century, the term “working class” evolved, gaining not only economic but also cultural connotations—thoughts of factory workers, tradespeople, and service industry workers, all engaged in hands-on labor and dependent on hourly wages.
The Educated Class
Today, these meanings are beginning to clash. The modern left seems to be resurrecting a version of the earlier economic definition. There’s now a unique new group identifying as a part of the proletariat—well-educated Americans who, despite their impressive credentials, don’t have substantial financial resources.
Nate Silver recently analyzed membership data from the Democratic Socialists of America, revealing this trend. Data from the DSA’s 2021 survey showed that 80% of their members over 25 had bachelor’s degrees, yet 45% reported household incomes below $60,000.
Political analyst Ruy Teixeira refers to this demographic as the “educated precariat.” They’re well-educated but often find that the expected financial stability associated with their degrees isn’t realized. This group may feel entitled to dictate how society should function, even as they’ve lost the economic status they thought the diplomas would fetch them.
In essence, they’ve not just joined the working class; they’ve taken on the role of its spokespersons.
Class Divide
Teixeira highlights a noticeable absence of non-college educated working-class Americans in DSA activities. He argues that socialist candidates typically perform better in predominantly white professional-class areas than in working-class black and Hispanic communities.
The articulate left often speaks in the name of workers while appearing to live in a separate cultural sphere from the blue-collar individuals it claims to represent. They’ve adapted traditional Marxist ideas, filtering them through a very different lens, transforming class struggle into a niche political identity for the educated class.
Interestingly, those most versed in class struggles often seem to lack real connections to those who actually engage in hands-on labor. Meanwhile, individuals genuinely working with their hands, like the steel lunch box owner, are increasingly casting their votes for Republicans.
Polling indicates that 67% of Republicans identify as working class, compared to 55% of Democrats. Even among upper-income Americans, 61% of Republicans self-identify as working class, while only 38% of Democrats do so. Among college graduates, it’s also notable that Republicans are more likely to describe themselves in this way.
Valor Misappropriation
This discrepancy helps clarify why the left and right often appear to speak different languages regarding class. The socialist left tends to frame class in terms of economic vulnerability and the dynamics between labor and capital, while the credentialed left seems to want to voice the workers’ grievances without acknowledging their strengths. To them, themes of exploitation and victimhood signal moral superiority, but notions of self-reliance and family responsibility don’t quite fit into the progressive narrative.
On the right, these values are tightly intertwined with working-class identity—emphasizing pride in hard work and putting family ahead of corporate diversity agendas, while also rejecting the condescension of credentialed bureaucrats.
Consider a contractor running a small team who may earn six figures but has little in common with a university administrator earning the same. One constructs tangible structures; the other merely creates policy documents that justify their own existence.
True blue-collar workers, those engaged in manual labor, deserve to own their identity without sharing it with those who might merely be role-playing as part of the working class. Picture a diesel mechanic laboring long hours versus a brand strategist working remotely—they exist in entirely different worlds.
The contemporary left spent years promoting higher education as the route to prosperity, then seemingly usurped the cultural capital of blue-collar life when academic credentials didn’t yield the expected security. Conservatives don’t need to own factories to support the working class; they simply recognize the dignity inherent in hard work and respect those who fix problems rather than complicate them with bureaucracy.
The educated class may claim to speak for the working class, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the latter asked them to.
