I’m not arguing we aren’t all crabs in a bucket - but telling someone who’s working poor that the guy making 5-10x as much as them and still living paycheck to paycheck just like them doesn’t help anyone?
Nor does it accurately represent how much worse their situation is?
It’s not about representing how good or bad a worker has it on the spectrum of working class. It’s about recognizing a class of lifeway that two extreme ends share.
Put it this way, you have housecats who are pampered and treated to the finest food and veterinary care, and housecats who are left to limp around pathetically getting barely enough food.
But they’re both pets.
It has nothing to do with how well they’re treated, it’s just what they are.
I think if you asked the two cats they might tell you something else.
I know which one I’d prefer to be.
They might even tell you’re they’re not the same. And one cat would kill a bitch to be the other cat.
The point isn’t to erase the difference between the two, it’s to get those on the “good” end of the spectrum to realise they have more in common with those on the “bad” end, than their owners. “There but for the grace of god go I” kind of stuff.
It’s about class solidarity. If the two ends can recognise how similar in kind (if not in material comforts) they are, then those with more power can bargain to get those with less a better life.