You&#x27;re on Hacker News. <i>Plenty</i> of people here are programmers pulling in six-figure incomes (more than most managers in this nation) but only <i>some</i> of them have the power to fire <i>anyone</i>. If you say we can&#x27;t call these people &quot;middle class&quot; (or better) we&#x27;re choosing language which is either at odds with reality or at odds with communicating effectively (pick one).