Also from the article, and dealing with the author's contention that Marx did not anticipate how a regulated form of Capitalism could thrive:
Self-employment has increased rather than decreased in contemporary capitalism. Stock ownership has become relatively widespread, giving a wider share of the population a stake in capitalist relations of production. More households have become cross-class, with husbands and wives occupying positions on the class ladder. Finally, wage inequalities and job differentiations have increased at both the bottom and the top of the income distribution, thus belying the notion of homogenous working and capitalist classes.
While the rate of self employment and stock ownership have both increased, these gains are illusory at best.
While the number of people who are self-employed has increased, many of these people are "employed" as part time, conditional, on demand employees. An Uber driver might be legally classified as self-employed, but if self-employed was understood to mean "making a living", many of the self-employed would be seen as partially and unsustainably employed.
And yes, many people do own stock, but 83% of common stock ownership is held by the top 1%. If I have an IRA invested in stocks, and my IRA is worth less than a million dollars, any gains are negligible at best. The last studies that I read talked of a median IRA account value of approximately $18,000. Even if such an account gained 20% a year there is no way that account holder could retire on that account.
In addition,
As such, the capacity of the working class to act collectively has declined rather than expanded in contemporary capitalism. In addition, workers have been able to successfully pursue their interests within Democratic capitalist states in a way that Marx could not have imagined. According to Wright, these arguments cast serious doubt on the extent to which the working class can be considered a revolutionary actor.
The idea that the vast majority of workers have been able to "...pursue their interests etc..." is an illusion. Workers are working more jobs, and more hours just to keep pace with expenses.
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