> A lot of white-collar professionals making $200k simple don't consider themselves "upper class". It's not a matter of denial. I would bet that if you surveyed software engineers earning $200k, most would not use the label "upper class" to describe themselves because to do so would be strangely pretentious.

Yes, and that's a moral failing. Worse than being "pretentious" is failing to realize that you are blessed. Because that starts you down the road of thinking "since I'm middle class, other people should shoulder the burden of providing for the country's most vulnerable people, not me." That's the self-deception that results in even Bernie Sanders' "progressive" tax policy being identical to Donald Trump's until you get over $250,000.