Class
In any society, people fall into upper, middle, and lower classes. This is most visible when looked at through an economic lens since it’s easy to observe wealth and income, but it also includes other forms of power like political or social influence. While it is true that an unjust society may impose artificial restrictions and advantages which force people into a class, these class distinctions are a reflection of the animal side of human nature so they cannot be erased in this imperfect world. Attempting to erase class is not just impossible, but dangerous and destructive as seen in the catastrophic failure of every society which has pursued this foolish dream in pursuit of an impossible utopia.
Thus, class must exist in a Just Society.
In a Just Society, individuals must be free to rise and fall to the level of their merit. This allows everyone in a Just Society to reach their full potential, and in doing so maximizes the society’s material and spiritual riches. However, this cannot be achieved without understanding each class and using that knowledge to build effective checks and balances. The details will inevitably change over the centuries, but the underlying truths remain.
Upper Class: The upper class is the most prominent and influential part of society. They include the great innovators who build wealth, influencers who shape culture, and politicians who regulate society. They form the heart of any society’s spirituality and economic engine, and as such can provide great value to society, but the upper class also poses the greatest risk. Their wealth and power can often shield them from the consequences of their mistakes, and that in turn encourages all manner of corruption. This can take many forms, such as hubris deceiving them into believing they know better than God, petty machinations to destroy those they dislike, or simple greed squeezing the life out of society for personal gain. To prevent this, a Just Society requires extensive checks and balances to keep the upper class divided and guard against collusion, along with democratic and meritocratic processes to replace them as they inevitably become corrupt and incompetent, with the final and most important checks being a well-armed population and a military loyal to society above leaders so a tyrannical upper class can be overthrown by force if necessary.
Middle Class: The middle class is generally the most virtuous part of society. They have everything they need for a comfortable life plus a few choice luxuries, but are not so rich that they are immune to the consequences of poor decision making. This modest wealth affords them the freedom to devote their lives to God and their children, while the need to continue making wise long-term decisions to avoid destroying their lives keeps them practical and humble. However, the middle class can be prone to complacency since it's easy for good people to forget the danger of evil when society effectively shields them from it, so they must remain vigilant.
Lower Class: While misfortune and predation can temporarily push good people into the lower class, it is dominated by those who choose to be there. The mechanisms range from short-term thinking to vice to crime, but the result is the same. Some people will always make poor choices which destroy their lives. Those better off can and should attempt to help those that want to do better improve their lives, but the wise know it is impossible to force those who do not want to improve to fix their lives, just like it is impossible to force them to go to heaven.