Philosophy

Feudalism only has a hierarchy of lesser and greater lords [...] to exploit the peasantry

There are "lesser" and "greater" lords that exploit the "peasants". There's the "proletariat" and the "burgeoisie", with "petit burgeoisie" in-between. There's the "workers" and the management - "low-" and "high-". And of course, there's the classes: "high", "low" and of course, "middle".

The way I see it, pretty much whatever system one envisions, there's the "down-lows", the "high-ups" and the "in-betweens", although they may not be called that explicitly. Usually it's the high class that can be split into two, feudal lords and management alike.