I don't think of kulaks as being rich enough to own serfs! Perhaps the connotations of the term have changed.
[WS:] Perhaps my analogy was a bit too farfetched. The point I was trying to make was that Polish nobility was not homogenous - and that the great majority of them were not that wealthy, albeit they enjoyed a much higher social status than peasantry.
As to your point about the enlightened government, I fully agree. I recently came to the conclusion that "revolution from below" is a myth - it either does not happen, and if it does it takes the form of a pogrom, lynching or looting. All revolutions or major pushes for major social changes come from above, from the enlightened elites, albeit some managed to attract significant popular following. I also came to the conclusion that if one is serious about social change, one needs to get in cahoots with the enlightened elites and potentially supportive interest groups, and simply remove the word "masses" from the vocabulary, except for political propaganda use.
Wojtek