Topic: Discuss what you think is the definition of wealth with Marx's theory and discuss class inequalities. I am the one who has experienced the class inequality. I plan to talk about my inequalities

Social Inequality – Week 7 – Reading 1

By V. Smerglia

THE AMERICAN CLASS SYSTEM

When we say “socioeconomic status” or SES, in the U.S., we generally mean “Class.” Remember, SES is a combination of wealth, education level, and job status.

Our country/society was founded on the idea that we would not have a class system as those in Europe, which one was born into but pretty much never left. In some ways, we would say we did at least eliminate the last part. If we think of Lebron James (basketball), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Tim Cook (Apple), Brad Pitt (actor), we can see a group of men who were born either in poor, working class, or middle class families and worked their way up to be very wealthy, high prestige persons.

So, yes we have a class system, but yes, we seem to be able to move up if we work hard and have talent. There are a couple of things to remember here: First, there are different values among the classes and those make for real contrasts. Of course, there are American values that most people hold regardless of class, things like individualism, equality, freedoms. But, social scientists can tell you that children are disciplined differently in the different classes and marriage is viewed differently. Secondly, some activities differ. For example, golfing, polo, and tennis may be popular in specific classes.

There are various class labels. We will look at one usual way of labeling the classes:

Upper Upper (Old Money) Class

Lower Upper (New Money) Class

Upper Middle Class

Lower Middle Class

Working Class

Working Poor (Upper Lower) Class

Lower Lower (Dependent) Class

Upper-Upper Class: Old families like the Kennedys, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Carnegies. They have been wealthy for generations due often to those known as the Robber Barons who began successful industries before corporate or personal income taxes. These families value their names and marrying within their ranks. They have estates, multiple homes, art collections, valuable antiques and jewelry, and so forth. They were probably on the actual “social register” in New York around the turn of the 20th century.

They are the only class that looks at marriage as a consolidation of good names and fortunes. (All other classes view marriage as companionate, the good old American love story.) Romance is possible, but not necessarily with one’s spouse. In earlier generations, men were not discouraged from having mistresses and outside lovers.

Lower-Upper Class: Most in this class of “new money” people are successful entrepreneurs (having begun successful businesses), entertainers, or athletes. They mostly were born and raised in middle class or working families, even poor families. Their talents and opportunities to use them have earned them incomes far above what most Americans can dream of. Since, values tend to stick with us even if we move up or down in classes, they mostly have middle American values, at least until they get great wealth and sometimes go a little “wild.” Even then, that may be because of their upbringings. The lower upper class may at times have more wealth than the upper upper class but they don’t have the name that means so much to the elite. Companionate marriage is desired in this class, but often they have several companionate marriages!

Upper-Middle Class: These are the very well educated and/or very bright. Doctors, lawyers, business executives, design engineers, accountants, heads of organizations, college presidents or deans, etc. Also, entrepreneurs, those who have started businesses and become successful. They belong to country clubs and sometimes send their children to private schools. Or, they make sure to live in suburbs with expensive homes and excellent schools. These are often two-career families and it may be the wife who is more successful. Many have graduate degrees.

Lower-Middle Class: Teachers, nurses, technicians, computer programmers. They have a college degree or special training, but income is not as high as the upper middle class. They probably can’t afford private schools and country clubs. Their jobs are prestigious but not as prestigious as the upper middle class.

Working Class: In the U.S., working class means people who work with their hands, manual laborers. Farmers, factory workers, construction workers, miners, auto mechanics, etc. They often have training above high school. The working class may often make higher incomes than the class above them because they are in unions; they are often in skilled jobs, just not usually with college education. Working class is also known as “blue collar,” named for the blue denim outfits most factory and farm workers wore in the early 1900’s (and many still do. Just ask Duluth Trading Company). Historically, working class parents have often used corporal (physical) punishment for their children whereas the two middle classes have more often used punishments like taking away privileges.

Working Poor (Upper-Lower) Class: This class roughly includes people who work hard at low-paying jobs, may have high school or less education, have few benefits in their jobs, have few skills, are very replaceable as workers. They have little security and have to struggle to “make ends meet.”

Lower-Lower (Dependent) Class: The individuals in this class live on government programs, are sporadically employed if at all, usually have little education. Their lives may be chaotic with changing residences. Some in this class are homeless, drug addicts, and/or mentally ill. These numbers increased as the former institutions for mentally ill persons closed and were replaced by medications. There are also, of course, persons and families in this class who have not been able to succeed in education or in organizing their lives. Sometimes generations perpetuate this hopeless life such as in There Are No Children Here.

There are other ways to divide classes in the U.S. and books written about it. Sometimes, the elite upper-upper classes are divided into the Capitalist Elite and Institutional Elite, meaning those who head big corporations and those who head large government operations.

The majority of Americans fall into the three middle classes: Upper and Lower Middle and Working. Most Americans (70%) consider themselves middle class. The Upper Upper Class is only about 1% and the Lower Upper may be as many as 15%. Obviously, the picture is always changing and maybe the most important point is that we learn our values from the families and communities we grow up in and keep those values.