Social Class in the United Sates

This week’s article “Shadowy Lines That Still Divide” identified the continuing issues with social class in the United States. Some things remain the same as they did years ago. Such as the fact that Americans believe they’re class system is a “meritocracy”. The article points out that while people think it is a “meritocracy”, it is growing much more difficult to have social mobility. The idea that many Americans have of this growing social mobility makes sense because as the article states, there are many more Supreme Court justices and CEO’s that come from diversified backgrounds. But when it comes to the definition of class many Americans differ in their understanding of the term. Some people believe it is your attitudes and assumptions based on where you were raised. Others believe it’s purely money. But is it really? Many people make a lot of money but they’re not necessarily considered to be part of the upper-class. The class system in America is growing much more complicated.

            In class this week we took a closer look at the class system in America. One of the terms we defined was “status inconsistency” where one’s income does not match up with the class society associates them with. In the video People Like Me we saw a plumber who made quite a bit of money, but he was still considered working class because of his prestige. Even for those who had seemingly worked their way into the upper class, like Ginie Polo Sayles, still didn’t fit in because she wasn’t raised in upper class culture and customs. Americans like to believe that there is no class system because they like to think we live in an “open” or “mobile system”. But as we saw in the video the class in which you’re born into is the class you’re probably going to stay in. In the case of the journalist, it was pressure from her family. In other cases like the family in Ohio, it may be because opportunities are few and far flung.

            In the last segment we took a look at a high school in the Hamptons and drew a connection between it and class systems. Much like in our high school, even if you dress nicer, if you sit at the wrong table or try to interact with a group higher than yours, it’s awkward and sometimes even frowned upon. In this way high schools are much like the class system in America. In a=America one can earn quite a bit of money, but since they’re not cultured in upper class way, it is difficult for them to be accepted.

In this image attempts to portray social class in terms of income. But as we've learned, social class is much more than that. : 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e5/Class_US.svg/240px-Class_US.svg.png

Money, power, and prestige.

Money talks! Money brings power, and with power comes prestige. This week we began to look at social stratification and class systems. We focused mainly on the Caste System, Open systems, and Meritocracies. Everyone remembers the film Mean Girls. In this film, the new girl, Kady, starts off as disliked by the majority of the student body. In order to gain popularity she begins following a group of popular girls called the “Plastics”. This may seem like it has nothing to do with social stratification, but there is a striking resemblance. In this instance the different levels of popularity or lack there of, can be compared to the different social classes. To move up a level in popularity one must gain more appeal and admiration amongst their peers. In class systems, one must usually gain more money and prestige in order to move up a level. However, in most cultures it is either difficult or impossible to move up in the class system.

The United States is considered the land of dreams. In the United States one’s class is greatly based on their income. We believe that we’re meritocracy; however, the harsh reality is that it is extremely difficult to move up the social ladder in the United States. In the several graphs we saw in class we saw how the income disparity is growing in the U.S. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deviate from the social class one’s parents may have belonged to.  As we saw in the case of the Appalachian people, few of the children were able to finish high school or go to college because their parents hadn’t either.

 On the other hand, there’s the Caste System; a closed system in which people are born into their social class and remain there until they die. That may sound like a good thing at first, but what about those in the lowest caste: the “untouchables”? People can’t get a job or marry to get out of their caste. It’s permanent. The article for this week was on Human Trafficking and the sex-slave trade. This is another example of a closed system. It is obvious that countries like the United States are trying to take steps to end this, but the bigger issue, as the author points out, is the issue with socioeconomic status. Most of the countries where human trafficking takes place are countries with issues of extreme poverty. As long as poverty persists, there are human traffickers to take advantage. Why? People are desperate to move up a social class and selling their niece into slavery is the fastest way to get money, and well, money talks! Money brings power, and with power comes prestige.

Social stratification has always been a part of every civilization. This image shows social stratification as early as the Mayan empire, with the king on top and farmers on the bottom: