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