Is there a class structure in America?

[Tank]

In a recent conversation the following statement came up.

Don't ever let anyone tell you, btw, that there's no class system in America. Bullshit! just that it's economic in nature, and that your membership in a given class is assumed to be your fault - your choices led you there.

This resonated with me as I had seen the attitude expressed by some, notably well off Americans,  that 'people who live in trailer parks because the want to.'

Now there is a a hereditary class structure in the UK. Is there a class structure (vie heredity or money) developing in the US or is it still a place where any person can really make good or was that just a myth anyway?

 

[KDbeads]

Well where I live there is.  When hubby's job dropped his pay we were suddenly looked down on my the more well-to-do in town.  It's been like this for 7 months now.  Even the middle class is looking down at us

[The Black Jester]

In a recent conversation the following statement came up.

Don't ever let anyone tell you, btw, that there's no class system in America. Bullshit! just that it's economic in nature, and that your membership in a given class is assumed to be your fault - your choices led you there.

This resonated with me as I had seen the attitude expressed by some, notably well off Americans,  that 'people who live in trailer parks because the want to.'

Now there is a a hereditary class structure in the UK. Is there a class structure (vie heredity or money) developing in the US or is it still a place where any person can really make good or was that just a myth anyway?

 

Since I was the person about whom Tank was speaking, i.e., the one that made this comment, I should probably own up to my statement and stick my neck out for the chopping.

Now, let me first say that such a comment will likely seem naive, ignorant and insensitive to those from societies in which the class structure is more ingrained and more indelible.  I will not argue that it is not more possible to move between classes in this country, and it is also important to note that the phenomenon is likely highly regionalized.  I notice it more on the East coast than I ever did on the West, or in the Mid-West (when I lived in those regions).  But my sense is that it does exist. I also feel it more in the financial world than I ever did in other fields in which I worked.  The bankers I work with definitely behave as if they live by different rules than the ones they expect those of lesser financial means to live by.  They speak to those in the service industry in ways they themselves would never allow themselves to be spoken to.  And the wealthy elite whom I have know or with whom I've interacted - many of whom did inherit a good portion of their money, and thereby, their status - seem to behave similarly (often without realizing it).

All of this is vague, anecdotal and perhaps the result of a fallacy of limited sampling.  But it is my sense of things.

[Tank]

Well where I live there is.  When hubby's job dropped his pay we were suddenly looked down on my the more well-to-do in town.  It's been like this for 7 months now.  Even the middle class is looking down at us

Daft question, but how did people know that your hubby had had a pay cut?

[KDbeads]

Small town politics, everyone knows everything about everyone whether you like it or not

[Tank]

Small town politics, everyone knows everything about everyone whether you like it or not

Blimy!

[KDbeads]

Yep, hubby drove home a different work truck one day (his regular one was in the shop) and within 24 hours people were convinced about an affair going on in MY house.  Many of these god fearing people confronted me about my 'transgression' in the weeks following.....  
When his pay decrease happened, he lost the use of the company truck and everyone saw us outside working on the old SUV to get it running again so I'd have something to drive while he was at work.

What's really going to bake their noodles is when he lands another job........

[Tank]

Yep, hubby drove home a different work truck one day (his regular one was in the shop) and within 24 hours people were convinced about an affair going on in MY house.  Many of these god fearing people confronted me about my 'transgression' in the weeks following.....  :eek:  How many people live in your town?

[KDbeads]

Maybe 1200?  I think there is 2000 in the county at the moment.

[Tank]

Maybe 1200?  I think there is 2000 in the county at the moment.

Wow! The estate I live on has something like 3,500 to 4000 people in it. I would guess that within a 10mile radius of where I am there must over a million people.

[KDbeads]

Class structure is exaggerated in places like where we live right now.  There are people who frequent the thrift store, those who visit on occasion and donate stuff and then there are the ones who turn up their nose while passing it and have a helper (hired hand like the cleaning lady) take in their donations for fear of being seen near the place.

In larger cities, like Atlanta and Chicago (lived in these places myself) you have the nice neighborhoods, the slums and the mansions.  But for the most part there is a better commingling of its inhabitants.  You can still see the separations but it's not as obvious as it is here.
To give an example of here, 2 streets below us is lower class, 2 streets above us is upper class and across the highway are the 'trash' and 'druggies', which are those on welfare and live in trailers.

[philosoraptor]

While I believe there is a class structure in America, I don't think it's something entirely inescapable in the way the Indian caste system was.  There are plenty of self-made men and women who came from poverty, and used that as a motivator to do better for themselves.  Success is a weird thing, though-some measure it in terms of the money you make, the level of education you achieve, the type of job you hold, how big your family is, etc...  It's not always defined the same, although I think money and a person's job are probably the most common factors, as evidenced by what jobs are considered blue collar versus white collar, etc..

Me?  I'm currently poor as dirt.  I grew up in a middle-class family, and I now live below the poverty line, while still being better off than other poor people.  However, I also came from a CRAZY family, where both my parents were mentally ill, and I turned out okay.  I survived 4 year of undergrad living with an emotionally abusive roommate, and went on to graduate school.  So in spite of being poor and unemployed, I still would consider myself successful.  When I decided to take my last semester of grad school off and just focus on my studies, it hurt when people around me implied I was lazy for being unemployed.  The work I did in grad school was more intense than any job I've ever had, and being a full-time student is on par with having a full-time job in terms of how much time you have to commit to it.  I got really tired of people asking me why I wasn't working and when was I going to get a job, etc...

It boggles my mind though, when you think about.  What is a lower-class American citizen?  Someone who sits at home and doesn't work, and maybe they collect unemployment or welfare, not because they want to, but out of necessity because of how shitty the economy is.  People look down on them and think of them as lazy.  Yet it's entirely acceptable to be wealthy and not work.  No one's going to tell a millionaire they're lazy if they want to sit at home and drink beer and watch TV, but they'll look down on the unemployed guy doing it.  Some people might pity or feel bad for that lower-class person, but I think it's unfortunately more common for people to look down on them as a drain on society, without thinking about the hardship that person might endure.  It's disgusting, really.