Middle Class Heroes : The Best Guarantee Of Good Governance

The example of President Bill Clinton, who moved up from working class to a higher class through education, to Bill Gates who succeed without no degree. In the past decades, Americans assumed that people can move up to higher class if they have the willingness to be successful and if work hard because everyone gets the same opportunities. While, in current era, there are 5 classes which are upper, upper middle, lower middle, working, and lower classes, but people are divided in countless micro classes based on lifestyle, connections, occupations, etc. Moreover, the socio-economic status of an individual determine if their kids are going to college or not, or if they would be able to attend specific college. These evidences strongly support the thesis of the authors because it suggests that with the passage of time, the class lines became blurred and complex but these lines still divide people based on different factors.

The social classes are distinguished as the Inner Party (Bourgeoisie), the Outer Party (Middle class) and the “Proles” (Proletariat). The book is centered on an Outer Party worker, Winston Smith, who begins to question the government’s authority and how it manipulates their people. Through a Marxist Literary analysis, 1984 displays a social power structure in the society, which is demonstrated through the privileges that differentiate the party classes, the Party’s exploitation over human consciousness, and the emphasis of power. Therefore, the totalitarian government is a representation of a socialist capitalistic system that values control of its power structure.

In the article, "Class in America", Gregory Mantsios (Myths and Realities 2000) shows us how what class a person is in affects his or hers life more than they think. This article is written sufficiently well however, it does have some weak spots. I will prove my thesis by examining his use of examples and showing factual data and statistics, but also show how this article could have been better.

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.

The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.

Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.

(27) There is a demarcation between the classes beginning with the rich elite, the upper upper class and the lower upper class. Those with inherited wealth are placed above those with self-earned wealth while those with great wealth are distinguished from those with a moderate amount of wealth. They are stable within their ranks, not dependent upon the economic climate of the country to sustain their positions. The upper middle class belongs to those people who are doing well and whose position also is not likely to change with the economic climate of the country. The middle class is comprised of people who are relatively comfortable and can afford a minimal number of luxuries. The working class can afford very few luxuries and are just getting by. Their position, like the middle class is subject to change with socio-economic changes in the country. The working poor cannot actually make ends meet and often become displaced workers with the ability to plummet down into the lowest class. They are not usually able to access the minimal comforts of the working class. The Underclass is a desperate position whose ranks lead substandard lives with no amenities and little chance for mobility.

Each of these groups is stratified into its own class; the group of people ranked most closely to them in property, power, and prestige. A person’s position in the stratification system affects everything about their life, from what they think and expect in life to how they see the world, as well as what opportunities they will have access to. Although, your status is still assigned at birth, but you have the chance at upward social mobility based on material possessions that you acquire, or things that you achieve. Or you may be on the other end of the spectrum and experience downward social

The issue of class is a predominant topic in the world’s social discourse because in every society, there must be the rich and the poor. It is estimated that in this country, there are 38 million people living in absolute poverty. This has created a very huge disparity in the manner in which people live in the society; their lifestyles and general well being. To compound the situation further, the general norm regarding class is that the rich often get richer as days go by while the poor consistently become poorer (Mathews 13). Bell Hooks in her book “Where we stand: Class Matters,” sought to give an insight on the general concept of class as it is today. In this book, the author propagates three main ideas. To start with, Bell argues that the question of class cuts across all other dimensions of life including gender, race, religion and sexuality. Secondly, she posits that religion is has been a very instrumental tool in bridging the gap between classes. Finally, Bell observes that the proclamation that we live in a classless society is flawed in every sense of the world. This paper seeks to make an incisive elucidation of the three observations that Bell makes in her book.

British society is split into hierarchical categories with “higher” “middle” and “lower working” class. The British class structure is shaped like a pyramid cut into three

According to McGregor (1989) class is the main cause of inequality and social injustice in Australia.  The prime explanation for this is that members of different class groups begin their lives with unequal opportunities, this affects the education they will receive, the social connections they will make and even the way they speak and behave.  McGregor also argues that the class one belongs to is determined by many factors, these include; power, family background, wealth, lifestyle, mannerisms, social interactions, and employment. Class can be separated into three categories, upper class, middle class and lower class.

Class structure is a major component in Brave New World. Everybody is predestined to their social class. Those who are made to be Alphas in their test tubes are destined to be the intellectually superior leaders of society, while those who are made to be Epsilons in their test tubes are destined to be the intellectually inferior workers of society whose jobs are greatly undesirable. The classes are distinct, and

Sociologists study it to contextualise and quantify social relations and divisions. Therefore, they study class, and what constitutes and contributes to one’s class, and how this has changed over time and has transitioned from an almost entirely economic system of stratification to one that encompasses economic as well as the social and cultural capital a person holds. Moreover, sociologists study class to understand its impacts on a systematic basis, as well as an individual one. Class as a system of social stratification is useful to sociologists to help them understand how the divisions between classes impact society, as explored through the way in which classes vote and the conflict they have between each other. Additionally, sociologists study class to gain an insight into the way in which class affects people personally, and their own social experience of class, through their day to day life and the culture they consume. Therefore, sociologist study class because it is an ever-present part of our lives and our society which must be

Sociology is fluid in the way in which theories become less central to sociological thinking as time progresses. The theory of social class in particular was very prominent throughout the 1950’s-1970’s where social class divisions were seen as central to understanding differences in opportunity and life chances. Social class has been defined as ‘ a division of a society based on social and economic status.’ (1) These theories of social class were developed and studied by the likes of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. The theory of class has been subject to some criticism however since it fails to explain other forms of inequality such as race, gender and sexuality. Although there have been many attempts to link these inequalities to social class, no such connection has been found and other theoretical approaches have been needed from the likes of Andrew Pilkington, Kathwood Woodward and