Social Class In America Research Paper

According to the Class Action, a non-profit organization that advocates on social issues surrounding class, class is defined as “a relative social rank in terms of income, wealth, education, status, position, and/or power”. Class can further be defined by asking questions such as “how much a person earns/ owns”, “who a person knows/ associates with”, and “how much a person knows” (Class Action). Moreover, socioeconomic class is a subset of class that is marked by the amount of income a person attains, and how much wealth a person retains.

Social class is an important part of how the United States functions. Because the United States tries to run on a laissez-faire based marketing system, there are social classes that differ based on economic prosperity. The people who work hard and are smart rise to the top and usually become part of the upper or middle class. People who don 't work hard or are lacking an intellectual capabilities fall to the lower class. Social class stratification is important to understand because social class can affect who we are and how we interact with others. People in different social classes tend not to interact because a poor person can not afford to eat out at a place where wealthy person would eat. Also, wealthy people tend to form their own social groups because they have a large amount of money to go places and do things with. These differences between social classes and the separation that occurs is vital to understanding the way society functions.

Social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. Why do we have social class in our societies? For what purpose does social class, even exist? From India, to the United States, many different societies have different social classes and systems. So why does social class and system differ from place to place? These are some essential questions that need to be answered.

United States of America is a country of social class. In the documentary, “People Like Us: Social Class in America”, I am given an informative insight that how different in lives that people with different classes share. The video shows how the lives are like, what applicants and homewares do people in different classes use, and how to speak being an upper class and upper-middle class person. The rich often shop at particular stores, whose goods rarely appear at any supermarket or shopping center. The way we stand, sit, walk, and the clothes we wear are reasonability sights to reveal our social classes in the society, and they are totally different between the white-collar workers and blue-collar labors. The foods that wealthy people eat also differ from the labor forces. Upper-classes people tend to eat healthy like organic vegetables or white meats, while people from lower classes usually buy foods which are suit their pocket. The social movement which relates to social class is the Occupy Movement. The Occupy Movement is the people-powered movement which fight against the 1% of the richest people who suggest the rules of an unfair global economy. An activist Micah M. White, who also is the only American creator, is the co-creator of Occupy Wall Street Movement. The movement is relevant to the reflection of social classes in America.

The point that James Loewen is trying to make about the social class in the united states is, a lot of history books do not talk about social class, so a lot of high school graduates do not understand why they are in the social class that thy are in. Social Darwinism is the success and failure of people to advance in society where the strong survive and the weak do not. An example of blaming the victim would be blaming the poor people for being poor, and not making their way up the social ladder.

The ideal concept of American society is one in which all of the citizens are treated equal in all every realm and situation. Class, race or gender does not divide the utopian America; everyone is afforded the same opportunities and chances for success. In this chimerical state Americans are able to go as far as their dreams allow and with hard work and perseverance any thing is possible. Many Americans subscribe to this pluralist view of the Country, believing that within our democratic system it is the majority who maintains control and sets policy. Unfortunately this idyllic country does not exist nor has it ever existed. America is made up of distinct social classes and the movement within those classes is for the most part,

The disproportion of income distribution in America is a hot topic these days, and a major factor in the bondage of poverty. While the economy has grown substantially, the incomes of the underclass have seen the least growth. Levine draws attention to the fact that the share of income for the bottom fifth of the population has hardly changed over the last few decades at less than 4%, yet for the rest of the population it grows at higher rates the farther up the ladder you go. Levine illuminates that “the U.S. income distribution appears to be among the most unequal of all major industrialized countries.”5 While most Americans perceive that we have a society in which one has the power to move up or down the ladder with personal choices, the “empirical analyses suggest that children born into low-income families have not become more likely and may have become less likely to surpass their parents' position at the bottom of the income distribution.”6 There are a lot of variables that will contribute to explaining this immobility, from the added expense of being poor to the cognitive and social effects that are associated therein.

Social class can be defined as a social construct which is used to describe a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence and status. They tend to have dramatically different values and mannerisms to others groups, for example, the working-class are seen as uneducated and unskilled workers, whereas the middle-class are seen as highly educated people with high incomes (Harcourt, 2016). Despite there being other social class groups, including, the upper-class, this essay will explore the portrayal of the working-class, lower-class, also known as the ‘underclass’, and the middle-class in reality television, using the example of Wife Swap.

Society today has developed the concept of social class, to categorize citizens into different groups based on their economic status. These social classes are divided into three groups: upper, middle and low. Unfortunately, social class has become the backbone of American society, where being upperclass gives citizens an advantage and controlling position in the United States. Society in America thinks that what ever social class a person falls in defines them as an individual.

Social class has been always being in our society since its establishment. Back then, white, landowning men had the highest status amongst society with women and other races being lower in the societal ladder Times have changed since then, but social class is still a major factor to people’s success. Social class is defined as a label that categorizes individuals based on their economic status, wealth, and power. Social class does not matter, but should not be ignored It’s prominent in our society so I think as young adults we need to be aware of it. If we “teach them how to deal with it in a positive manner and how to prevent it, then little by little we can see less of the discrimination. Our differences shouldn’t create conflict between people and cause problems” (Google Doc). Our differences should come together and be celebrated. It should be brought to our attention that they may be more disadvantaged than other people and that all their home lives are unique and different from each other. While keeping this concept in mind, teachers and faculty members should not let social class control their action towards the students and be prejudiced. Teachers should not see social class as a problem or an excuse as to why the student is not learning. Individuals want to learn and can learn; social class should not be the explanation as to why the teacher will not help the student reach their goals. When students grow intellectually and become educated, they will acquire more

Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States.

Social Class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. In today’s society there are three main social groups in America: upper, middle, and lower class; these rankings are contributed by mass amounts of factors, but one of the

Social class largely affects the ways of life of all Americans These divisions of social class are characterized by viewpoints, for example, lifestyle and income but education is a huge part of deciding one's social class. That does not imply that it will decide a person's achievements but with many individuals with higher education normally have better jobs with benefits and higher wages too. Those of the privileged have higher education rather than those of middle and lower class. Around 14% of mortgage holders are either behind on their home payments or are putting up for foreclosure. The economic crash and foreclosure crisis that occurred in 2008 was not made by one issue but rather a blend of issues. People obtained more than they could bear the cost of however they were permitted, and now and again empowered, to do this by bankers which institutions that should be helping the people to finance. The conviction that material belonging enhances people's lives and social prosperity pervades in America. As opposed to this belief different studies demonstrate that materialists contrasted with non-materialists have individual and social prosperity. Compulsive and impulsive shopping, debt, diminished savings overall decrease the well-being of people and other undesirable results have all been connected with materialistic behavior. American materialism has found its ways to millions in America. Success is measured in the materials and the social class a person is in. This does

America’s income poorly distributed across its citizens. The one percent dominates the remaining 99% and the distance continues to grow. According to Emmanuel Saez at UC Berkeley, the bottom 99% incomes grew 3.9% from 2014 to 2015, but the top one percent incomes grew 7.7% (Saez, n.d.). Average wages of the bottom 90% have stayed relatively the same since 1986, however, the top 1% have tripled between 1980 and 2012 (Monaghan, 2014). This shows the continuous progression of income inequality. Not only is the inequality between the 1% and 99%, but also the 0.1%. They receive nearly 198 times the income of the bottom 80% (Income Inequality. N.d.).

Social classes are categories individuals are put into based on income, lifestyles, opportunities, job occupations, behaviors, and attitudes. Virtually all societies have a class system, and America is no exception. To prevent mixing of class systems “Class boundaries are maintained by limiting social interaction, intermarriage, and mobility into another class” (Tischler, 2014, P.181). How many social classes exist in American society is debatable, however many believe that there is only five. The five American social classes are upper class, upper-middle class, middle-middle class, lower-middle class, and lower class.