Social Class In The United States

The social class in America is everywhere but it is often quite hard to recognize only because it is against the American principle for the social class system to exist. Whether we know it or not, we tend to participate in the class system.. By doing so, this leads us to separate ourselves based on our social class system, including class discrimination and social mobility

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

Social class is a “tag” to define your status in a community. One of the main requirements you must have to be in the Upper class, is to have wealth and power. That is basically it, and obviously the absence of those characteristics could mean you are in a Middle or even in the Lower class. Sports are an activity that people do for pleasure that requires physical activity and sometimes has rules for the players to follow in order to play the game. It is most commonly played outdoors. It can improve your cardio, health, and physical condition. For example, it can prevent things like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or even mental illnesses like depression.

America is a complex and diverse web of individuals marked by social stratification, a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy (Macionis, 2011, p.204). The film People Like Us: Social Class in America discusses the class system, social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement, which the American people use to define others (Macionis, 2011, p.206). It explores the many variables that contribute to the determination of a person’s class; such as, ancestry, education, and money. Ancestry will be a main focus because it has such a strong influence on the class system of today. The film provided an informative and entertaining

The very poor class contains all citizens that have a very low economic status. Most have no economic security, are unemployed, and have no education after high school. American citizens in this class have just enough money to survive. The poor class includes any American citizen who does not have enough money to have basic necessities. The working class includes American citizens who have enough to provide basic needs for their family. They do not have some of the simple luxuries; if they do; they have to save up to buy it. In the middle class, most citizens go to college. People in the middle class do not necessarily live paycheck to paycheck, but have enough money to spend on leisure. The next social class in America is the upper middle class, whose citizens mainly attend private or charter schools. ( Hancock, 1998). They hold professions such as doctors and

An inequality in society, economy, wealth distribution, and political corruption and the influence in cooperation of government led to

Social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status which can include levels of wealth, success, power of authority, and influence. Status is can be defined or grouped having common economic, cultural, or political interests.

The book says and it makes sense to an extent that people of lower social status have in general poorer health and higher mortality rate. Beyond that it makes a whole lot more sense that there are numerous and annoyingly complex factors that can lead up to the poorer health that relates to lower status. The book also talks about race, which really goes and links itself with the social status parts, since in America (which is what/where they mentioned) there is a moderate alignment of race to social status. Now when bringing up higher socioeconomic status that doesn't necessarily mean a person will live longer, regardless of race, but it certainly helps. Now to start the rant of the annoying and complex events that relate to social status. When

The United Sates is considered to have the most unstable inequality in the world. In 1978 the upper class generated $48,302 dollars and in 2010 generated more than three times as much, $393,682 dollars. While the middle class generated as little change in their money from 1978 to 2010. After the crash in 2008 People became interested in the inequality in America realizing that majority of the people, the middle class and lower are in the 99% while the top class is 1%.

Apartheid, a political system that was recognized by the government to segregate the colored people from the white. Even though African Americans have been free for over one hundred years, there are many things that make African Americas second hand citizens like, residential laws and economic forces that are staked against them in the United States.

Social class has always been influential in America even though many people put forth that someone’s social class is insignificant when building friendships or any other relationship. But the reality is that those thoughts are mistaken because the truth is social class has become a larger concept than what it’s thought to be. Due to the class difference all the social classes have been drifting apart from each other and avoid interacting with each other (Bartlett 1).

For hundreds of years, there have been great dividers between the working class and the upper class, although the system has changed and the identifiers for each class have blended together, there still is a difference. The barriers, however, murky they seem to be are still very much present. These barriers are broken by some, Bill Gates and Benjamin Franklin are two of the most well know to have moved classes. Gates from the upper middle to the top of the system, whereas Franklin went from being unknown and poor to one of the most influential men in the United States. Classes are mixed and broken down into many micro classes such as the lower-middle and upper-middle, not to mention countless others. Mobility in the class system is incredibly difficult but it is not impossible. The lines which have always separated the classes so severely, are now hard to see in American culture. Although there still is mobility there is no instantaneous movement. In many cases, the generation before made sacrifices so that the next generation would not have to hurt in the same way. This can go on for years each generation moving a little higher on the class ladder. However, it is hard to tell if this completely true, because what was a novelty item fifty years ago, is now in every home no matter the income level. The class system is still present and it does still affect how people in every group are seen and judged. If mobility

Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.

The clear understanding of social class has changed dramatically from long ago. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt both agree, "It has become harder to read people's status in the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the votes they cast, the god they worship, the color of their skin", and the contour of class might have even disappeared completely, but over all class, race, ethnicity plays a very important role in the American Life. As everything slowly widens up to more open opportunities for everyone, the rich are increasingly isolating themselves slowly and slowly.

As a New England woman of post-American Revolution, I expect that America will end its restrictive customs towards women and that women of all social classes will have the opportunity to obtain equal rights, in which women previously did not have. Formerly, men controlled all public institutions, including government, legislatures, and juries. Men did not allow women to have the freedom to express their opinions on public issues. In fact, women of the upper class engaged in debate with opinions through diaries and letters. However, it would be a pleasure for all women to be able to engage in politics rather than just the upper class. Specifically, they can participate in public debates and hold the same jobs that men had during pre-Revolution.