Social Class Structure In America

Have you ever referred to someone as “high class,” “middle class,” or “low class?” The article “Class In America” is a very educated read and describes the way people are characterized by their “class.” I think that this article informs all types of readers and allows people to see how people are grouped based on themselves. “Class in America” is written to show and prove to society that people do not talk about “class” anymore, because of the way the world looks at it today. Gregory Mantosis is the author of the article, and he uses many facts and data to prove his points.

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

Even though they are two different aspects of American society, social and economic classes are very interlaced. Social classification determines where an individual stands in the eyes of society, and whether they are socially accepted and embraced by American culture. A majority of the time, a person’s tier in the system is mainly determined by where they stand in the economic classification. Economic standing depicts where an individual is placed based on their financial success, and their access to the luxuries money can buy. Both have different levels of highs and

The readings examined how classism has negatively affected economics in the United States, how oppression manifests in taking financial advantage of groups of people who cannot advance financially, and systemic issues contributing to low wage and inability to move out of one’s social class. I was struck by the idea that most people in the United States are disadvantaged financially based on the way the country has set up its economic policies. From the beginning, black people have been oppressed by the inability to attain wealth, which continued through the end of WWII. I unnecessarily read a chapter speaking about financial companies targeting poor people, particularly people of color, with money schemes so they are losing their hard-earned money to fees and interest rates. This scheme continues to keep people in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. I related to the reading about college loans creating a paradox that students with degrees enter the workforce unable to find a job in their their field of study. Then the added paradox of not being able to find work making

People consider that social stratification in the United States contains social classes such as upper class, middle class, and lower class. People who are categorizing in upper class not only have power and control over their own lives but also their social status gives them

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.

Christopher Doob wrote the first edition of Social Inequality and Social stratification in US Society. The author structures this book in the direction towards a theoretical concept that attracts the reality of social inequality and stratification as a whole. Doob dissects this books into eleven chapters given that each chapter examines the inequality of stratification. Also during the readings of this book Doob used plenty of data to show the socioeconomic strata revolved around the history of America. In relation to this book the assigned four readings in class “Class A guide through the American Status System, Class

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

This fact remains accurate after government attempts at wealth redistribution such as taxes. This shows that the government is not successful at helping to redistribute wealth and the dramatic increases in wealth of the rich while the poor barely improve show the inefficacy of the “trickle-down economy” model. To figure out why the 10% is gaining wealth so quickly, the people that make up this small group must be analyzed. The top 10% is essentially comprised of three main groups: superstars, CEOs, and high-income professionals. However, the incomes of superstars and CEOs are increasing more rapidly than those of the high-income professionals (Belsie). While the incomes of high-income professionals and superstars are market driven, they do not benefit from the same rate that CEOs do.

There are four categories of class in contemporary American society: upper, middle, working and lower. Of these four categories of classes, two are subdivide. These two are: upper class and the middle class.

If you took a handful of random strangers and asked them to tell you whom they are, a majority of those people would start by defining themselves with their name and occupation. The American society is conventionally arranged into social classes founded on income, wealth, occupation, educational successfulness and social network. Social classes are defined as “status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige acquired mainly through economic success and the accumulation of wealth.” (“social class”) For most of American history, social classes have created inflexible barriers, with multiple institutions and businesses, administering rules established on racial discrimination and other forms of categorizing people founded on preconceptions. Social class in the United States is a contentious matter, possessing many different models, definitions and arguments for its obvious existence. Though many Americans now commonly identify with the three-tier model – a model that incorporates the upper class, the middle class, and lower class/poverty – social scientists have suggested more intricately created model. The extreme definition of social classes has only recently appeared in the past 250 years. Clarity of this natural habit did not strike the citizens of the United States until the colonial times when many of the richer, higher class citizens decided they were in need of separation from those that were considered low-class and

Capitalism has been the central force behind the growth of the United States’ progressive economy. Within such advanced economic system the chances of economic disparity are significantly high. In fact, over the past three decades there has being a steady increase in unequal wealth distribution among the economic classes. To sustain the current unequal wealth distribution among the classes of the American population, there are numerous factors that influence and shape this trend. For some members of the population it is alarmingly disturbing to know that recent statistics have shown that, “In the US [alone] the wealthiest 1% of its population owns more than the bottom 95 %” (Gutman). As for the difference in economic wealth, it resulted

Our American society is run based on a class system, Within the book the class system is defined as the hierarchical organization by which a society or community is divided into classes like rich, middle and poor. This is very influential in the U.S because it keeps track the economic background of a society by putting them into class .If I had to put myself into one of the three class I will cast into the poor class. I will put myself into that category because my family and I work day to day to pay off debt and our necessaries based on our income which places us into the class of the poor class in our society.

            The United States is a nation of diverse cultures.  People are classified as rich, middle class, or poor.  The rich are considered well educated and highly paid professionals; the middle class are semi-professional and educated working middle class; and the poor are the working under class with very little to no education.  Income is the most prominent indicator of class status, and education to occupation and income.

In the United states, social classes is a controversial issue in terms of defining the actual nature of the classes themselves. Many individuals have categorized the society into three elementary groups that is the “poor”, “middle class” and the “rich”. Additionally, a more complex system of social classes is derived from the three elementary classes. In this regard, a four-class system includes “the capitalist/upper class”, “the middle class”, “the working class” and “the lower class” (Thompson, 2005). Moreover, sociologists have expanded the for-class system into a six class system includes “the capitalist or upper class”, “the upper-middle class”, “the middle class”, “the working class”, “the lower-working class” and “the lower class”.