Social Classes Of The Rich And The Poor

Individuals within a society are grouped into certain rankings that is based on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can “take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks”. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it and regardless of their talents will hold positions that are given to them their whole life. Social mobility is the ability for individuals to move about their social standings.

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.

In today’s world computers, machines, and other forms of technology have seemingly started to take over the workforce as society looks to constantly improve and speed up the progress in the working world. The 1950’s fictional novel, Player Piano, portrays a society directly revolved around the use of machines and computers in the workplace to essentially become a more progressive and efficient society. The constant development of technology in today’s world correlates to Vonnegut’s Player Piano when discussing social class and unemployment, the devouring of industrial and day-to-day jobs carried out by human beings, and the dehumanization of society.

In modern the modern day United states, Americans face a problem that drastically affects the way we have to live life. Our healthcare system has become drastically irregular and unequal in the current system. After thorough analyzation of the provided CTSIP tables one can clearly see the gap between economic and social classes that exists in the current structure and can place the said data into both a functionalist and marxist perspective.

Economic stratification is the different rankings in social class are separated in different economic ways. These differences can vary from clothing, cars, perfumes, cigarette brands, etc. There are many ways you can tell what a person stratification is just by the way they look or the things they have. Usually these ranking go from lower class to middle class then the upper class. Each of these classes have very different ways of living and what they do to maintain a certain status.

Throughout the history of American society which operate under a capitalist economy there has been constant a strife between the wealthy upper class and the less fortunate lower class, causing an gap between the two. This natural income inequality has become much greater in the last decades and is starting to harm the economy and society. As Robert Reich said in the movie “Inequality for All” :“Some inequality is inevitable. Look the question is not inequality per se. The question is, when does inequality become a problem?”(Inequality for All).

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

Social class is defined by your economical standpoint in our society. There are around 6 social classes in the United States; Upper class, new money, middle class, working class, working poor, and poverty level. The upper class is at the top of the United States, it also makes up about one percent of the U.S. New money falls in line behind the upper class, this refers to people whose wealth has accumulated recently or has only been around for a generation or two. New money makes up about fifteen percent of the society. Middle class includes about thirty-four percent of the population; the members of middle class are mostly in professional jobs. These people could include managers, doctors, lawyers, professors and teachers; It’s likely that

Social class has developed over the centuries into an obstacle we cannot ignore. I believe that social class exists and proves itself in stereotypes as well as in our government. Our world divides social class into three sections: upper, middle, and lower class. However, many also think that there could be multiple classes. The problems that we face with social class display themselves in the lack of opportunities for lower class children, the abuse of power by ghettoizing, and the addiction of money instead of longing for Jesus. We need to awaken to the world around us that daily struggles with the uncompromising chaos of their circumstances.

It is said that the United States is made up of around six different social classes, however the three main classes are better known as the Upper, Middle, and Lower class. The three remaining classes are better known as subcategories for each of the main classes. These subcategories help break the classes up giving them their individual class.

Class has changed in the way Americans understand class. The upper class was seen as people who vacationed in Europe and worshiped God. The middle class drove Fords and enlisted as company men. The working class voted as Democratic and didn’t take cruises. Now, it’s harder for Americans to tell what social class people are in. It’s harder to guess peoples class based on clothing, votes, religion, the cars they drive, and the color of skin. Health and in some cases education is getting harder to tell class with financial help.

Have you ever wondered how many people in the United States are rich, middle class or poor? It is being interesting reading this chapter because now I understand the enormous gap that exists between the different social classes in the US, and how they are divided. The percentage of poverty in the United States have been increasing since 2000 (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor 20140), and so it continues increasing. It is incredible how much wealth can a person have, and how extremely poor can a person be. Such difference between people is derived from all the several economic classes that exist not only in the US but worldwide.

America has five social classes. The Upper Class is made up of wealth, and in most cases is inherited wealth that has been passed down from generation to generation. Individuals have little control over this class as many are born into the circumstance. The Upper Class participate in politics and economic environments. Not all Upper Class is “old money,” there are also those individuals that have made money as entrepreneurs. The next social class is the Upper-Middle Class. These individuals are at the top of management level in organizations, educated and have families. Many Upper-Middle class are two income families. (Tischler, pg 182) Education plays a key role in the success of the Upper-Middle class so there is a level of control an individual

Marxists sociologists, such as Althusser, Bowles and Gintis and Willis argue that education operates in the interests of the ruling class and maintains capitalism. However, other sociologists oppose this by arguing that this is false and education is meritocratic.

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.