Part of my family, the "DREAMHOARDERS" i.e. upper middle class per Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institute and on my husband's side who grew up middle class, part of the family was very wealthy since the 1930s. Grew up in the 1950s and 60s middle class towards upper middle class, when the middle class lived more like the rich! Not today as we continue to "shrink"! Getting harder and harder to get ahead, in more ways than one! Wish the late great FDR who created the "middle class", and his brilliant visionary VP Henry A. Wallace, champion of the 99 percent were still around. Born in 1948, I knew about FDR a little bit about the Great Depression and WW2, from my late beloved mother who lived through it in the 1930s and 40s, but thankfully had a good job in Boston as a secretary for Judge Brandeis! Late father fought in WW2 in the European theater and was a colonel in the Army Reserves. Didn't know about Wallace, but self-educated myself about him! "knowledge is power"....self-empowerment.
they keep amongst themselves, dont intermix, dont intermarry outside the 13 family lineages...they like Horses and Whips..often an ambitious class..with interests in all sectors of the economy..West Palm Beach is their Winter Getaway..New York or other northern cities are their usual homes, from Connecticut to Maryland, from New England to New York..some shuttle back and forth to LA..cozthe black sheep in their family, rebellious or artistic ones, often end up there..Hawauii is the resort of the hi-tech new class (Gates, Oprah, Obama, Larry Page..etc)..Dupont, he liked Cuba once in a while..visited his Mansion there in Varadero...trust funds abound ensuring their enduring ownership of most large corporate entities..
Part of the frustration of the middle class is that media portrays the upper class as being middle class. Like in the Modern Family example, they would likely need upper class (but not stratospheric) money to afford a house that big and nice in the suburbs of Los Angeles. It's super expensive there.
My Father was born poor on a remote (and failed) wheat farm in western Canada. From age 5 he was raised by a single mother during the Great Depression in eastern Massachusetts. He and his two brothers became printers; the 'aristocrats of the working class' as my British friends would comment. Among his children are teachers, social workers, lawyers and nurses. He and his children actually achieved the American dream of genuine upward mobility during the historical period before Ronald Reagan's policies of neoliberalism and globalism unceremoniously cut the bottom three rungs of the 'ladder of opportunity'. Great presentation! It was lucid, well presented and appeared to be well researched.
Yes, many families in the New Deal era have similar stories, but have been generationally stripped of that advancement since the '80s. Mine, too. We made a huge mistake by going for handouts from capitalists rather than transforming to a socialist system, and are paying a steep price. Hope we learn our lesson.
Thank you so much this video should be shown in Middleschool and Highschool to tell the young American generation about all the social classes in America. Not just their peer group in Public School.
So unless one is very wealthy, the state of one’s health has the potential to send one tumbling into the bottom depths of the social classes. Very sad.
To this, my dad still freaks on having insurance because "it only takes 1 medical emergency to financially destroy your life!" The dude passed his trauma onto me.
Even with the typical health insurance of today, most people are one major medical incident away from being completely penniless and homeless. I know this first hand from my husband’s massive stroke at 52 years old and now being stuck on the medical wheel that never stops.
Great and simple reflection of the social classes in the US. I think the lower you go, the more you will find trauma and a distorted vision of reality as a cause of their conditions. The solutions can only be found by implementing mental health support for those suffering the most, initiating inner growth. But often that is impossible to achieve. So prevention is key here: Catch people early in their lives and protect them from traumatic experiences and provide opportunities for education so they can help themselves. I have been providing food for the homeless downtown Los Angeles several times and it is like hell. There is no other way to describe it, these individuals are so far from what I understand as living a normal life that it seems impossible to get them back to dignity. They are often to beaten down, they don't even look human anymore, it's a terrifying sight and I felt very powerless. First time I went I cried. It actually motivated my to produce a documentary about trauma (still working on it).
I have also worked with the most distressed. Your suggestions are triage, not cure. Until we shed capitalism, some will be driven to the bottom to terrify and control the rest. USA is entering the increasingly destructive late stage of capitalism. No one, not even those deluded into thinking they are benefitting, will survive, the planet and its creatures will not survive, if we do not restructure from first assumptions onward. Consider socialism.
Your original video about this topic is one of my favorite. I even took notes in a notepad. I watched Winter’s bone because of it, and now I got to watch Precious. Thank you for revisiting it. This newer version has great examples and references.
The days of moving up into the middle class from the proletarian class really doesn't exist. In 1983, a bachelor's degree or a masters degree was your ticket to the middle class, but not really anymore, because there are too many people with degrees who can't get jobs. In the business and corporate world getting a job is based more on who you know. Its not what you know or who you know, its both. However, there are jobs still available in teaching, law enforcement and the medical field.
There seems to be a clash between the lives of what are called the proletariat in this video and the upper middle class professional class. This is illustrated by the longshoremen at ports going on strike because they do not want their employers putting in automation that might eliminate their job. Automation is an example of invention. Most inventions, which is called technological innovation, has come from those who have university engineering and science degrees. They try to start new businesses based on inventions. Those in vocational work are almost never associated with inventions. Sometimes, but it is rare. Inventions disrupt the workforce and those working in vocational work more than any other group.
I was introduced to Christian Socialism in university.(BA /BEd) by a group of radical students. Now, at 72, they taught me the value of working class people, and in my consulting practice, I dedicated myself to building the skills, abilities and capabilities of front line workers.
Good video. Couple of comments based on what I see: (1) The impact that AI will have on Upper Middle Class careers and professions, and by extension, on Middle Class jobs and career paths too, will be staggering. There will be far fewer slots, and pathways to move up. (2) There is an opportunity for people in High Proletarian if they become small business owners. If you are a plumber, work to own your own plumbing business. AI won’t be fixing people’s clogged drains anytime soon….
Reminds me of Cinzi Lavin's novels, "The Taciturn Sky" and "Nemesis of the Great," which examine the American class structure and the twilight of the Old Money crowd. Both books are fantastic.
this was amazing..how you told the story..yes i have struggled with a lot of issues..today I am stable not rich not poor..in between I have every thing I need..
Thank you for updating this video. I always love your channel about old money culture. In the past, I mentioned that both the old American class system and the UK British class system videos didn't adequately cover new money and lower middle classes. This updated version is better, including the tech elite social class, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and financials. However, it still misses celebrities and elite first-generation politicians (like the Obamas and Clintons) who belong to the lower upper classes, and doesn't address the lower middle class, which includes junior administration and small business owners earning 30k-50k. Understanding this group, known as purple collar/lower white collar, is crucial as many people fall into this socioeconomic bracket. Despite these omissions, I appreciate the content of your channel and its genuine approach to discussing old money families; values, culture and history in depth and on class hierarchy which shaped people lives. I hope future updates, especially for the UK, better separate upper middle class six figure earners from new money millionaires and address traditional feudalistic with modern and breaking down old money nobility of landed gentry (David Cameron family) and peerage titled, and royalty for the views. Edit: It needs to represent more diversity, like the USA's black upper-class old money elites from Martha vineyard (like the syphax family, downing family, dobbs Family) and African nobility (Haile Selassie's family, Mansa Musa) with global south countries old money bells be focus in same level. These groups are rarely mentioned compared to white Europeans, despite their significant cultural and historical impact. There's also a lack of discussion on historical and contemporary racism and global white supremacy's effect on wealth and resources if you not able to find it . The channel should cover black American dynastic families from the 1800s, the Black Boule elite group, and resources like the book "Our Kind of People."and ‘Certain people’ by Stephen Birmingham who’s more hidden but speaks about upper class American Society by ethnicity. Despite these gaps Hardly mention (on the liberal elite Martha video), I appreciate your genuine approach to class hierarchy and hope future updates address these issues.
Wow OML. Another excellent piece. A much needed and appreciated granular look at us. I would have never guessed 10 distinctions. Perhaps if we all were aware of these strata we would understand each other better. Brilliant. Thank you.
When my oldest got her first job at 15, rich people I know were asking about her interest in that industry, assuming it was a passion of hers, and were a little disturbed when I said, "It's the job she got" our of all that we applied to. To them, a job is something you coordinate between you and your contacts. To us, it's something to take when offered by a stranger.
Yes I can, I was working on a summer job, as a waterman on a golf course, and one of my jobs was to pick up the flags in the greens on the golf course before working on my main chores. Bob Hope was filming a movie and while he was finished filming for the day, he went golfing on the course . After hours. So when I was picking up the flags on,the greens, I picked up a green where Mr Hope hadn’t finished. Nobody had told me to hold up picking up the flags until Mr Hope had finished, so I picked them all up. When he was on the last hole he was playing, I came up to the green while he (and his companions ) were putting. So when they finished , I walked on the green and picked up the flag, and said “ are you finished” . Mr Hope then just looked at me glowering like I was a criminal, and didn’t say a word to me!! It appeared as if he wanted to say a lot of things to me, but he didn’t !! I could tell he was pissed off. Although he didn’t say anything , I could tell he was he wanted to, I figured I would hear about it the next day, when I went to work. Mind you nobody said anything to me before I started work! But , the next day, my boss said, AL. Wait until Bob Hope is finished before picking up the flags. I did so. Bob Hope said nothing to me but, you bet he gave the Pro, a tongue lashing!!! I wonder what he would have said if I had asked for his autograph?!?!!!!!
Can any discussion of class in America ignore the question of race? As a college student, I used to talk to the homeless man who sat on the sidewalk outside the store where I worked. This was in the downtown of a major US city. One day I asked him his story. He told me he had lost his job and his family and never found a way to recover. When I offered him $5, he refused to take because, he said, “you work too hard for that.” When I asked what he did in the colder months, he told me he had blankets and a bench on 17th Street and that he would sometimes go to the cinema when it was very cold. I remarked that it must be hard to get sleep on 17th Street, as there were many bars and restaurants there. He said, “Well, sometimes couples will come out and maybe they’ve had too much too drink, and they will wake me up. You know, life has its ups and downs when you are bum, too.” That put one of the biggest smiles on my face I’ve ever had.
Race, and all the other identities that the capitalist system uses to judge some folk as unworthy of a dignified and pleasant life are viewpoints that need to be heard from. Real, lasting change will only come if and when we toss off capitalist paradigms. When we take it that far, we see this dysfunctional system harms all, even those who think they are benefitting from it. Let us break free and imagine a profoundly different and better future!!!!
Interesting. I'm not American, but this seems quite accurate for my country too. According to this, I and my parents are mid proletarian. My mother came from a low proletarian family, my father from a high proletarian family. My sisters have both climbed from mid to high proletarian, while I remain mid proletarian, occasionally at risk of becoming low proletarian. I have one high proletarian housemate and one low proletarian one (apparently us mid proletarian types tend to do most of the housework).
Therefore the proletarian class will be now 85 percent. This includes the destitutes, low, middle and high proletarians, and college graduates ( about at least half of them), will probably end up as middle or high proletarians, even though they have a 4 year college degree unfortunately.
Use to, if you were smart, worked hard, and with a little luck, you could move up the social ladder. But over the last 25 years, the middle class has shrank dramatically. Leaving a huge gap. The American dream is dead. The days of starting out with nothing, and becoming a "self made man" are pretty much over.
IQ is the single most important factor that predicts future success. People basically, by and large, find themselves at the station in life that most closely reflects their IQ. We live in a time where the ability to climb the social / economic strata of society is based on one's own merit, drive, and capacity. The modern western world is that place when driven by a merit based system, provides the best upward opportunity. The fact that you have a tiered class system at all has nothing to do with anything but an IQ based modern western merit driven system. The problem of money inflation, wage stagnation, rising costs and the systems ability to let so many fall through the cracks is really based on bad debt spending, war mongering, job outsourcing, money printing, and a Federal Funds rate that adjusts to the tune of an oscillating business cycle so that the whole economic system stays a float inside these necessary boom and bust cycles. The wealthy buy scarce desirable assets, start businesses, invest their profits, protect their wealth. The average American basically lives on their paycheck beyond their means, leveraging credit to keep up lifestyle appearances. Then when disaster strikes they've nothing to fall back on.
Do you have studies demonstrating a causal corelation between IQ and class? Most of the studies I have seen indicate that the zip code in which you grow up is a better predicter of success than IQ.
The Bell Curve left out the flaws in the intersections between schooling and the IQ test itself. Poor schooling results in low score, low score results in remedial classes and poor learning environment. The Bell Curve book was debunked years ago for its racist overtones.
notice how people are dressed and take care of themselves. if you wish to escape poverty like i did. you must exercise and try to eat a little better. definitely dress better. i stopped wearing a hoodie and started wearing a suit jacket and changed my life. the devil wears prada is a good example you must dress for success. stop dressing like a slob. take the money you spend on tats, cigerettes, alcohol,lottery, drive thru windows, and door dash and invest in yourself. improve your health and your appearance. then have a goal start a business on line as simple as starting a youtube business with just your phone.
I'm interested in the occasional mobility of either rising or falling from one social status to another as well as the often unspoken barriers that exist involving interpersonal relationships, friendships, dating and marriage between these levels of class structure. In my own life I have experienced some mobility (born into middle class, descent into mid proletariat class and climb back into middle class through schooling and hard work). I know and have befriended people from the destitute class as well as upper middle class and become aware of barriers that exist... unspoken, but real nonetheless. As people tend to gravitate to "their own kind" to be understood perhaps, social connections or lack thereof seem to keep people in their lane and somewhat separate from and mistrustful of one another. I've seen people from different classes be terribly uncomfortable in each others' company. Inadequacy, resentment, shame, blame and mistrust often enter in.
The average Child Protective Service (CPS) salary in New Jersey is $65,467 as of September 01, 2024, but the range typically falls between $58,691 and $73,416.
Class in America hinges on culture, education, where you live in what house you live, what clubs let you in, how far back you can date your ancestors' arrival. But E M Forster said it best...there is an aristocracy of the plucky...the ones whose spirits and drive and indefatigability put them in a class by themselves. Inheritances can be both a blessibg and a curse, but without that pluck, goodbye to any meaningful life.
Freedom and violence. The aristocratic principle of a sacred treasure in the individual independent of social conventions and authority is alive and well in the US, as America is basically a product of European colonization of the New World. Honor means accepting distinctions from society only when the said individual with honor so wishes it. American honor is very strong. It's a posture. And anyone who is poor can aspire to those freedoms, regardless of whether or not he achieves them. In the end, this ruling class is every American's ruling class. It's theirs. The Chinese ruling class is not theirs.
In addition people have trouble moving from the proletarian class to the middle class, because employers want experience (2 to 5 years), in addition to their college degree. Moving in to the middle class is very hard. A college degree by itself will no longer help you, unless you know someone and have experience to go with your degree. This unfortunately will be a very large proletarian class, and a lot of proles unfortunately today, will be college educated. This is very true in the business and corporate world. But again, there are still opportunities in law enforcement, teaching, and the medical field such as nurses.
Political Horseshoe Theory: In popular discourse, the horseshoe theory asserts that advocates of the far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear continuum of the political spectrum, closely resemble each other, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together. - Wikipedia
Unfortunately having ended up with a disability status, and fixed income has seen me stuck struggling in the destitute class. Not life circumstance I would have chosen. Also I am a lifelong Texan, and there's no real regard here except for those in one of the wealthier classes.
I totally agree with these concepts. I had then by intuiton, but not so sistemized and denominated, tending to consider only levels of wage and property, sometimes education, not values.
@@JeffDoerr 1. Don't get upset when you use the word proletariat and they tell you to move to a communist country 2. You don't read Spanish? Why you wrote the last part in Spanish.
@@leo-wr6doIt's a goof numbnuts. Capitalism is a superior economic model. The problem is unbridled Capitalism and our current emphasis on social darwinism. We're currently living in an oligarchy corpratocracy. My corpratocracy overlords now want to also incorporate a Christian theocracy into the mix. Any idiot will tell you free market Capitalism is a superior economic model . Just ask the Chinese.
@@leo-wr6doThe UA-cam algorithm took down my response to your post so I'll try again. The doc was about CLASS and social stratification. Since we're living in an economic environment that mirrors the gilded age in terms of income inequality I was making a joke about an armed revolution. Maybe that went over your head. Free market Capitalism is a superior economic model. Just ask the Chinese. The problem is unbridled Capitalism and the inherent inequalities that it produces. Understand? So again I proudly say...don't start the revolution without me. Viva la revolucion!
So therefore, the proletarian class will be 85 percent of the population like in George Orwell's book 1984. The percentage of proles will be the same (85 percent) like Odwslls book. Only difference is we will now have a lot of college educated prolerarians.
It's quite obvious that the the most favourite means nay the only means of transportation of the “Top Out-of-Sight” class is the private jet, Lear or otherwise. It provides them with social invisibility. It's quite impossible to be invisible for the hoi polloi who are and always will be dependent on public transportation or commercial airliners.
Thank you for this video. I think the class situation is the same in the UK. People with inherited wealth and the nobility, do not see the people below them, they live in their own world, separate from the lives of 'normal' people, because they see themselves as 'special and chosen'. The wealthy people are celebrated and adored by the media, they are always shown as powerful and healthy and wealthy. In control of their lives and lives of other people too. It seems in order for this wealth/competition adoring society to work, There needs to be people with lesser and lesser access to wealth and off course exclusivity, ( in order for the sense of entitlement to work). Jesus was an astute politician, he is supposed to have said 'the poor will always be with us' and also 'let Ceaser keep what he has'. Remember Julias Ceaser achieved his power and wealth through political struggle and violent, genocidal wars.😢.
Marxist theory: the class structure of the capitalist mode of production: the conflict between two main classes: bourgeoisie (capitalist minority) proletariat (working class majority)
The US system still has significant amounts of opportunity and mobility relative to other countries. Europe and European like countries have much more rigid class structure with financial and political "nobilities", a managerial elite (in civil service and corporate world) that's almost heritable. A vast "proletariat" class - if they managed to have high incomes they'll be taxed to oblivion so even elite workers are proletarian, in my personal example- my standard of living is relatively low but marginal effective tax rate is already 45%. Also note that wages are way lower outside the US. Below them is a vast "welfare" class. People who mostly exist on welfare and used as a support for the politicians. Professional welfare class are often better off then younger workers due to getting social housing.
By pure luck, when I was a kid I met one of those out of sight elite types one afternoon at a hotel on Broadway. They charged me a ton of money for being there and I went bankrupt. Game over. Little did I know I would be playing Monopoly 24/7 for the rest of my life. I hate the game, not the players. Mostly.
In America, one can be born poor and they could eventually become middle or even upper-class. In Europe and other places, if you're born poor, you'll probably stay poor.
I have found my sweet spot on the horseshoe. The two extremes,poor and super rich out of sights,are in a precarious spot. Both are useless eaters since they consume way beyond their societal contribution. They aren’t as parasitic as the other hyper consumer,but idle rich,down to the upper middle classes. The middle class of the sixties hardly exists;most living in that income bracket are striving so hard to advance that they are highly vulnerable to suffer from economic downturn because of being in debt . They have mortgages on their homes past their mid forties,ensuring their enslavement to fear to retire. I became one of what was called upper proletariat toward the end of my working career but never felt comfortable to live at that income level. By living like the Archie Bunker class in a neighborhood of higher income families, I don’t have to lock my doors. I’m the reason they lock THIER doors. My biggest fear is gentrification so I’ve bought other houses on my street to insure other low key ,low drama families are my neighbors. It’s like the second lane from the right on a four lane freeway. It’s safer than the extreme right because you don’t have to dodge the traffic entering and exiting, and the traffic is at the speed limit or below. The third lane speed is the posted limit or above. Finally the left lane is the suicidal alphas trying to jump to the higher class. The peace of mind and tranquility of living below one’s means is that sweet spot on the horseshoe.
This country had men like Washington and Lincoln. They worked. Yes fought in wars. And live a decent life. Now you have to be rich and a Harvard grad. To be a president. This country still belongs to working people. Working people resent a man or or woman looking down on them. That is why this country is mad as Hell now.
I had a friend. Who became a U.S. congressman. He had a doctorates degree. No fool at all! The ONLY DEMOCRAT IVE EVER VOTED FOR. He put in 4 years? And did not want to go back. I have other Republican friend in Washington. I see them from time to time. I love telling them. WELL I WAS RIGHT. Something has got change. We're being short changed on leadership!
Nice. I’ve been traveling down, through the grace of God, towards the lower reaches of the classes described. But my education, basic physical health, and religious faith halted my descent.😢😅
There is no such thing as social oppression,to be social is to be apart of those willing to be slaves or labeled as such and are social with their oppressors ...meaning (Slaves/inferior)
In reality the USA is an oligarchical two party state with extreme differences between the super rich and the many millions of extreme poor people. These extreme differences do not exist in any other western democracy. Other more modern parties with serious political aims have no chance to be portrayed by the US media which is either pro "democrat" or pro "republicans". Therefore the oligarchical two party rule will not be disturbed by a real democratic challenge.
You failed to mention the new immigrants including illegal ones, and staying at home moms who are on work duty 24/7 with no pay. Those are a big number of groups of people, where should they fit into the social class structure?
These men yall have on American t.v. are sharing the assest of the areas weather with their women in their social class. I haven't shared a damn thing. May I ask how you expect me to respond? 1. Not respond 2. Take it 3. Defend myself and when are all going to stop.
The horseshoe model of political orientation is deceptive and misleading and I find a it a bit disingenuous and suspicious when anyone applies it to the political spectrum. Culture and ideology is a relflectuon of the values of the economic ruling class. So there is no “cultural elite” distinct from the economic elite. There are NO cultural values acceptable and legitimate and reflected in mainstream politics that aren’t acceptable to the economic ruling class. The horseshoe model is also deceptive when applied to economic class in the USA. For one thing, the horseshoe leaves the impression there are equal numbers of people on both extreme ends of the wealth distribution when you conceive of it as a horseshoe, or even a straight lined spectrum. There are not. The ultra rich “households” of America (wealth greater than $100M) … the “top 0.01%”) number less than 50,000. The number of the “ultra poor” (defined as “deep poverty” with no wealth and living at less than half the poverty line) about 4 to 5 million US households or 18 to 20 million people! Those “invisible” poor are no reflection of the “invisible rich” on the other side of some alleged horseshoe. That’s a sick lie to say there’s anything to compare them, other than the combined wealth of all those in America who are in invisible deep poverty is less than 0. Estimates are that they collectively owe about $100b in debt to the banks owned by the rich families, thanks mostly to medical bills. In fact, we must include the entirety of the bottom 20% of the population of the USA before we achieve the goal of seeing an average net worth of exactly nothing for the group. The lower fifth of the USA is worth nothing. That … and worse … so we can have a few thousand near billionaires and billionaires. The deep poverty invisibles are that way because once you become “visible” in the USA without any wealth you run the risk of being arrested and joining the prison population since poverty itself is a crime when it’s too “visible”. A variety of distribution curves is a far better way to illustrate economic class in America. It creates an actual picture that represents their numbers, and their total wealth per percentile; etc. a variety of very real measures that give real meaning to these alleged social “classes”. A proper Marxist economic class analysis recognizes only working class who own little wealth or assets and the capitalists who have massive wealth and asset holdings and most importantly own the means of economic production. All other “classes” are just cultural and relatively meaningless.
24:37 min I know this woman, and many others from the several severely deprived underclasses you steriotype. Most, if not all, the ills in these groups are due to the insults and trauma dealt out by a capitalist economic system and its accompanying fear and competition. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR LEAVING OTHERS IN SUCH DIRE CONDITION. Leave no one behind: guaranteed income, enough for all. Everyone's needs before the wants of some.
I believe that clip was taken at Cobb on Wood, an amazing alternative community that withstood vicious slander and assaults, survived for a decade or so on property claimed by Cal Trans under the high freeway interchange in Oakland, CA. I credit them, and especially Theo, for my renewed and abiding interest in socialism. I am ex middle class, downwardly mobile for decades due to neocon policies: declining real wages for my occupation, chronic disabling health issues. Only the wealthiest few are not at risk for what happened to me. And the unrestrained greed of those folk will bring down the whole economy. They are parasites, not producers and won't survive without us. Rebuild America from foundational assumptions. Circular file capitalism. Apply socialism.
😢those people whose gathering listening of shared stupid stories without any substaintial idea or move to improve or overcome each problems ,because they are noknowledge or coorperate spirit in each other. Look at the group of oldmoney, they associates with family name, coorperate and wellties to uplift their status, The rothschilds., johnsons, carnagie, morgan, Mellon, and Royalties
You're leader that you are saying you are for has been to jail. Why aren't you telling him "that's its you're out." He has been promoted since going to jail. I don't like the assault and its not to be taken lightly.
Can you tell us one story from your life involving a meeting with someone from one of these social classes - and what was it like?
Stuck up
Part of my family, the "DREAMHOARDERS" i.e. upper middle class per Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institute and on my husband's side who grew up middle class, part of the family was very wealthy since the 1930s. Grew up in the 1950s and 60s middle class towards upper middle class, when the middle class lived more like the rich! Not today as we continue to "shrink"! Getting harder and harder to get ahead, in more ways than one! Wish the late great FDR who created the "middle class", and his brilliant visionary VP Henry A. Wallace, champion of the 99 percent were still around. Born in 1948, I knew about FDR a little bit about the Great Depression and WW2, from my late beloved mother who lived through it in the 1930s and 40s, but thankfully had a good job in Boston as a secretary for Judge Brandeis! Late father fought in WW2 in the European theater and was a colonel in the Army Reserves. Didn't know about Wallace, but self-educated myself about him! "knowledge is power"....self-empowerment.
they keep amongst themselves, dont intermix, dont intermarry outside the 13 family lineages...they like Horses and Whips..often an ambitious class..with interests in all sectors of the economy..West Palm Beach is their Winter Getaway..New York or other northern cities are their usual homes, from Connecticut to Maryland, from New England to New York..some shuttle back and forth to LA..cozthe black sheep in their family, rebellious or artistic ones, often end up there..Hawauii is the resort of the hi-tech new class (Gates, Oprah, Obama, Larry Page..etc)..Dupont, he liked Cuba once in a while..visited his Mansion there in Varadero...trust funds abound ensuring their enduring ownership of most large corporate entities..
Part of the frustration of the middle class is that media portrays the upper class as being middle class. Like in the Modern Family example, they would likely need upper class (but not stratospheric) money to afford a house that big and nice in the suburbs of Los Angeles. It's super expensive there.
My Father was born poor on a remote (and failed) wheat farm in western Canada. From age 5 he was raised by a single mother during the Great Depression in eastern Massachusetts. He and his two brothers became printers; the 'aristocrats of the working class' as my British friends would comment. Among his children are teachers, social workers, lawyers and nurses. He and his children actually achieved the American dream of genuine upward mobility during the historical period before Ronald Reagan's policies of neoliberalism and globalism unceremoniously cut the bottom three rungs of the 'ladder of opportunity'. Great presentation! It was lucid, well presented and appeared to be well researched.
Yes, many families in the New Deal era have similar stories, but have been generationally stripped of that advancement since the '80s. Mine, too. We made a huge mistake by going for handouts from capitalists rather than transforming to a socialist system, and are paying a steep price. Hope we learn our lesson.
Thank you so much this video should be shown in Middleschool and Highschool to tell the young American generation about all the social classes in America. Not just their peer group in Public School.
Thank you so much!
So unless one is very wealthy, the state of one’s health has the potential to send one tumbling into the bottom depths of the social classes. Very sad.
😢
I agree
To this, my dad still freaks on having insurance because "it only takes 1 medical emergency to financially destroy your life!"
The dude passed his trauma onto me.
Even with the typical health insurance of today, most people are one major medical incident away from being completely penniless and homeless. I know this first hand from my husband’s massive stroke at 52 years old and now being stuck on the medical wheel that never stops.
@jeanneriffle4231 I'm sorry for the struggles. Thank you for your input. This is exactly what my dad talks to me about.
Great and simple reflection of the social classes in the US. I think the lower you go, the more you will find trauma and a distorted vision of reality as a cause of their conditions. The solutions can only be found by implementing mental health support for those suffering the most, initiating inner growth. But often that is impossible to achieve. So prevention is key here: Catch people early in their lives and protect them from traumatic experiences and provide opportunities for education so they can help themselves.
I have been providing food for the homeless downtown Los Angeles several times and it is like hell. There is no other way to describe it, these individuals are so far from what I understand as living a normal life that it seems impossible to get them back to dignity. They are often to beaten down, they don't even look human anymore, it's a terrifying sight and I felt very powerless. First time I went I cried. It actually motivated my to produce a documentary about trauma (still working on it).
Thanks for sharing your story, wow!
Learned helplessness
I have also worked with the most distressed. Your suggestions are triage, not cure. Until we shed capitalism, some will be driven to the bottom to terrify and control the rest. USA is entering the increasingly destructive late stage of capitalism. No one, not even those deluded into thinking they are benefitting, will survive, the planet and its creatures will not survive, if we do not restructure from first assumptions onward. Consider socialism.
Your original video about this topic is one of my favorite. I even took notes in a notepad. I watched Winter’s bone because of it, and now I got to watch Precious. Thank you for revisiting it. This newer version has great examples and references.
Thanks so much Veronique and it’s great you enjoyed this updated version :) which other videos would you like us to do an update on?
@@oldmoneyluxury great question! I will have to think about it. ❤️
The one about how old money preserve their wealth and the one about how the elite use art for wealth creation. Please.
Great idea!
The days of moving up into the middle class from the proletarian class really doesn't exist. In 1983, a bachelor's degree or a masters degree was your ticket to the middle class, but not really anymore, because there are too many people with degrees who can't get jobs. In the business and corporate world getting a job is based more on who you know. Its not what you know or who you know, its both. However, there are jobs still available in teaching, law enforcement and the medical field.
Different degrees have different earnings potentials
There seems to be a clash between the lives of what are called the proletariat in this video and the upper middle class professional class. This is illustrated by the longshoremen at ports going on strike because they do not want their employers putting in automation that might eliminate their job. Automation is an example of invention. Most inventions, which is called technological innovation, has come from those who have university engineering and science degrees. They try to start new businesses based on inventions. Those in vocational work are almost never associated with inventions. Sometimes, but it is rare. Inventions disrupt the workforce and those working in vocational work more than any other group.
@@chrisdorman-c5r That's is very true.
I was introduced to Christian Socialism in university.(BA /BEd) by a group of radical students. Now, at 72, they taught me the value of working class people, and in my consulting practice, I dedicated myself to building the skills, abilities and capabilities of front line workers.
What do you mean by Christian Socialism?
Good video. Couple of comments based on what I see: (1) The impact that AI will have on Upper Middle Class careers and professions, and by extension, on Middle Class jobs and career paths too, will be staggering. There will be far fewer slots, and pathways to move up. (2) There is an opportunity for people in High Proletarian if they become small business owners. If you are a plumber, work to own your own plumbing business. AI won’t be fixing people’s clogged drains anytime soon….
Right! I’m a retired electrician but keep my master license current for occasional work. I don’t want to work but know I can stay busy if I need to.
Reminds me of Cinzi Lavin's novels, "The Taciturn Sky" and "Nemesis of the Great," which examine the American class structure and the twilight of the Old Money crowd. Both books are fantastic.
this was amazing..how you told the story..yes i have struggled with a lot of issues..today I am stable not rich not poor..in between I have every thing I need..
Thank you for updating this video. I always love your channel about old money culture. In the past, I mentioned that both the old American class system and the UK British class system videos didn't adequately cover new money and lower middle classes.
This updated version is better, including the tech elite social class, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and financials. However, it still misses celebrities and elite first-generation politicians (like the Obamas and Clintons) who belong to the lower upper classes, and doesn't address the lower middle class, which includes junior administration and small business owners earning 30k-50k. Understanding this group, known as purple collar/lower white collar, is crucial as many people fall into this socioeconomic bracket. Despite these omissions, I appreciate the content of your channel and its genuine approach to discussing old money families; values, culture and history in depth and on class hierarchy which shaped people lives.
I hope future updates, especially for the UK, better separate upper middle class six figure earners from new money millionaires and address traditional feudalistic with modern and breaking down old money nobility of landed gentry (David Cameron family) and peerage titled, and royalty for the views.
Edit: It needs to represent more diversity, like the USA's black upper-class old money elites from Martha vineyard (like the syphax family, downing family, dobbs Family) and African nobility (Haile Selassie's family, Mansa Musa) with global south countries old money bells be focus in same level. These groups are rarely mentioned compared to white Europeans, despite their significant cultural and historical impact. There's also a lack of discussion on historical and contemporary racism and global white supremacy's effect on wealth and resources if you not able to find it . The channel should cover black American dynastic families from the 1800s, the Black Boule elite group, and resources like the book "Our Kind of People."and ‘Certain people’ by Stephen Birmingham who’s more hidden but speaks about upper class American Society by ethnicity.
Despite these gaps Hardly mention (on the liberal elite Martha video), I appreciate your genuine approach to class hierarchy and hope future updates address these issues.
Wow OML. Another excellent piece. A much needed and appreciated granular look at us. I would have never guessed 10 distinctions. Perhaps if we all were aware of these strata we would understand each other better. Brilliant. Thank you.
Thanks again!
When my oldest got her first job at 15, rich people I know were asking about her interest in that industry, assuming it was a passion of hers, and were a little disturbed when I said, "It's the job she got" our of all that we applied to.
To them, a job is something you coordinate between you and your contacts. To us, it's something to take when offered by a stranger.
True.
Yes I can, I was working on a summer job, as a waterman on a golf course, and one of my jobs was to pick up the flags in the greens on the golf course before working on my main chores. Bob Hope was filming a movie and while he was finished filming for the day, he went golfing on the course . After hours. So when I was picking up the flags on,the greens, I picked up a green where Mr Hope hadn’t finished. Nobody had told me to hold up picking up the flags until Mr Hope had finished, so I picked them all up. When he was on the last hole he was playing, I came up to the green while he (and his companions ) were putting. So when they finished , I walked on the green and picked up the flag, and said “ are you finished” . Mr Hope then just looked at me glowering like I was a criminal, and didn’t say a word to me!! It appeared as if he wanted to say a lot of things to me, but he didn’t !! I could tell he was pissed off. Although he didn’t say anything , I could tell he was he wanted to, I figured I would hear about it the next day, when I went to work. Mind you nobody said anything to me before I started work! But , the next day, my boss said, AL. Wait until Bob Hope is finished before picking up the flags. I did so. Bob Hope said nothing to me but, you bet he gave the Pro, a tongue lashing!!! I wonder what he would have said if I had asked for his autograph?!?!!!!!
This is a great video dissecting the American class structure.
very good channel- no-nonsense information.
Thanks!
"Philanthropic efforts" of the Gates XD I love your sarcasm.
Excellent , very informative presentation.
It would be nice to see figures and breakdowns based on geography, ethnicity …etc.
Can any discussion of class in America ignore the question of race?
As a college student, I used to talk to the homeless man who sat on the sidewalk outside the store where I worked. This was in the downtown of a major US city. One day I asked him his story. He told me he had lost his job and his family and never found a way to recover. When I offered him $5, he refused to take because, he said, “you work too hard for that.” When I asked what he did in the colder months, he told me he had blankets and a bench on 17th Street and that he would sometimes go to the cinema when it was very cold. I remarked that it must be hard to get sleep on 17th Street, as there were many bars and restaurants there. He said, “Well, sometimes couples will come out and maybe they’ve had too much too drink, and they will wake me up. You know, life has its ups and downs when you are bum, too.” That put one of the biggest smiles on my face I’ve ever had.
Race, and all the other identities that the capitalist system uses to judge some folk as unworthy of a dignified and pleasant life are viewpoints that need to be heard from. Real, lasting change will only come if and when we toss off capitalist paradigms. When we take it that far, we see this dysfunctional system harms all, even those who think they are benefitting from it. Let us break free and imagine a profoundly different and better future!!!!
Interesting. I'm not American, but this seems quite accurate for my country too. According to this, I and my parents are mid proletarian. My mother came from a low proletarian family, my father from a high proletarian family. My sisters have both climbed from mid to high proletarian, while I remain mid proletarian, occasionally at risk of becoming low proletarian. I have one high proletarian housemate and one low proletarian one (apparently us mid proletarian types tend to do most of the housework).
Yeah the mid-tiers tend to do all the heavy lifting.
Therefore the proletarian class will be now 85 percent. This includes the destitutes, low, middle and high proletarians, and college graduates ( about at least half of them), will probably end up as middle or high proletarians, even though they have a 4 year college degree unfortunately.
The video would be much more informative if the approximate percentage of each class was included
Percentage…?
@@oldmoneyluxuryyes. I agree. If you had included what percentage of the population belonged to each class
Terrifying it will be .. 60 pc are poor with no savings and living paycheque to paycheque
Use to, if you were smart, worked hard, and with a little luck, you could move up the social ladder. But over the last 25 years, the middle class has shrank dramatically. Leaving a huge gap. The American dream is dead. The days of starting out with nothing, and becoming a "self made man" are pretty much over.
😢
Channel's best video ever you've covered all levels of Ameican society.
2:51 no, fascism may say that but its purpose is to protect corporations. Its goal is unregulated wealth extraction from all of society upwards
IQ is the single most important factor that predicts future success.
People basically, by and large, find themselves at the station in life that most closely reflects their IQ.
We live in a time where the ability to climb the social / economic strata of society is based on one's own merit, drive, and capacity.
The modern western world is that place when driven by a merit based system, provides the best upward opportunity.
The fact that you have a tiered class system at all has nothing to do with anything but an IQ based modern western merit driven system.
The problem of money inflation, wage stagnation, rising costs and the systems ability to let so many fall through the cracks is really based on bad debt spending, war mongering, job outsourcing, money printing, and a Federal Funds rate that adjusts to the tune of an oscillating business cycle so that the whole economic system stays a float inside these necessary boom and bust cycles.
The wealthy buy scarce desirable assets, start businesses, invest their profits, protect their wealth. The average American basically lives on their paycheck beyond their means, leveraging credit to keep up lifestyle appearances. Then when disaster strikes they've nothing to fall back on.
Do you have studies demonstrating a causal corelation between IQ and class? Most of the studies I have seen indicate that the zip code in which you grow up is a better predicter of success than IQ.
@@johnadams8701 The Bell Curve by Charles Murray.
The Bell Curve left out the flaws in the intersections between schooling and the IQ test itself. Poor schooling results in low score, low score results in remedial classes and poor learning environment. The Bell Curve book was debunked years ago for its racist overtones.
notice how people are dressed and take care of themselves. if you wish to escape poverty like i did. you must exercise and try to eat a little better. definitely dress better. i stopped wearing a hoodie and started wearing a suit jacket and changed my life. the devil wears prada is a good example you must dress for success. stop dressing like a slob. take the money you spend on tats, cigerettes, alcohol,lottery, drive thru windows, and door dash and invest in yourself. improve your health and your appearance. then have a goal start a business on line as simple as starting a youtube business with just your phone.
I'm interested in the occasional mobility of either rising or falling from one social status to another as well as the often unspoken barriers that exist involving interpersonal relationships, friendships, dating and marriage between these levels of class structure. In my own life I have experienced some mobility (born into middle class, descent into mid proletariat class and climb back into middle class through schooling and hard work). I know and have befriended people from the destitute class as well as upper middle class and become aware of barriers that exist... unspoken, but real nonetheless. As people tend to gravitate to "their own kind" to be understood perhaps, social connections or lack thereof seem to keep people in their lane and somewhat separate from and mistrustful of one another. I've seen people from different classes be terribly uncomfortable in each others' company. Inadequacy, resentment, shame, blame and mistrust often enter in.
The average Child Protective Service (CPS) salary in New Jersey is $65,467 as of September 01, 2024, but the range typically falls between $58,691 and $73,416.
Paul Fussell’s book is a very entertaining read!
I’m in that awkward spot stuck between middle class & upper middle class
Outstanding! Next do one about the USSR, so many misconceptions.
I want to see more videos from this Channel please make more and Early ....
Huge gap between tech elite ($100M-$100B) and upper middle class (~$1-$5M). Is there a class in-between (maybe ~$30M)?
Class in America hinges on culture, education, where you live in what house you live, what clubs let you in, how far back you can date your ancestors' arrival. But E M Forster said it best...there is an aristocracy of the plucky...the ones whose spirits and drive and indefatigability put them in a class by themselves. Inheritances can be both a blessibg and a curse, but without that pluck, goodbye to any meaningful life.
It’s no about having no social class but having ample oppotunities for Social Mobility regardless of Class.
Interesting analysis of our society!!!
Glad you think so!
Thank you for explaining the SAD TRUTH so very diligently
Freedom and violence. The aristocratic principle of a sacred treasure in the individual independent of social conventions and authority is alive and well in the US, as America is basically a product of European colonization of the New World. Honor means accepting distinctions from society only when the said individual with honor so wishes it. American honor is very strong. It's a posture. And anyone who is poor can aspire to those freedoms, regardless of whether or not he achieves them. In the end, this ruling class is every American's ruling class. It's theirs. The Chinese ruling class is not theirs.
Yep, did a presentation on this book in my investing group earlier this year.
2:18 PERFECT EXAMPLE!!!
Very stark contrast
In addition people have trouble moving from the proletarian class to the middle class, because employers want experience (2 to 5 years), in addition to their college degree. Moving in to the middle class is very hard. A college degree by itself will no longer help you, unless you know someone and have experience to go with your degree. This unfortunately will be a very large proletarian class, and a lot of proles unfortunately today, will be college educated. This is very true in the business and corporate world. But again, there are still opportunities in law enforcement, teaching, and the medical field such as nurses.
Political Horseshoe Theory:
In popular discourse, the horseshoe theory asserts that advocates of the far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear continuum of the political spectrum, closely resemble each other, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together.
- Wikipedia
Unfortunately having ended up with a disability status, and fixed income has seen me stuck struggling in the destitute class. Not life circumstance I would have chosen. Also I am a lifelong Texan, and there's no real regard here except for those in one of the wealthier classes.
I totally agree with these concepts. I had then by intuiton, but not so sistemized and denominated, tending to consider only levels of wage and property, sometimes education, not values.
Being a proud member of the high proletarian class I have only one thing to say...don't start the revolution without me. Viva la revolucion!😮
Venezuela parece un país más de tu agrado. Cuba es muy bonito también. Need a ride to the airport?
@@leo-wr6do WTF are you talking about?
@@JeffDoerr
1. Don't get upset when you use the word proletariat and they tell you to move to a communist country
2. You don't read Spanish? Why you wrote the last part in Spanish.
@@leo-wr6doIt's a goof numbnuts. Capitalism is a superior economic model. The problem is unbridled Capitalism and our current emphasis on social darwinism. We're currently living in an oligarchy corpratocracy. My corpratocracy overlords now want to also incorporate a Christian theocracy into the mix. Any idiot will tell you free market Capitalism is a superior economic model . Just ask the Chinese.
@@leo-wr6doThe UA-cam algorithm took down my response to your post so I'll try again. The doc was about CLASS and social stratification. Since we're living in an economic environment that mirrors the gilded age in terms of income inequality I was making a joke about an armed revolution. Maybe that went over your head. Free market Capitalism is a superior economic model. Just ask the Chinese. The problem is unbridled Capitalism and the inherent inequalities that it produces. Understand? So again I proudly say...don't start the revolution without me. Viva la revolucion!
I think it’s interesting that upper middle class through low proletariats needs a fictional character for reference
Well done video
So therefore, the proletarian class will be 85 percent of the population like in George Orwell's book 1984. The percentage of proles will be the same (85 percent) like Odwslls book. Only difference is we will now have a lot of college educated prolerarians.
It's quite obvious that the the most favourite means nay the only means of transportation of the “Top Out-of-Sight” class is the private jet, Lear or otherwise.
It provides them with social invisibility.
It's quite impossible to be invisible for the hoi polloi who are and always will be dependent on public transportation or commercial airliners.
Knowing how people think I think most people would like to think they're in a higher class group than they really are.
The key to success is Education and the will to better yourself. This can't be taught.
Thank you for this video.
I think the class situation is the same in the UK.
People with inherited wealth and the nobility, do not see the people below them, they live in their own world, separate from the lives of 'normal' people, because they see themselves as 'special and chosen'. The wealthy people are celebrated and adored by the media, they are always shown as powerful and healthy and wealthy. In control of their lives and lives of other people too.
It seems in order for this wealth/competition adoring society to work,
There needs to be people with lesser and lesser access to wealth and off course exclusivity, ( in order for the sense of entitlement to work).
Jesus was an astute politician, he is supposed to have said 'the poor will always be with us' and also 'let Ceaser keep what he has'.
Remember Julias Ceaser achieved his power and wealth through political struggle and violent, genocidal wars.😢.
Marxist theory: the class structure of the capitalist mode of production:
the conflict between two main classes:
bourgeoisie (capitalist minority)
proletariat (working class majority)
Seems like too many sub-classes. Need more about SIZE of each class and more specific markers per class.
The first 3 classes make up less than 1% of the population. Wealthy Professionals make up about 2 or 3%. The Upper Middle class about 8%.
Where would highly paid athletes and pop stars land?
Many are black. Always difficult for America
Upper class
Average Person vs.
Corruption of Power
I was always interested in America as it’s a capitalist nation (atleast from outside). Thank you for researching and bringing this out!
The US system still has significant amounts of opportunity and mobility relative to other countries. Europe and European like countries have much more rigid class structure with financial and political "nobilities", a managerial elite (in civil service and corporate world) that's almost heritable. A vast "proletariat" class - if they managed to have high incomes they'll be taxed to oblivion so even elite workers are proletarian, in my personal example- my standard of living is relatively low but marginal effective tax rate is already 45%. Also note that wages are way lower outside the US. Below them is a vast "welfare" class. People who mostly exist on welfare and used as a support for the politicians.
Professional welfare class are often better off then younger workers due to getting social housing.
proletarian JD Vance get me 😂🤣🤣
Very interesting
Thanks again
By pure luck, when I was a kid I met one of those out of sight elite types one afternoon at a hotel on Broadway. They charged me a ton of money for being there and I went bankrupt. Game over. Little did I know I would be playing Monopoly 24/7 for the rest of my life. I hate the game, not the players. Mostly.
I want more vide9 about social class's
Quite frankly, in each strata here defined, why was the element of their practicing "faith" ignored?
Reclusive Upper-Class x
Hidden Lower-Class
I'm upper middle class I voted based on what's in my best interest 😊😊😊
In America, one can be born poor and they could eventually become middle or even upper-class. In Europe and other places, if you're born poor, you'll probably stay poor.
If that's what you wanna believe...
Maybe in like.. 1923
I have found my sweet spot on the horseshoe. The two extremes,poor and super rich out of sights,are in a precarious spot. Both are useless eaters since they consume way beyond their societal contribution. They aren’t as parasitic as the other hyper consumer,but idle rich,down to the upper middle classes.
The middle class of the sixties hardly exists;most living in that income bracket are striving so hard to advance that they are highly vulnerable to suffer from economic downturn because of being in debt . They have mortgages on their homes past their mid forties,ensuring their enslavement to fear to retire.
I became one of what was called upper proletariat toward the end of my working career but never felt comfortable to live at that income level. By living like the Archie Bunker class in a neighborhood of higher income families, I don’t have to lock my doors. I’m the reason they lock THIER doors. My biggest fear is gentrification so I’ve bought other houses on my street to insure other low key ,low drama families are my neighbors.
It’s like the second lane from the right on a four lane freeway. It’s safer than the extreme right because you don’t have to dodge the traffic entering and exiting, and the traffic is at the speed limit or below. The third lane speed is the posted limit or above. Finally the left lane is the suicidal alphas trying to jump to the higher class.
The peace of mind and tranquility of living below one’s means is that sweet spot on the horseshoe.
what are the percentages of each class in the population?
No Rockefeller, eh?
So what happened to X class? It wasn’t mentioned, but It certainly hasn’t ceased to exist.
Tech & Hollywood & Hedge Fund Elite🎉
This country had men like Washington and Lincoln. They worked. Yes fought in wars. And live a decent life. Now you have to be rich and a Harvard grad. To be a president. This country still belongs to working people. Working people resent a man or or woman looking down on them. That is why this country is mad as Hell now.
I had a friend. Who became a U.S. congressman. He had a doctorates degree. No fool at all! The ONLY DEMOCRAT IVE EVER VOTED FOR. He put in 4 years? And did not want to go back. I have other Republican friend in Washington. I see them from time to time. I love telling them. WELL I WAS RIGHT. Something has got change. We're being short changed on leadership!
Nice. I’ve been traveling down, through the grace of God, towards the lower reaches of the classes described. But my education, basic physical health, and religious faith halted my descent.😢😅
There is no such thing as social oppression,to be social is to be apart of those willing to be slaves or labeled as such and are social with their oppressors ...meaning (Slaves/inferior)
The house of Wyndradine.
In reality the USA is an oligarchical two party state with extreme differences between the super rich and the many millions of extreme poor people. These extreme differences do not exist in any other western democracy.
Other more modern parties with serious political aims have no chance to be portrayed by the US media which is either pro "democrat" or pro "republicans".
Therefore the oligarchical two party rule will not be disturbed by a real democratic challenge.
Money from oil
to
Money from juice
No mention of Elon as tech elite????
The Horseshoe Theory of Class
Analogous to:
They are insults
To the semantic
Meaning of
Meritocracy ⁉️
You failed to mention the new immigrants including illegal ones, and staying at home moms who are on work duty 24/7 with no pay. Those are a big number of groups of people, where should they fit into the social class structure?
Are successful athletes with no education upper or upper middle?
Check out their status 10 years after retirement for the answer.
Modern family is middle class 😂
These men yall have on American t.v. are sharing the assest of the areas weather with their women in their social class. I haven't shared a damn thing. May I ask how you expect me to respond? 1. Not respond 2. Take it 3. Defend myself and when are all going to stop.
The horseshoe model of political orientation is deceptive and misleading and I find a it a bit disingenuous and suspicious when anyone applies it to the political spectrum. Culture and ideology is a relflectuon of the values of the economic ruling class. So there is no “cultural elite” distinct from the economic elite. There are NO cultural values acceptable and legitimate and reflected in mainstream politics that aren’t acceptable to the economic ruling class.
The horseshoe model is also deceptive when applied to economic class in the USA. For one thing, the horseshoe leaves the impression there are equal numbers of people on both extreme ends of the wealth distribution when you conceive of it as a horseshoe, or even a straight lined spectrum. There are not. The ultra rich “households” of America (wealth greater than $100M) … the “top 0.01%”) number less than 50,000. The number of the “ultra poor” (defined as “deep poverty” with no wealth and living at less than half the poverty line) about 4 to 5 million US households or 18 to 20 million people!
Those “invisible” poor are no reflection of the “invisible rich” on the other side of some alleged horseshoe. That’s a sick lie to say there’s anything to compare them, other than the combined wealth of all those in America who are in invisible deep poverty is less than 0. Estimates are that they collectively owe about $100b in debt to the banks owned by the rich families, thanks mostly to medical bills. In fact, we must include the entirety of the bottom 20% of the population of the USA before we achieve the goal of seeing an average net worth of exactly nothing for the group. The lower fifth of the USA is worth nothing. That … and worse … so we can have a few thousand near billionaires and billionaires. The deep poverty invisibles are that way because once you become “visible” in the USA without any wealth you run the risk of being arrested and joining the prison population since poverty itself is a crime when it’s too “visible”.
A variety of distribution curves is a far better way to illustrate economic class in America. It creates an actual picture that represents their numbers, and their total wealth per percentile; etc. a variety of very real measures that give real meaning to these alleged social “classes”.
A proper Marxist economic class analysis recognizes only working class who own little wealth or assets and the capitalists who have massive wealth and asset holdings and most importantly own the means of economic production. All other “classes” are just cultural and relatively meaningless.
But fascism doesn't redistribute wealth to anyone at all.
Communism (actually socialism, communism is a theoretical stateless future) does.
Ignorance. The enemy of humanity.❤
19:53 Vance, not the best example of a proletarian
24:37 min I know this woman, and many others from the several severely deprived underclasses you steriotype. Most, if not all, the ills in these groups are due to the insults and trauma dealt out by a capitalist economic system and its accompanying fear and competition.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR LEAVING OTHERS IN SUCH DIRE CONDITION.
Leave no one behind: guaranteed income, enough for all.
Everyone's needs before the wants of some.
I believe that clip was taken at Cobb on Wood, an amazing alternative community that withstood vicious slander and assaults, survived for a decade or so on property claimed by Cal Trans under the high freeway interchange in Oakland, CA.
I credit them, and especially Theo, for my renewed and abiding interest in socialism.
I am ex middle class, downwardly mobile for decades due to neocon policies: declining real wages for my occupation, chronic disabling health issues.
Only the wealthiest few are not at risk for what happened to me. And the unrestrained greed of those folk will bring down the whole economy. They are parasites, not producers and won't survive without us.
Rebuild America from foundational assumptions.
Circular file capitalism. Apply socialism.
BTW, if this is at Cobb on Wood, why this clip instead of one showing that courageous tenacious alternative community of cobb homes???
So u are supposed to win by being brilliant in the US hahaha❤❤😂😂😂
😢those people whose gathering listening of shared stupid stories without any substaintial idea or move to improve or overcome each problems ,because they are noknowledge or coorperate spirit in each other. Look at the group of oldmoney, they associates with family name, coorperate and wellties to uplift their status, The rothschilds., johnsons, carnagie, morgan, Mellon, and Royalties
You're leader that you are saying you are for has been to jail. Why aren't you telling him "that's its you're out." He has been promoted since going to jail. I don't like the assault and its not to be taken lightly.
Elon Musk is African heis stem from South Africa
Do u guys have aaa❤❤🎉🎉 bbb ggg
America is in decline
The Socialite's error:
Corporatate Elite (Far Right) vs.
Cultural Elite (Far Left)