The Social Class Ladders—Labor, Gentry, and Elite

[Anonymous]

E4s tend to be some of the snobbiest people I've ever met and the most obsessed with money/brands/status symbols.

E3s seem to be a little more chill and accepting, perhaps because they feel they've "made it" or satisfied their ambition.

I don't know any household names so I can't comment on what those kinds of people are like.

[Anonymous]

I bet the PP putting down lasagna as "low class" is an E4.

[Anonymous]

Can we get back on topic please?

What do people on here aspire to? I think we're G2/E3 and maybe aspire to E2, but I don't think our lifestyle would change very much if that happened, except we wouldn't work much.

[Anonymous]

We were Gs when I was growing up and drifted back to the mid-high Ls as an adult. I'm trying to raise my kids to be Gs who work to make this world a better place.

Given our circumstances, they spend a lot of time around other families in the Labor classes but I try mightily to have them spend as much time as we can afford around the many Gs and Es that we know. Yes, the Es I know have lives that I cannot comprehend in terms of finances and resources. Amazing opportunities (and comforts) there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting to me all the posters who are saying class mobility does not exist. My H and I both grew up LMC. We're first generation college graduates. Now I have a PhD and he is in finance. Senior manager at his firm, very likely to advance. He makes >750k. I adjunct right now for the flexibility with our kids (I'm basically a SAHM for all intents and purposes - I only teach one or two courses a year to keep my toe in. It's basically a hobby job).

Anyway, my point is, we've still been invited to join the fancy country club, our kids go to an expensive private school, we vacation several times a year in the same spots as all the other parents (Caribbean, skiing, Europe, beach trip every year). I've never once felt slighted or looked down upon. Maybe our background is not obvious to others? We're mid thirties and went to good schools on scholarship/loans which we've since long paid off.

I don't get the people who are saying this ^ is not an example of class mobility.

You're white right? Feeling like you automatically fit in because you're white and have a lot of money is a privilege most brown people don't get to experience.

Also I suspect they grew up LMC but in an urban area, maybe even benefited from magnet school or private school financial aid? But even someone from Franconia living in an apartment will be way more capable of adopting Gentry/Elite mannerism. There L1/G4 from rural hinterland had a harder timer. That her DH knew to focus on finance and how's to advance there is telling; if you don't know to do (asked can afford to) summer internship at banks and get in right out of the college recruitment circuit you won't make it.

[Anonymous]

E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

My main fear with being L in the current economy is economic disadvantage. But there are some positives. There are people who do consequential and even satisfying work who fit somewhere on the L spectrum. I'm in awe of people who have practical skills I lack - for example, a contractor who can walk into a house and build something beautiful that other people need and can enjoy.

I'm a G who gets paid for the contents of my mind, mostly. But there's something to be said for making something tangible appear at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

It saddens me that building things with your hands is somehow seen as less than "building" things with your brain. I think it says a lot about our society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

I'm also an E3 but think Ls are important and valuable people. I don't have the L mindset but I'm sure if I were born an L my impulse would be to live my life as best I could, not jump off a bridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

I seriously question your values. Enjoy your money. Money can't buy self-worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

Soon to be L (once money run out). I actually enjoy life now without therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

Well, after the apocalypse the L's will probably rebuild the world. E's probably won't survive. G's will help shape society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E3 married to E3. I would jump off a bridge if I was an L. Does anyone actually choose to be an L? It seems like bad luck at birth.

Doubt very much you're truly an E3 if this is what you think of Ls. E3s know how to value all kinds of people.

I can tell you're very much a wannabe E4 who is scared he/she will never make it and advance in their chosen profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ ha! No they don't. That just shows you have no understanding of the underclass.

I agree. I have a friend who's L4 and he certainly doesn't value financial literacy. He doesn't plan ahead in any area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what is a law firm associate (from a top 10 school) - turned in-house corporate counsel, turned General Counsel for a midsize non-public company?

G2 or E3/4?

What's the background? What class are that person's parents in?