Social Class: How do you know what social class do you belong to?

[Anonymous]

Op, you do not come across well. Don't go asking for clarification on something most people think does not exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Using myself as an example. Immigrant that has been in the States for 25 years now. When I was a kid growing up my father was in a profession that was pretty high status. We lived in beautiful homes in posh neighborhoods around the world and attending private school with children of government officials, CEOs, and the global elite.

However my father was self made and did not have any generational wealth. His chosen profession, although prestigious and elevated our family status and lifestyle, was not something like investment banking where you can amass a lot of wealth.

So when he retired...our lifestyle shifted dramatically. So here we are my siblings and I, literally with champagne tastes and beer budget if you will.

2 of them married rich so because of our lifestyle growing up, easily and smoothly integrated into the upper class families of their spouses.

The other two of us are UMC/MC professionals. We are pretty class conscious and class confused.

Wonder if anyone has been through something similar and has any advice.

In America, you have the opportunity to decide what class you are in. If you believe it, you're in it. It's not externally imposed on you like everywhere else. It's why everyone immigrates here.

+1. There are many people in America who have lots of money but no class; while there are many who are very poor but have a lot of class. Class is decided by how you conduct yourself.

No it's not. There is no class system here. You can buy your way in wherever you want. And if you're poor, nobody cares how classy you are.

This right here is what new money with no class has to tell themselves.

I've personally met so many rich people with little to no class and a lot of very well educated poor people with a lot of class.

And yes, people would much rather be around a poor college professor than you.

You may think Lauren Bezos has no class, but she couldn't care less what people she never interacts with thinks about her "class". She doesn't care what people who think they are classy and have high opinions have to say about her.

Well let me know when she joins DCUM. I'll make sure to ask her about a wide range of things. Until then, if you think money equals class, you will never have class.

Class is not the same as manners. The most famous "class" ever would be the English upper classes, who could be both well mannered and terribly mannered. Plenty of aristocrats took pride in being badly mannered, exhibiting a vulgarity that would be at home with Lauren Boebert. Manners does not make the class. And that is where you're falling into a trap.

Lauren Boebert is far from my favorite person but she is not a lesser class than, say, Abigail Spanberger or Nancy Pelosi. They belong to different socio-economic groups. All three are politically and legally equal. If you keep thinking class is manners or how many degrees you have, you're missing it entirely.

HAHAHAHA no. Lauren Boebert and Abigail Spanberger are most certainly not of the same class. Having class absolutely has to do with how you conduct yourself and your life. Money can help, sure, but it does not guarantee that you'll have class. And we can't compare English aristocrats to the current American system any more than we can compare the cast system of India.

Correct. They belong to different socio-economic groups. Which is the closest you get to "class" in today's America. But there is no hierarchy. One is not better than the other.

[Anonymous]

Beauty, manners and class have a lot of subjective qualities that exist in the eye of the beholder and we all contain a mixed bag, frequently blind to our attributes and flaws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

This can all be changed in one person’s lifetime. You can be born poor and end up wealthy.

It’s less of a class and more of a current designation, if you care about such things. And, you shouldn’t care about such things.

[Anonymous]

Lol. Are you food insecure? Do you rely on government assistance? Do you need 3+ jobs to get by? Do you claim an earned income credit on your tax return? Do you worry about eviction or utilities being cut off because you can't pay? You may be lower class.

Otherwise, you are middle.

You aren't going to ask this question if you are upper.

I have no idea what on earth you mean when you ask if anyone has any advice. Advice about what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

This can all be changed in one person’s lifetime. You can be born poor and end up wealthy.

It’s less of a class and more of a current designation, if you care about such things. And, you shouldn’t care about such things.

This. Class in the US is not really about class as much as wealth. And unlike other cultures, there is very little real influence that is exclusive to “old” money that can’t be had with new money.

While OPs post does reveal their immigrant mindset, I give them credit for being more honest about their downward social mobility than American born natives in the same position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

This can all be changed in one person’s lifetime. You can be born poor and end up wealthy.

It’s less of a class and more of a current designation, if you care about such things. And, you shouldn’t care about such things.

This. Class in the US is not really about class as much as wealth. And unlike other cultures, there is very little real influence that is exclusive to “old” money that can’t be had with new money.

While OPs post does reveal their immigrant mindset, I give them credit for being more honest about their downward social mobility than American born natives in the same position.

Eh, yes and no.

The millionaire plumber wouldn’t be considered in the same class as the guy who is 3rd generation at a top country club with kids who go to sailing camp and summer at the great-grandparents’ beach house on Martha’s Vineyard. Heck, even though I went to private school k-12, have an advanced degree and a well paying white collar career, I’m not even in the same class as the country club set who grew up with generational wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

This can all be changed in one person’s lifetime. You can be born poor and end up wealthy.

It’s less of a class and more of a current designation, if you care about such things. And, you shouldn’t care about such things.

This. Class in the US is not really about class as much as wealth. And unlike other cultures, there is very little real influence that is exclusive to “old” money that can’t be had with new money.

While OPs post does reveal their immigrant mindset, I give them credit for being more honest about their downward social mobility than American born natives in the same position.

Eh, yes and no.

The millionaire plumber wouldn’t be considered in the same class as the guy who is 3rd generation at a top country club with kids who go to sailing camp and summer at the great-grandparents’ beach house on Martha’s Vineyard. Heck, even though I went to private school k-12, have an advanced degree and a well paying white collar career, I’m not even in the same class as the country club set who grew up with generational wealth.

Socio-economic cultural group, not class.

The old money country club set is just one socio economic cultural group. It has no cultural power above the self made plumber millionaire. And, of course, old money wealth pales in comparison to tech money these days.

Traditionally, a class society meant a hierarchy of classes that had power over the classes below, both political and cultural, and even morally. That simply does not happen in the US, especially today. Your self made plumber couldn't care less about joining old money clubs, and the same is true for Bezos or Zuckerberg. Which is why thinking in terms of class as a cultural force is misleading. You're just part of a socio-economic cultural group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Using myself as an example. Immigrant that has been in the States for 25 years now. When I was a kid growing up my father was in a profession that was pretty high status. We lived in beautiful homes in posh neighborhoods around the world and attending private school with children of government officials, CEOs, and the global elite.

However my father was self made and did not have any generational wealth. His chosen profession, although prestigious and elevated our family status and lifestyle, was not something like investment banking where you can amass a lot of wealth.

So when he retired...our lifestyle shifted dramatically. So here we are my siblings and I, literally with champagne tastes and beer budget if you will.

2 of them married rich so because of our lifestyle growing up, easily and smoothly integrated into the upper class families of their spouses.

The other two of us are UMC/MC professionals. We are pretty class conscious and class confused.

Wonder if anyone has been through something similar and has any advice.

In America, you have the opportunity to decide what class you are in. If you believe it, you're in it. It's not externally imposed on you like everywhere else. It's why everyone immigrates here.

I have not read funnier thing in a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't upper class a British thing associated with the aristocracy. Upper class people can be lacking money and unable to fix the roof of a rotting mansion. Working class people can be billionaires but aren't going to be invited to posh events.

Of course they can be invited to the posh events. There is nothing "exclusive" that can't be recreated with money. IDK how true this is for Europe, but here money talks. If you have significant wealth and want to feel like you "belong", there most certainly will be those glad to capitalize and collect a portion of your wealth in exchange for making you feel special. In America, we just open another "exclusive" club and make membership higher

[Anonymous]

Have never given it a thought.

[Anonymous]

My parents sent me to private school so we could move up a "level" but it didn't really work - I received a good education but socially did not fit in because of lower parental wealth. Am now solidly middle class, while my parents started out lower middle class.

I think this is only something that those of us who were forced to perform as children "above SES level" think about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't have social classes here. Now you know.

Lol

Yes, we do.

While it’s not as clear cut as in other countries, the USA still has classes.

An overly simplistic way to explain:

-Blue collar vs white collar…but there’s a big gray area since many blue collar workers can amass a fortune and outpace many white collar professionals. To wit: my plumber lives in a nearly $2M home, owns vacation homes in his “home” country plus at the DE beaches, sends his kids to private school, and owns a portfolio of rentals that he flipped. If you saw him roll up in his truck, you’d never realize he’s so wealthy. (He told me he nets $1M/year.)

-By neighborhood

-By schools

-By education (college/advanced degrees)

-By country club(s)

-By status

Old money is a completely different animal. Truly old money status that has been sustained and grown over 4-5 generations is in its own class.

This can all be changed in one person’s lifetime. You can be born poor and end up wealthy.

It’s less of a class and more of a current designation, if you care about such things. And, you shouldn’t care about such things.

This. Class in the US is not really about class as much as wealth. And unlike other cultures, there is very little real influence that is exclusive to “old” money that can’t be had with new money.

While OPs post does reveal their immigrant mindset, I give them credit for being more honest about their downward social mobility than American born natives in the same position.

Eh, yes and no.

The millionaire plumber wouldn’t be considered in the same class as the guy who is 3rd generation at a top country club with kids who go to sailing camp and summer at the great-grandparents’ beach house on Martha’s Vineyard. Heck, even though I went to private school k-12, have an advanced degree and a well paying white collar career, I’m not even in the same class as the country club set who grew up with generational wealth.

Socio-economic cultural group, not class.

The old money country club set is just one socio economic cultural group. It has no cultural power above the self made plumber millionaire. And, of course, old money wealth pales in comparison to tech money these days.

Traditionally, a class society meant a hierarchy of classes that had power over the classes below, both political and cultural, and even morally. That simply does not happen in the US, especially today. Your self made plumber couldn't care less about joining old money clubs, and the same is true for Bezos or Zuckerberg. Which is why thinking in terms of class as a cultural force is misleading. You're just part of a socio-economic cultural group.

Precisely.

Yes, Joe the plumber with a net worth of 50M will likely choose very different real estate, social groups, and education than Trey, the descendant of a real estate barron with the same amount of assets; however, there is almost no political, economic, and cultural opportunity that is available to Trey but not Joe.

And I'll go even further and argue the cliched "old money country club" scenario here is invalid. New money can buy whichever property in New England they want, send their kids to any sailing camp they want, and obtain entry to all but a teeny number of clubs.

The people posting in here such examples are simply ignorant of how embedded the class system is most other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Using myself as an example. Immigrant that has been in the States for 25 years now. When I was a kid growing up my father was in a profession that was pretty high status. We lived in beautiful homes in posh neighborhoods around the world and attending private school with children of government officials, CEOs, and the global elite.

However my father was self made and did not have any generational wealth. His chosen profession, although prestigious and elevated our family status and lifestyle, was not something like investment banking where you can amass a lot of wealth.

So when he retired...our lifestyle shifted dramatically. So here we are my siblings and I, literally with champagne tastes and beer budget if you will.

2 of them married rich so because of our lifestyle growing up, easily and smoothly integrated into the upper class families of their spouses.

The other two of us are UMC/MC professionals. We are pretty class conscious and class confused.

Wonder if anyone has been through something similar and has any advice.

Indian?