the american class system chapter 9, section 2. what classes exist? 1995
TRANSCRIPT
Determining Class- Three methods
1) Reputational method= members in a given community rank other members based on their knowledge of character and lifestyle.- Better for studying small communities where everyone knows everyone well.
2) Subjective method= people determine their own social rank. People generally said ‘middle’ class. Why?
3) Objective method= sociologists define class based on income, occupation, and education. - Least biased method
The Classes- 6 total• The Upper Class• Upper Middle Class• Middle Class• Lower Middle Class• Lower class/The Working Class• The Underclass
Classes• The Upper Class
o 1% of the populationo Old money v. new moneyo Old money= inherited rich; families who have shaped the
U.S. (i.e. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Duke, Morgan, etc.) o New money= newly rich who have acquired money
through own efforts, not inheritance.
• The Upper Middle Classo High-income businesspeople and professionalso College education, advanced degreeo Very career-oriented.
Classes (cont’d)• The Lower Middle Class/Middle Class
o White-collar jobs (i.e. work that does not require manual labor)
o Less education than those held by Upper Middle Classo Comfortable life, but must work to keep it
maintained.
• The Working Classo Manual labor jobs– blue collar jobso Can pay as much or more than Lower Middle Class jobs,
but do not carry the prestige. o Pink-collar jobs– fields where women have previously
dominated.
Classes (cont’d)• The Working Poor
o Lowest-paying jobs. o Temporary or seasonal worko Some depend on government support programso Not involved politically
• The Underclasso Families experiencing unemployment and poverty
for generations o May have a job, but very low-payingo Day-to-day struggle
Social Mobility• Social mobility= movement between or
within social classes. • Three types: 1) Horizontal mobility= movement within a
class. Occurs when you move from one job to another in same social ranking.
2) Vertical mobility= movement between social classes.
3) Intergenerational mobility= a type of vertical mobility. When a person’s class of origin (i.e. their parents’) is different from their current one.
Causes of Mobility• Upward mobility:
o Advancements in technologyo Changes in merchandising patternso General education level of a population
• Downward mobility:o Personal factors– illness, divorce, family death,
and retirement. o Changes in the economy
So who are the American billionaires?
Bill Gates- Microsoft$66 billion
Warren Buffett- Berkshire
Hathaway (owns Dairy Queen, Helzberg
Diamonds, Fruit of the
Loom) $46 billion
So who are the American billionaires?
Larry Ellison- Oracle (3rd largest software producer to Microsoft and IBM)
$41 billion
Koch brothers- diversified (Georgia-
Pacific)
$31 billion
So who are the American billionaires?
Walton Family: Wal-Mart
$26.1-27.9 billion
Michael Bloomberg-
Bloomberg LP (acquired Businessweek)
$25 billion
So who are the American billionaires?
Jeff Bezos- Amazon.com $23.2 billion
Sheldon Adelson- Las Vegas Sands
casino$20.5 billion