Thursday, 26 May 2011

Social class in the United States

Social class in the United States of America is one of the controversial aspects of the society. Despite the general denial regarding the existence of the social class system that pervades the American society, it is quite evident that it does. The social class in American culture is primarily defined by the income bracket; the model to explain social class system was proposed by Karl Marx and involved primarily two classes, the Bourgeoisie; which is the elite, ruling class and then Proletarians that is the working class. Marx’s theory focuses primarily on the dichotomization of the society. His research was essentially established during the French revolution and early industrial revolution. He claimed that the conflict between classes was the result of economic organization and structure. It resulted due to the failure of people to distribute income and wealth equally amongst people. He further went on to say that social change was the result of changes in methods production; which was an essential feature of the industrial revolution, that reduced the need of manual labor to get the jobs done and as a result the proletarians were largely replaced. The model proposed by Marx was further developed to establish the three-class model that is accepted by majority of Americans. It simplistically portrays the whole system, dividing it across three classes that are the rich, the poor and the middle class. There is rampant social inequality in the society and the divide between classes is further exacerbated by the educational and occupational sense of superiority instilled in the people.

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