"The 3 Ladder System of Social Class in the U.S"

michaelochurch.wordpress.com...

Typical depictions of social class in the United States posit a linear, ordered hierarchy. I’ve actually come to the conclusion that there are 3 distinct ladders, with approximately four social classes on each. Additionally, there is an underclass of people not connected to any of the ladders, creating an unlucky 13th social class. I’ll attempt to explain how this three-ladder system works, what it means, and also why it is a source of conflict. The ladders I will assign the names Labor, Gentry, and Elite. My specific percentage estimates of each category are not derived from anything other than estimation based on what I’ve seen, and my limited understanding of the macroeconomics of income in the United States, so don’t take them for more than an approximation. I’ll assess the social role of each of these classes in order, from bottom to top...

He goes on to give a description of each of the 13.

Basically he asserts there are three main ladders, each divided into sub-categories.

The 3 ladders - Labor, Gentry and Elite - go beyond trite descriptions of income, it's more about how they arrived there, their education or world view, their future prospects and how they see themselves in relation to the other ladders and levels.

He does a fantastic job of describing each category and giving examples. Like Jon Stewart is a G1 (Gentry 1), a Cultural Influencer. Everyone can understand that.

Perhaps the most stark description is this one:

Global Elite (E1, ~60,000 people worldwide, about 30% of those in the U.S.) are a global social class, and extremely powerful in a trans-national way. These are the very rich, powerful, and deeply uncultured barbarians from all over the world who start wars in the Middle East for sport, make asses of themselves in American casinos, rape ski bunnies at Davos, and run the world. Like the Persian army in 300, they come from all over the place; they’re the ugliest and most broken of each nation. They’re the corporate billionaires and drug kingpins and third-world despots and real estate magnates. They’re not into the genteel, reserved “WASP culture” of E2′s, the corporate earnestness and “white shoe” professionalism of E3′s, or the hypertrophic intellectualism and creativity of G1′s and G2′s. They are all about control, and on a global scale. To channel Heisenberg, they’re in the empire business. They aren’t mere management or even “executives”. They’re owners. They don’t care what they own, or what direction the world takes, as long as they’re on top. They almost never take official executive positions within large companies, but they make a lot of the decisions behind the scenes.

We don't even know who many of these people are. They have muscle and minions that do their dirty work while they stay totally off the radar and the rest of us just chase shadows or protest against front companies and fall guys.

One thing I found so fascinating is how he describes Elite and Labor as having some similarities in mind set, particularly with regard to dominance and also how the Elite play Labor and Gentry against each other. When you think about it, intuitively, we knew this at some level. Wedge issues are used to divide people who would or should otherwise have similar economic interests.

I hope ATS finds this as fascinating as I did and I look forward to your insights and opinions.

i've never known anybody from the highest of the global elite, or from the lowest of the low that couldn't be decked by a strong right hand.

reply to post by randomname


Quite true, but the difference between decking a mere pleb and decking a corporate billionaire is that the latter will most likely have you, your family and the cat howwibbly murdered in some fashion...

As for the OP, interesting stuff..reading it now..

reply to post by Sergeant Stiletto

Thanks for this, Sarge!

I love these systemic treatises. I think it makes a lot of sense what this bloke says.

Yes, I found "my place" on one of the rungs.....wonder if anyone else bothered to do so?
And no, I won't share what I determined it would be in this guy's estimation.

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by Sergeant Stiletto

 

Yes, I found "my place" on one of the rungs.....wonder if anyone else bothered to do so?

Yeah, I think people would likely be surprised, especially since it doesn't go by straight income level. I know I was surprised and not happily so...

This is like the castes in India. The only difference is, we don't wear that signifying colored dot. Thats all.