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My results were "first generation middle-class, but raised working class." So, although there are exceptions, it seems that there really are differences in attitudes and experiences among classes.
I just find these differences fascinating, but I'm not trying to encourage "class warfare" or defensiveness. (Thanks to KathrynAragon for clarifying that! )
My results were "first generation middle-class, but raised working class." So, although there are exceptions, it seems that there really are differences in attitudes and experiences among classes.
I just find these differences fascinating, but I'm not trying to encourage "class warfare" or defensiveness. (Thanks to KathrynAragon for clarifying that! )
Interesting! Thanks!
My answers resulted in: 0–43: A second-generation (or more) upper-middle-class person who has made a point of getting out a lot. Typical: 9.
My score was 58;
"A lifelong resident of a working-class neighborhood with average television and movie going habits"
Ha. My initial reaction to this, in my head.. "But I HATE Family Guy, and I am way too cheap to pay to see a 1st run movie!"
Amusing to me, because when I first read what the quiz was about and the mention of being insulated from mainstream American culture, I expected a different score entirely. I understood better when I was taking the quiz though. I am sure it is due to questions about where I come from, vs. where I am now.
When I interact with others in my life who are from similar socioeconomic backgrounds, I am always lost. I never know who they are talking about with regard to sports figures, celebrities, the latest reality show or talent competition show or pop song... I see movies usually a year after they are in the theaters and catch up TV shows years after they were wildly popular and then forgotten (since I don't have cable). I don't get pop culture references, I don't listen to music on the radio (just NPR), nor do I go to clubs where I would hear it there, and so while I am not clueless about current events (politics, technology, other news stuff) I certainly do FEEL like I live in a bubble most of the time!
I don't think my introvert nature helps much but I often feel like I've just dropped in from another planet and I have to be "filled in"!
I have never had a problem saying that I come from a working class background. My mother was a high school dropout and worked as a secretary, then later in life as an HVAC tech. My father was in the Air Force for 32 years.
I can relate to these two specifically. As a child, I was an early reader and I was reading on my own around age 4. I read for pleasure all the time. Both of my parents, even my father who was a 'reader' as well, would scold me for always having my "nose in a book" and would urge me to do something "normal". My mother used to even say to me "Why don't you watch some TV instead?"
As I got older, I made friends who were from middle and upper middle class backgrounds and I remember my mother making snarky comments to me about my interest in what she called "yuppie" food (whole coffee beans instead of Folger's, brie and other different cheeses, etc.
Now, she often accuses me of thinking I am "so smart" and claiming to not understand what I am talking about if I refer to something happening in one of my college classes. Even though she say she is very proud of me for going to college, there definitely seems to be a heavier value put on being street smart, having practical "smarts", and so on. I am 41 and about to finish my 1st Bachelor's degree, and she still thinks I should have gone to trade school instead and thinks four years of school is "awful".
I've experienced this as well. My experiences with one person in particular who comes from immense wealth have been like this, in contrast to my experiences with my ex-mother in law. My ex MIL is upper middle class and quite frankly, a snob. She is very concerned about appearances and quick to judge anyone different. She likes to slip little things into casual conversation regarding what the maid did or how she just bought such and such at this boutique. The one uber wealthy guy I have known for years is someone who has friends from varying "classes", doesn't care what you are wearing or what you drive, and is rather eccentric himself. He's a khakis and t-shirts kind of guy and for years drove a beat up old Ford Econoline van even though the house he grew up in spans four city blocks, including the tennis courts and pools and servants quarters (and that's just the house "in town"). If you met him, you'd probably have no idea he was rich, at least not at first. I must say though that he has never worked, and has always had a trust fund to support his lifestyle. Despite his more humble appearances he still travels, collects expensive things, and lives a life of complete freedom due to money. He is rather clueless about how the "other half" lives. I was his roommate for a while and remember very well how, even though we separated our food in the fridge, he'd let his friends come over and eat all my food and couldn't understand why I was mad (I was working for minimum wage). He has some Pollyanna attitudes as a result of having never wanted for anything.
I had to laugh a little because I went through the same thing. I learned to read by age 4 and had a very large library by the time I started school. I spent a lot of time reading...in my room, up in an apple tree, in the hammock...and my mom accused me of not wanting to spend time with my family. lol I wanted to tell her it was all Dad's fault for teaching me to read and hers for being a big time reader and teaching me by example.
I grew up with two families who, financially, couldn't have been more different. My maternal family was very wealthy and my paternal family, while not being poor as church mice, were definitely blue collar. I got to experience the differences my whole life. My maternal grparents were lot younger than the paternals as well and could have been their kids! My parents let us live with my maternal grparents at times. Not because they couldn't care for us but because my grparents wanted us and that still left four kids at home. I DID like living with grparents. We weren't spoiled but we did get to do a lot more than we did at home and, yes, we did GET more too. We also lived with my paternal grparents and that's where I really learned to be frugal. Watching my grandma do everything "the old fashioned way", living on a farm and totally different than the "big city" of my other grparents.
My parents thought college, for me, was a total waste because I'd "just get married and have a pack of kids anyway". So, I did! lol But I did get there in my 30s and it was probably better than going right out of high school. Knowing me I'm sure I would've been in the party crowd but by the time I got there I was settled down and ready for it. There is NO age that isn't good for getting more education and seeing people my age (70) or older graduating from college still gives me goosebumps. Admirable!
Working class means the only ones you can look down on are those on welfare, and you imagine they, not the corporate types and the politicians they own, are responsible for the nation's problems. And you haven't voted for years.
Not really -- have you ever seen "reverse snobbery"?
Self made types very often do look down on inherited wealthy types.
Some of it was weird, I had a college degree before I worked in a factory. They weren't hiring in my degree field where I was living at the time, and I'd rather work than lay around and wasn't in a position to move at the time.
I think taking a greyhound bus can be for convenience not how much money you make. I some times prefer not to drive, and flying would be too inconvenient. I can jump on a bus in the evening and be where I want to be in the early morning and no one has to drive to some far out airport to pick me up. It's cheaper than driving and I'm rested instead of road-burned when I arrive.
My parents worked because they were immigrants - new to an area and were NOT established as they were from where they came. My kids know how to work so do my siblings BUT - we still maintained that nasty elite aristocratic attitude...I avoided drudgery -not that I have not done it...All my life I did what was interesting...Art - music ...entertaining...and my mother encouraged us to "reach for the stars"
I'm also of immigrant background (first generation). Both sides of the family were urban white-collar types, going back generations. One side was what might be called lower middle class, with the typical career path being clerkship in a vast autocratic bureaucracy. The other side, to put things politely, didn't work much, because other people worked for them. That side of the family didn't fare too well in the various upheavals of 20th century Europe.
For some time I've been living in a rural, working-class region (thus the screen-name!). Many of my neighbors are Appalachian transplants to ex-industrial Ohio, settling into quiet retirement in the countryside. A few are small-business owners. None are outright poor, but few have completed college. My score on that PBS quiz was 22, with the number comparatively "high" because of where I reside and my familiarity with the US military and its cultural constructs. But I'm very much in a bubble... a bubble consisting of exactly one person.
I would describe my family as working class, but a while back my aunt described my household as middle class. I'm guessing that she was basing that in terms of income, but my father is a contractor and my mother works as a teacher's aid. We might have "middle class values", but all of our jobs are working class. I'll be the first in my household to hold a Bachelor's degree. Except for a few Associate degrees, most of my aunts and uncles have no college education. However pretty much all my cousins have completed undergraduate and graduate school in some cases...or are in the process of doing so. I imagine this is a common theme among families with working class backgrounds.
It's interesting that I stumbled upon the working class and upper middle class threads, because I've recently became much more aware of class and income differences between where I grew up and where I go to college here in Northern New Jersey. A good friend of mine lives in a "rich town" (though he would be considered middle class there). He drives a BMW and has a cleaning lady. Of course there's people driving BMWs around my "middle class" hometown, but the differences in cars and homes are quite noticeable. Much more dodge durangos, trucks, and 1995 toyotas around while back at school it's BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis. My friend worked his way up though. He was born and raised in a poverty stricken city with high crime and terrible schools, so he has a very different attitude compared to upper middle class and upper class folks.
Generalizations can be interesting to discuss, but there are so many factors and different personal circumstances to consider.
THE UNDERCLASS: Those on government assistance, migrant farm workers, those with menial unskilled manual labor jobs, considered the "scum of society". Commonly includes illegal immigrants. Most likely lives in urban ghettoes, rural trailer parks, and public housing projects in inner-city neighborhoods. Typically a high school dropout or has less than a ninth grade education. Always will rent, unless owning a rundown home in a violent area. About 12% of American population. Combined incomes of $12K-$20K common.
THE WORKING POOR: Service, low-rung clerical, and some blue-collar workers with minimal job security and almost no work autonomy. Includes fast food cooks, nursing home aides, childcare/daycare workers, dishwashers, receptionists, cashiers, janitors, grocery store clerks, etc. Is either a high school dropout or has a GED/HS diploma, though even those cases are rare. Most likely in government-subsidized housing, but considered the "screwed class", because they make too much for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance. About 13% of American population. Combined incomes of $20K-$40K common.
THE WORKING CLASS: Regular blue collar, pink collar, and clerical workers with somewhat unstable job security and little work autonomy. Includes taxicab drivers, preschool teachers, butchers, teacher's aides, certified nursing aides/assistants, pharmacy and lab technicians, data entry, bank tellers, mail clerks, door-to-door salesmen, security guards, hairdressers, psychiatric aides, etc. Most likely rent, but may own a small modest home in a regular area. Typically has GED/HS diploma. Combined incomes of $40K-$60K common. The largest social class in America, comprising about 45% of the American population.
THE MIDDLE CLASS: Semi professionals like teachers, registered nurses, firefighters, police officers, social workers, clergymen, etc., as well as skilled trades craftsmen including electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. Generally good income with stable job security. Also includes technical workers. Most likely own and do not rent, and have decent/good-sized home (1200-3000 sq. ft. home) in safe neighborhood. Typically they have at least some college education, and most have a Bachelor's degree. Combined HHIs of $60K-$120K common. The second largest social class iN America, comprising about 20% of the American population.
THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS: Highly educated white collar professionals with graduate/post-graduate degrees including university/college professors, doctors (general physicians), lawyers, bankers, stockbrokers, some CEO's and executives, marketing directors, etc. Generally have large work autonomy. Most likely own very good-sized house (3000-6000 sq. ft. home) in very safe neighborhood. Combined HHI's of $120K-$350K common. About 10% of the total American population.
THE CAPITALIST CLASS: Powerful figures such as celebrities, high-rung politicians, successful chain business owners, CEO's and other high-level corporate executives, movie stars, actors, famous singers, etc. Generally own the means of production/the highest work autonomy in work. Can live off of investments in stock and other market decisions and choices without any regular income luxuriously. Most likely own large mansion (over 6000 sq. ft. home) in a private, usually gated community. Combined HHI's of more than $350K. The most powerful group in America, yet a small minority class of just about 1-2% of the American population.
Marx defines classes by type of work and work autonomy.
LUMPEN PROLETARIAT: The "underclass" described here, usually does not work and is unemployed or has a job so minimal that it is usually under-the-table and does not largely affect the economy.
PROLETARIAT: The combined "working poor" and "working class" of blue collar and clerical workers with relatively low incomes and minimal job security/work autonomy.
PETIT BOURGEOISIE: The combined "middle class" and "upper middle class" of skilled trades craftsmen, semi professionals, and small business owners with generally good incomes and education.
BOURGEOISIE: The tiny but extremely powerful "capitalist class", or "the rich". Seen as a necessary evil by Marx, as they own the means of production over the proletariat and to a lesser extent, the petit bourgeoisie.
Yep.
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