are we a class society? maybe a caste system?

It seems to me that much of our nation's history was a two class society.  There were the few very wealthy land owners, later they were joined by the wealthy industrialists, and there was labor. 

All those who labored in the fields or in the factories constituted Labor, or the Working Class.  Whether you were a Black Smith, a ditch digger, a railroad engineer, a carpenter, a painter, a clerk, a short order cook, a construction foreman or a hooker, you were considered part of Labor, or the Working Class. 

It was not the Ruling Class who thought up the term, Middle Class.  It was the members of the working class who wanted to be seen as better than their "blue collar" associates. 

In one of my sociology classes back in the 50's, I recall a graph showing us the Lower Class...those folks living in poverty; the Working Class...Blue Collar Workers; Middle Class...White Collar Workers; Upper Middle Class...Doctors, lawyers, small business owners; Upper Class...or what we call the Ruling Class, Heads of corporations, land barons, etc. 

The memory that stands out in my mind was not the fuzzy lines defining these Classes, but the fact that it was the first time I'd seen anyone suggest that America had Classes.  My grade and high school history classes all taught me that only in America did we live in a classless society.  Why, any boy could grow up to be president.  Any boy could grow up to be a Rockefeller, or a Morgan.  Naturally we were only talking about white boys. 

Anyway, it's all bogus, the pipe dream of some inflated professor needing to publish or perish. 

 

Curious Carl

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: ted chittenden

To: Blind Democracy Discussion List

Cc: Roger Loran Bailey

Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 9:37 AM

Subject: Re: America Isn't a Corporation By PAUL KRUGMAN

Roger:
A middle class country is a nation where, while there are rich and poor, the vast majority of people earn enough money to fall between the two. From a long-term (and economic) perspective, it is better to have a middle class country, because it means that more people have ready cash available to purchase the products manufactured by both the country's manufacturers and importers.
---- Roger --
Ted Chittenden