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Social Class in America
By Hedyeh Nasseri

In general social class refers to the distinctions between groups and individuals which are different from one society to another society or even within a particular society. Every group of people believes in particular ideas such as age, gender, education, religion, income, family origin that put an individual in a higher or a lower position in a society. Social groups in higher classes always possess great deal of power that gives them opportunity to subordinate lower classes.

The concept of class in the United States:

Class in the United States refers more to personal income, educational attainment and occupational prestige for those of 25-year-old or older. although there are many people in the United States who believe that American society has been divided into three groups of poor, middle class and rich, this society is more diverse culturally and economically. While some theorists believe that because of such diversity it is impossible to draw a distinctive lines between social classes in the United States, but there are some who think it will be helpful if we consider major classes to discus about class matter and to understand it better.

The American society categorized into five major class systems:

The first one is upper class which defines as those with great deal of power who are prestigious and influential especially on the nation’s institutions.

The second class system is upper middle class that refers to those who enjoy high job with comfortable personal income. Most of them have received post-secondary degrees and they belong to the white collar professions.

Lower middle class is the third system that refers to those with college education who usually suffer from the lack of job security. They don’t receive proper income also.

The fourth system labeled as working class includes those individuals who belong to blue as well as white collar workers; most of them have not received collage degrees (even there are many who have never attended colleges) and suffer from low personal income.

Those who are in lower class are marginalized and poor although they work day and night.

Since the majority of people in the United States know themselves as middle class, it would be helpful if we concentrate more on this particular system to understand the United States’ social conditions.

Culture, educational attainment and income are three factors so influential on an individual to identify himself/herself as a member of middle class.

Different social groups in the United States’ society feature their own sub-cultures including common beliefs and manners accepted by all the members. Sub- cultures can influence the way members look at the world and even the way they raise their children.

If an individual ascends or descends from one social class to the other one class members will change their class culture. As class culture changes individuals’ attitude toward the world, it can be influential directly to the necessity of education in the eyes of the social classes’ members and indirectly to the members’ income.

In America to the extent people become more educated they can earn more money and they can be able to occupy more prestigious locations. Prestigious location is the other factor that besides higher education and comfortable income influences an individual to identify himself or herself as an upper middle class or upper class member.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States

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If you had spoken to the average man on the street a century ago and asked him if he thought that the United States would ever see an election that would have an African-American man competing hotly against a woman for the role of President of the USA, he would have been shocked, incredulous and would have probably have responded by either laughing at you for making a good joke or else tried to have you locked up as a lunatic for even considering such a thing.

But that’s exactly what we are seeing now as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fight it out in the polls for the keys to the front door of the White House.

In some ways, the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton contest just shows you how far we’ve come over the last one hundred years. Discrimination on the ground of race and sex, with white males ruling the roost are long gone. Hillary Clinton would never have got higher than being First Lady; Barack Obama would have… well, it’s hard to say exactly where he would be under the old conditions prior to the civil rights movement. Head janitor of the White House, maybe?

But, as the old tag line says, you’ve come a long way, baby. And it’s going to be interesting to see who wins this presidential race. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obama could easily be described as multiculturalism personified. Born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a white American mother and being raised for a significant part of his childhood in Southeast Asia by an Indonesian stepfather, Barack Obama had to struggle to terms with who he was and what his heritage was. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Barack Obama’s work as a lawyer handling discrimination cases (among others) gave him more of a picture of what the dark side of life was like in a multi-racial society.

Barack Obama entered the political arena in 1996, being elected to the Illinois State Senate. Barack Obama’s political views would be labelled as ‘liberal’ by some, as he opposes the death penalty but is pro-choice in the abortion debate. Barack Obama pushes for welfare reform and health care reform, among other things. And his calls for national unity and to bridge the divides between different people that put him well and truly into the spotlight.

Hillary Clinton is, of course, the wife of former president Bill Clinton. In the past, women who wished to wield political power were often happy enough to be an eminence gris who exercised influence over society through marriage to a powerful man. But now, “sisters are doing it for themselves.” Even when Bill Clinton stood for the presidency, Hillary Clinton made it quite clear that “a vote for him’s a vote for me” and was open about her political ambitions.

Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton has been active in the past in the areas of women’s rights internationally, and she is well-known for her great interest and work in the area of health care. Hillary Clinton was the person who introduced the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” to the western world. She opposes the free-market economic model and also takes an interest in sustainable/alternative energy.

It will be interesting to see what happens as a result of the 2008 presidential election. Will Barack Obama be the first black president of the USA, or will Hillary Clinton be the first woman president? Whatever the outcome, we will have an unprecedented president. Frank j Vanderlugt owns and operates http://www.hillary-clinton-now.com Hillary Clinton

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