Just 1% of the population is the capitalist class which comprises of heirs, investors etc. it is divided into two categories that are ‘old’ money and ‘new’ money. The wards of ‘new’ money families enter the families of ‘old’ money by marrying them or by attending right kind of schools. 15% of the population consists of the upper middle class which comprises of upper managers, professionals etc who are mostly postgraduates and have attended good colleges or universities. This class is the one class that has most of its people groomed up by education.
In Peter Van Buren article, Goodnight American Dream: The middle Class is Now a Minority, Van Buren details this division. Once representing 62% of Americans the middle class went from the backbone of our country to a minority. Due to the growing social inequality gap since 1970, the middle class is disappearing at a steady rate, now representing 43% of all Americans. This division of social classes divide the nation unequally as more people are falling to the lower class America. In 1970, 29% of the nation income went to the upper class of America, now it is staggering 49% of the national income will go towards the already wealthy (Van Buren).
The upper class would buy items not just for usefulness but also as a way to display their rank and status amongst society with things like porcelain, silver, tea and fine clothes. This particular way of spending is theorized by social scientists as being conspicuous consumption (book) but was exclusive to the upper class. This is an early emergence of consumer society, however, only limited within the upper class due to the restrictions of their role in society. Modern consumer society defines a person by the goods and services they consume but is inclusive of all roles in society. Due to inequalities of poverty this constrains the ability for everyone to participate in this type of society.
“A man can be rich, but only a nation can be wealthy. And if anyone suffers from poverty, our whole country bears the shame.” (Mosley para. Intro) In the article “Show Me the Money” by Walter Mosley, he talks about the three economic classes, who makes up these classes, and what defines them. The upper class, middle or working class, and the poor or poverty class. Where does all the money the rich get come from?
Social class is a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence, and status. There are five common social classes recognized in many societies which are the upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class, and lower class. The upper class represents heads of multinational corporations and capitalist elite such as Bill Gates of Microsoft and Michael Eisner of Disney. Besides, the upper-middle class people are highly educated and has professional careers with sky-high incomes such as doctors, lawyers and midsized business owners. Next, the middle class is often made up of less educated people and they work as small business owners, teachers, and secretaries.
Adam Smith identified three different classes in society. The first class is of landlords or landed gentry, the second class is of merchants and manufacturers and the lastly, the class of wage labourers. The class of landlords is very simple to understand, they control and deal with land. The class of merchants and manufacturers also known as capitalist class, they acquire their income through the profit of stocks. According to Smith, “The working class, or the class of wage labourers, makes up the vast majority of the members of a commercial society.” (Paul Alexander Rækstad, 2011, pg 47) They are the people who work for the landlords or merchants/ manufacturers.
The aristocrats were people born into lives of wealth and status. The commoners were people with little to no money, born to work to earn their living. The new middle class however, were people that earned their wealth by hard work and success, by jobs that gave regular payment every month or year. The working class families earned money to support each other. For centuries, agriculture had ruled over British economy, and families worked together on farms.
So, many people are most likely to invest and start new corporations or enterprises. The fact is that the upper class should pay more and higher there taxes. Making their taxes higher can help many others who need money. Such as poor people, organizations, and others who are struggling with certain things. It wouldn't hurt them to higher the taxes because they just get so much more money than lower and middle class.
This type of organic food that is popular among many people is produced on organic farms. Farms belonging to this group foster recycling, speak for promotion of ecological balance concept and represent the direction of conserving environment. The process of growing organic food implies refusal from use of synthetic pesticides as well as other chemical stuff that increases fertility. According to the Food Marketing Institute, “Organic livestock must have access to the outdoors and be given no antibiotics or growth hormones” (Natural And Organic Foods). What is also speaking for consumption of organic food is the fact that this kind of foods does not contain genetically modified organisms, which is nowadays an important concern for many people who would like to stay healthy for longer.
Simpler farmers were now cooks, drivers and housekeepers. There was even a hierarchy amongst the lower class as well. Some of the butlers and maids were given greater titles to look over the daily affairs of the house but were not considered the middle class. The middle class was made up of the doctors and lawyers or other professionals who sought out new opportunities and advances. These are the groups of people who brought forth the newer ideas and advanced technologies and embraced them more easily than the upper, older nobility.