Status, Class, and Mobility
June 5, 2007 by Greg
Slam poets piss me off. I do not mean to imply I have a distaste for poetry. It is really just those few (or many) who obsess over purported racial, sexual, or social oppression. Frankly, because I think it’s bullshit. Especially coming from the mouth of a proven mind with demonstrated command of the English language.
The New York Times takes a more logical approach, putting the numbers in perspective by demonstrating the difference between upper and lower class. The special feature includes an interactive graph to spotlight class differences and highlight mobility between classes.
While there are many characteristics that could be used to describe a person’s class, among the most influential are the person’s occupation, education, income and wealth. Below are different ways of looking at class using these factors, as well as an examination of how mobility has changed in recent decades. The fourth tab presents results from a poll conducted by The Times that asked people about class issues.
Play with the graph here and read through the other features.
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
class is such a funny thing. i’ve never really worried about it, and it’s always highly amusing to run into situations where people /places seem to care. it’s always amusing to walk into a place that you “don’t belong” and end up owning the situation. more of a challenge sometimes, but oh so fun.
Agreed Goat.
Greg; where is the input for ‘bus rider’ on that graph? I seem to recall someone saying that was the dominion of the ‘lower class’.