Upper class

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Upper class in modern societies is the

political power.[1] According to this view, the upper class is generally distinguished by immense wealth which is passed on from generation to generation.[2] Prior to the 20th century, the emphasis was on aristocracy, which emphasized generations of inherited noble status, not just recent wealth.[3]

Because the upper classes of a society may no longer rule the society in which they are living, they are often referred to as the

upper-middle class, middle class, and working class as part of a model of social stratification
.

Historical meaning

Portrait of the family Fagoga Arozqueta, about 1730. Painter unknown. The family was part of the upper class in Mexico City, New Spain.

Historically in some cultures, members of an upper class often did not have to work for a living, as they were supported by earned or inherited investments (often real estate), although members of the upper class may have had less actual money than merchants.[4] Upper-class status commonly derived from the social position of one's family and not from one's own achievements or wealth. Much of the population that composed the upper class consisted of aristocrats, ruling families, titled people, and religious hierarchs. These people were usually born into their status and historically there was not much movement across class boundaries.

Ball in colonial Chile by Pedro Subercaseaux. In Spain's American colonies, the upper classes were made up of Europeans and American born Spaniards and were heavily influenced by European trends.

In many countries, the term "upper class" was intimately associated with hereditary land ownership. Political power was often in the hands of the landowners in many pre-industrial societies despite there being no legal barriers to land ownership for other social classes. Upper-class landowners in Europe were often also members of the titled nobility, though not necessarily: the prevalence of titles of nobility varied widely from country to country. Some upper classes were almost entirely untitled, for example, the Szlachta of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[5]

Great Britain and Ireland

Main article:
Social structure of the United Kingdom § Upper class
The upmarket Harrods department store in London, 1909

In

Second World War, the term has come to encompass rich and powerful members of the managerial and professional classes as well.[7]

United States

Main articles: American upper class and African-American upper class
First edition dust cover of Edith Wharton's 1920 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Age of Innocence, a story set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s

The American upper class is a social group within the United States consisting of people who have the highest social rank primarily due to economic wealth.[8][9] The American upper class is estimated to constitute less than 1% of the population. By self-identification, according to this 2001–2012 Gallup Poll data, 98% of Americans identify with the 5 other class terms used, 48–50% identifying as "middle class".[10]

The main distinguishing feature of the upper class is its ability to derive enormous

Forbes Magazine, there are now 374 U.S. billionaires. The growth in billionaires took a dramatic leap since the early 1980s, when the average net worth of the individuals on the Forbes 400 list was $400 million. Today[when?
], the average net worth is $2.8 billion.

Upper-class families... dominate corporate America and have a disproportionate influence over the nation's political, educational, religious, and other institutions. Of all social classes, members of the upper class also have a strong sense of solidarity and 'consciousness of kind' that stretches across the nation and even the globe.

— William Thompson & Joseph Hickey, Society in Focus, 2005[12]

Since the 1970s,

Federal Reserve, sees it as a problem for society, calling it a "very disturbing trend".[17][18]

According to the book

William Domhoff, the distribution of wealth in America is the primary highlight of the influence of the upper class. The top 1% of Americans own around 34% of the wealth in the U.S. while the bottom 80% own only approximately 16% of the wealth. This large disparity displays the unequal distribution of wealth in America in absolute terms.[19]

In 1998,

The Donor Class"[20][21] (list of top donors)[22] and defined the class, for the first time,[23] as "a tiny group – just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population – and it is not representative of the rest of the nation. But its money buys plenty of access."[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bartels, Larry (8 April 2014). "Rich people rule!". Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. ISBN 978-0-313-35796-1. Archived
    from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4292-1788-0
    .
  4. Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011. Archived
    from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  5. JSTOR 4204744. In 1459 Ostroróg submitted a memorandum to the parliament (sejm), suggesting that the palatines, or provincial governors, should be given the title of prince and their sons the titles of barons and counts. The title of count was suggested by him for a castellanus
    . But all these suggestions were not accepted.
  6. ^ Toynbee, Arnold (1960). A Study of History: Abridgement of Vols I-X in one volume. Oxford University Press.
  7. ISBN 978-3-638-74726-4
    .
  8. ISBN 0-205-37558-8
    .
  9. ^ "Upper class".
  10. ^ Dugan, Andrew (30 November 2012). "Americans Most Likely to Say They Belong to the Middle Class". Gallup. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  11. ^
    ISBN 0-534-50520-1
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 0-205-41365-X
    .
  13. ISBN 0-205-36674-0
    .
  14. ^ Johnston, David Cay (29 March 2007). "Income Gap is Widening, Data Shows". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  15. ^ Thomas, E.; Gross, D. (23 July 2007). "Taxing the Rich". Newsweek.
  16. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  17. ^ Pizzigati, S. (7 November 2005). "Alan Greenspan, Egalitarian?". TomPaine.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  18. ^ Greenspan, Alan (28 August 1998). "Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan". The Federal Reserve Board. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  19. ISBN 0-07-287625-5
    .
  20. ^ a b Herbert, Bob (19 July 1998). "The Donor Class". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  21. ^ Confessore, Nicholas; Cohen, Sarah; Yourish, Karen (10 October 2015). "The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  22. ^ Lichtblau, Eric; Confessore, Nicholas (10 October 2015). "From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash - Top Donors List". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  23. ^ McCutcheon, Chuck (26 December 2014). "Why the 'donor class' matters, especially in the GOP presidential scrum". "The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

Further reading

United States

External links

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