• 0 Posts
  • 14 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: June 21st, 2023
  • Fandangalo@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•What does the social power heirarchy in the United States look like? What are the different classes?
    25·
    10 days ago

    From a lay person’s perspective living here my whole life:

    • I grew up middle class. My parents made like $60k combined in the 90s/00s.
    • I grew up around lots of different classes.
    • I lived in the New England and Southern Belt areas.

    One extreme, poverty:

    • Many of my friends lived in public housing. This means smaller apartments and usually shadier folks.
    • People try to pitch you on schemes or odd jobs.
    • A lot of my friends had single mothers.
    • I found out later that several dated drug dealers.
    • I’ve had many people die from overdose (heroin, fent).
    • In south and north, the poorer you are, the more your ethnic accent comes out (southern slang & Boston southie).
    • Many smoke or eat poorly. Eating is usually because of material circumstances.
    • A lot of people are giving in terms of money or time. They’ll rib you about it, but they’ll help you.

    Other extreme, wealth:

    • I work in tech. I’ve been successful and have hung out with pretty wealthy people, certainly much wealthier than me.
    • They often live somewhere lavish, like a lake house, expensive apartment, or a family house.
    • Most have some generational wealth. Some had successful parents. Others come from linages.
    • Many have no awareness of how difficult things can be on the poor side. They lack lived experience.
    • Most are kind, and self aware of their wealth.
    • However, it feels like many have a “rules don’t apply” mindset.
    • Tend to have worse empathy for the poor.
    • Tend to have worse manners, but I wouldn’t say they are spoiled.
    • More giving to their friends, less giving or trusting of strangers.
    • Many are good at managing optics & image. I’ve heard a lot of stories about how home lives were too faced, like everyone saw the good side, but there was some darker edge beneath the surface.
    • Older rich people seem to be the least empathetic. Younger rich people seem better.

    It’s not really possible to capture what it’s like to live. Homelessness is a real problem and a worse version of poverty. The most sociopathic people I’ve known have been ultra wealthy. This is anecdotal.