Class and Social Interaction in Contemporary America

Introduction

Race and class tend to influence the manner people interact and operate in American contemporary society. In the past, the race could define what people eat, where people learn, worship and interact with one another. These were based on the skin color given that the social segregation, as well as discrimination, was at its core. However, due to the development and enactment of the anti-social segregation and discrimination Acts, the racial aspect currently has a negligible influence on the manner people interact and treat one another. For the rich and wealthy to keep the social status and power over their subjects, there came a substitute! Consequently, it is class which has taken course. Therefore, I tend to support the idea of Isenberg as it discusses class and its role in human subjugation. Class is the manner in which people categorize one another depending on their level of income, wealth and royal families. It also involves the division of the society based on the social and economic status. It is sub-division which naturally occurs among the populace tend to influence the manner resources are distributed and redistributed to the citizens across different parts of US. In the American society, there are various types of social class. They comprise of the Poor class, lower class, working class, middle class and the upper class. In accordance with the research, 15 to 20 percent are the poor, 30 to 40 percent comprises of the lower class, 40 to 50 percent are the working class, 1 to 3 percent is categorized as the upper and the rich class (DeAngelis, 70).

Thesis Statement

Therefore, the main focus of the essay is to give a justification whether class plays a major role in influencing the manner Americans relates with one another as they transact and interact in the contemporary society.

In the United States, people are treated in accordance with the class one lives, there are regions where the lower class or the poor cannot live. It is because these areas are associated with high costs of land as well as the house rent rates (Jensen, 100). Due to the fact that the poor or low-class segment is associated with poverty, homelessness, and unemployment, they cannot afford to acquire land in these places and construct their residence. These thus create a natural demarcation between the rich and the poor, a process which makes them not to share anything in common. These justify the proposition put forth by the prolific historians such as Mary Beard and Charles which relates the American history to the struggle for economic power between the haves and the have not. In accordance with W.E. Dubois, the reconstruction has a great class of rebellion (Markus & Conner, 20). It is the reason as to why the whites were treating the poor black Americans as the community of off-scouring, a hundred years later; they referred to them as the useless lubbers of poor Carolina. The places where the poor were living were also referred to as the white trash colony. Besides, the landowners regard the poor and the landless as being boisterous, foolish crackers and idle vagabonds. These shows the manner the impact of the class did take root in the United States and currently influence the way people live and shop. For instance, these states comprise of California, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington DC (Markus & Conner, 70). No one has enacted any law to restrict the poor from residing in most parts of these states but it is due to the natural law which limits them from residing or living in such regions. It thus lowers the level of interactions among the low class and the upper-class individuals.

Until the last decade, the concept of class has generally eluded psychological inquiry. However, epistemologists and sociologists have examined its effect in a broader domain such as health and mortality. Besides, other researchers have investigated the manner the Americans process the concept of class both socially and psychologically. They conclude that it is class which widens the gap between the poor and the rich and the negative effects and it is these undesirable effects which create a gap on gap on health, well-being, relationships, self-image, prejudice, and stereotype can be evident in most parts of America. In this view, the class is determined and seen as a class of continuum as oppose to the fixed distinction among the middle, upper, poor and lower class. However, they view those who are in a higher social status to be more independent oriented as compared to those who are in lower class levels who are considered to be more group-minded. These shows that those who are wealthy tend to achieve a high level of economic resources as oppose to the poor who struggles to form various groups so as to bring together resources to achieve their goals or life objectives. In regard to these difference, the poor tend to be developing a character of fear and treating the rich with respect and always have a lot of fear to engage them in any activities or interactions. They always shy from developing and building relationships with those in higher or upper classes. These thus play a major role in extending the gap between the classes in the society. On the other hand, the rich will be independent and always willing to associate with the fellow rich people since they view the poor as criminals as well as those who are there to offer cheap labor for them at a fee. It can thus be evident that the rich enhances indirect slavery to the poor categories in the society.

In the American society, the population who are of higher or upper class tend to deploy actions and attitudes which aims at maintaining and justifying their position and power in the society. It has been found that those who have a higher rank in the society view class as inherent, innate and fixed as oppose to those who belong to lower class levels who always view that with class, their rights and freedom to use the available resources are limited by the haves. Besides, the higher class people are also more likely to endorse punishment over rehabilitation for the criminal offenses and always view the world as a just and fair place to be and live. These thus subject the poor class to a high level of miseries hence a violation of their rights. It thus results in adverse effects on the lives of the people living in the low-class regions as they undergo such treatments. Besides, when the poor individuals have a legal obligation or question to answer in the courts, at times the rich take advantage since they cannot be in a position to hire competent legal experts. These thus make them lose the cases which they ought to have not lost and bear the burden. It thus proves to be a double tragedy to the lives of most American poor households hence deteriorating their lives further. Class thus groups people into categories and subject the lowly to unending problems which tend to worsen the situations and conditions either in the short or long run.

In relation to class, people who are in a higher social status are more educated and most of them tend to score higher on a measure of entitlement and narcissistic personality tendency than people who are not in their class. In the recent research, it has been evident that due to the sense of entitlement which the rich enjoy, with time they become more selfish and behave more unethically as they carry out their transactions and dealings as compared to those who humble from the lower social class. For example, from the study done by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it has been found that most of the drivers of a highest social class vehicles normally drive illegally through the crosswalk as pedestrian was waiting to cross (Fiske & Markus, 180). However, there was none among the low-class drivers. It thus reveals how unethical the people from the higher social class behave and treat others in the society hence violating other peoples' liberty by putting their obligations first and fails to mind about other people's welfare and honesties. They presume that money can buy everything and do things which can violate other people's freedom without taking any form of care and precaution. These have really affected the manner people relate and the way they attend to various activities across cultures and classes over a given period of time.

In contrary to the feelings that the difference in social class results in negative issues and behavior among the people living in United States, there are various positive issues or benefits which come with class. For instance, it has been evident that people with power and influence have more freedom to be themselves without having any form of worry of making adjustments to meet other people's wishes and expectations. In relation to the study done by Kraus and his crew in the Experimental Society Psychology, they found that people with more defined power are associated with higher class and are more likely to have a more coherent self-view as compared to those who are in the low class status (DeAngelis, 60). The high-class people tend to remain the same no matter the situation and contexts. These are contrary to the person who belongs to the low-class status in regard to the situation since a change in power forces those who lack power to adapt to the new systems and fit to these new and different contexts (Jensen, 201). These thus show that the high social class has a higher self-esteem which makes them be who they are in various aspects regardless of the situation and status. However, the low-status individual tends to have low self-esteem hence leaving most of the opportunities for the rich. Therefore, it can be seen that the poor individuals live the type of lives which are not theirs and are always willing and striving to achieve a higher status hence making them survive in as they live in the society. In addition, the compassion and good connections among the Americans are experienced amid the middle class as compared to the wealthier and higher class population in the country. These thus show that the poor are more welcoming and treat others with a lot of care and passion as compared to most of the people in the high social class. In contrary, they are busy as they are in the pursuit to accumulate wealth and defend their status and power in the society. These thus make them subject the poor and the middle class into a situation which is undesirable and unbearable over a given period of time.

Therefore, just as most people view race as the factor which influence the manner people interact in the society, class also plays a role to define the attitude, the relationships and the manner in which people interact in the society in different circumstances. Besides, it reveals how people are treated over time hence leading to the gap which exists between the poor. These thus influence the distribution of resources and the manner in which different activities are responded to by the government as well as the local authorities. It can thus be evident that the race and class do not stand apart. Both race and class have a role to play in influencing the way people interact and operate as they transact in the society. However, class has more influence since there is no regulation which has been put to control the impact of class to the contemporary society.

Cited Work

DeAngelis T. Class Differences. 2015.

Fiske, S. & Markus, H. R. Facing social class: How societal rank influences interaction. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2012.

Jensen, B. Reading Classes: On Culture and Classism in America. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press. 2012

Markus, H. R., & Conner, A. C. Clash! How to Thrive in a Multicultural World. New York: Plume. 2014