Social Class is Everywhere

 Will Barratt, Ph.D.

Adventurer and Raconteur

I live a nomadic life these days, which means a lot of travel to different continents and countries. While some are tourist visits, like being in Graz Austria for a few days (and visiting Zotter Chocolates), some some visits are extended stay, some are for workshops, and some are to stay with friends for weeks. I get to talk with a lot of people, me being the curious person that I am, about a lot of topics. I visit a lot of places. I've also lived for a year or more in 5 countries, including the USA.

While my conclusion here is not as systematic as structured qualitative research might yield, my sample size of cultures is huge. On the other hand, as is a problem with all observational and participant observational research I am the data collector. I have a brain phenomenology focused on a finite number of things, as do you. Food is primary on my list, and always just below the surface in my perceptions of the world is social class. The places I go and the people I meet reflect my life, my phenomenology, my world view, my notions of what are interesting places to go. 

I also pay a lot of attention to gender and ethnicity, but social class is somehow always an unconscious analysis of the moments of my life. I've lived in two different "Communist" nations, in quotes because according to their ideology they were moving toward Communism. I have lived in two Constitutional Kingdoms and a variety of democratic countries. The idea that all people are equal is prevalent in all of these political ideologies, well, except for Royal Persons who are more equal than others. In practice, in daily life, this idea of equality is not remotely true. In Democracies, people are equal under the law. OK. In Communist nations all people are equal. From each according to their abilities to each according to their need. OK. I call bullshit on the reality of personal equality. 

Different Algorithms, Same Outcome.

In practice we all assign people into a social class based hierarchy. The algorithms that determine an individual's social class status, their place in the hierarchy, are different in different cultures and subcultures. This social class hierarchy algorithm is part of attributed social class, how others see you. As we internalize our culture/cultures, this algorithm becomes part of our current felt social class.  These algorithms, or ways to operationalize and externalize social class, are everywhere.

Think for a moment about your social class hierarchy algorithm. What makes someone upper class to you? What makes someone lower class to you? Got it? In some cultures the social class hierarchy algorithm is deterministic, as in a caste system that assigns you at birth to a place in the hierarchy. In other cultures movement on the social class hierarchy is possible. In some cultures social class hierarchy algorithms are fluid, and in some these algorithms are fixed, frozen, bound to timeless tradition. What is yours? What is the dominant social class hierarchy algorithm in the dominant culture in your life?

In the USA, my most familiar culture, SES (which is not social class) is typically measured by educational attainment and occupational prestige. Social class has a more nuanced and complex algorithm. In the dominant US culture this algorithm involves money, variety and accent in prestige English, dress, behavior, manners, scent, recreational drug brand preference and so much more. 

Your Social Class Hierarchy Algorithm

Your personal social class algorithm is a function of your social class of origin and your life experiences. How you apply that algorithm is unique to you. Social influencers and internet celebrities, most probably, use view count as a critical part of their personal algorithm. "My personal worth is based on number of views." Kind of odd, but certainly akin to "My personal worth is based on my economic worth". Having a single point on the social class hierarchy algorithm as your preferred marker or criteria is one way of doing it, or you can have many markers or criteria. You do you.

While I am pleased to have over 350,000 page views on this blog it does not affect my current felt social class, or affect my relationships with others. And this is me doing me. Note that I have a lot of other hierarchy markers/points based on occupation, education, and travel experiences so I guess I don't need to add page views to my self worth inventory. This is me doing me.

Further, what social class means to you in your life and in your interactions with others is unique to you. That is you doing you. 

A Simple Point

My very simple point is that social class is everywhere. The social class hierarchy algorithms change but the hierarchies are always there. The degree to which to you participate in these algorithms and hierarchies is up to you. The degree to which others participate in these algorithms is not up to you. 

tl:dr - social class is everywhere

Eugenics, selective breeding, legacy students, and college admissions.

Will Barratt, Ph.D. 

Adventurer and Emeritus Professor.

Note: I began to write this before the publicity about legacy admissions hit the press, and waited to see how that publicity played out. After a flutter of general indignation, and a few adjustments on a few campus, the press cover died a quiet death. I imagine that media editors and writers own Alma Maters had some psychological impact on those distinguished alumni.

Colleges have been a selective breeding ground for eons. College graduates tend to marry college graduates. High prestige college graduates tend to marry high prestige college graduates. Highly involved students tend to marry other highly involved students. The children of college graduates go to college, taking up a lot of space, typically 70% of a college class come from the 30% of the US population with at least a four year degree.

Legacy stude to are those who went to that college, as in Yale graduates' kids having preferred admission to Yale, as perhaps in the Bush family.

There is an extensive screening, filtering, and winnowing process for admission to prestige universities that begins with pre-school choices. Even before college applications, students are screened in order to provide a desired gene pool ("our kind of student") on campus. Yes, you can view anti-affirmative action points of view, which I call racism, as an attempt to keep a pure gene pool.

The psuedo screening mechanisms of the college admissions algorithms represent a formal process, letting the select few across that semi-permiable membrane onto campus.

College rankings (prestige) tend to further refine the selective breeding gene pool. Higher social class families have their children apply to higher prestige colleges. Bespoke educations for those who can afford it. Given the huge endowments of high prestige campuses, why do they charge any tuition? Well, to keep the poor  people out of the selective breeding gene pool.

Why are campus rankings important. The question that is in the college choice algorithm in our heads can be distilled to "Will I, or my child, meet the right marriage partner?"  Marketplace and Medieval thinking about children and marriage.

Graduation rates provide another screening mechanism, keeping college dropouts out of the gene pool further. A college dropout spouse is not a desirable commodity. (Yes, commodity, object, economic piece of the merchant and self assigned Nobel class).

Then there are graduate and professional degree programs. While there are many mixed educational attainment marriages, there is a lot of intermarriage among the 15% with post-baccalauriate degrees.

How it works.

Homophily and propinquity work well as descriptors of this systemic process that results in successful selective breeding.

Propinquity rules. Proximity is a key aspect of courtship and mate selection. Campus organizations provide proximity. Fraternities and sororities are designed for proximity to your chosen gender all within well defined social norms and roles. Student governance, honor society, organizational leadership positions and the like place people in proximity for the dating, mating, and marriage rutuals of the upper middle and upper classes. Campus experiences provide times and places for interpersonal interaction that may lead to ,arriage. 

Is this intentional and conscious?

Yes

The selective breeding process on campus

Cultural capital rules. Learning or reinforcing normative upper middle class behaviors, attitudes, and mental processes is part of the college experience. Remedial social and dining etiquette programs are available, targeted at non normative (first generation students) students who have been deemed worthy.

tl;Dr prestige colleges are designed as selective breeding grounds, and legacy students are a key part of that system.