The Rich in America : Power, Control, Wealth and the Elite Upper Class in the United States

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The American upper class describes the sociological concept pertaining to the "top layer" of society in the United States. This social class is most commonly described as consisting of those with great wealth and power and may also be referred to as the Capitalist Class or simply as The Rich. Persons of this class commonly have immense influence in the nation's political and economic institutions as well as public opinion.

Many politicians, heirs to fortunes, top business executives, CEOs, successful venture capitalists and celebrities are considered members of this class. Some prominent and high-rung professionals may also be included if they attain great influence and wealth. The main distinguishing feature of this class, which is estimated to constitute roughly 1% of the population, is the source of income. While the vast majority of persons and households derive their income from salaries, those in the upper class derive their income from investments and capital gains. Estimates for the size of this group commonly vary from 1% to 2%, while some surveys have indicated that as many as 6% of Americans identify as "upper class." Sociologist Leonard Beeghley sees wealth as the only significant distinguishing feature of this class and, therefore, refers to this group simply as "the rich."

" "The members of the tiny capitalist class at the top of the hierarchy have an influence on economy and society far beyond their numbers. They make investment decisions that open or close employment opportunities for millions of others. They contribute money to political parties, and they often own media enterprises that allow them influence over the thinking of other classes... The capitalist class strives to perpetuate itself: Assets, lifestyles, values and social networks... are all passed from one generation to the next." -Dennis Gilbert, The American Class Structure, 1998 "

Sociologists such as W. Lloyd Warner, William Thompson and Joseph Hickey recognize prestige differences between members of the upper class. Established families, prominent professionals and politicians may be deemed to have more prestige than some entertainment celebrities who in turn may have more prestige than the members of local elites. Yet, contemporary sociologists argue that all members of the upper class share such great wealth, influence and assets as their main source of income as to be recognized as members of the same social class. As great financial fortune is the main distinguishing feature of this class, sociologist Leonard Beeghley at the University of Florida identifies all "rich" households, those with incomes in the top 1% or so, as upper class.

Functional theorists in sociology and economics assert that the existence of social classes is necessary in order to distribute persons so that only the most qualified are able to acquire positions of power, and so that all persons fulfill their occupational duties to the greatest extent of their ability. Notably, this view does not address wealth, which plays an important role in allocating status and power.

In order to make sure that important and complex tasks are handled by qualified and motivated personnel, society offers incentives such as income and prestige. The more scarce qualified applicants are and the more essential the given task is, the larger the incentive will be. Income and prestige which are often used to tell a person's social class, are merely the incentives given to that person for meeting all qualifications to complete an important task that is of high standing in society due to its functional value.

"It should be stressed... that a position does not bring power and prestige because it draws a high income. Rather, it draws a high income because it is functionally important and the available personnel is for one reason or another scarce. It is therefore superficial and erroneous to regard high income as the cause of a man's power and prestige, just as it is erroneous to think that a man's fever is the cause of his disease... The economic source of power and prestige is not income primarily, but the ownership of capital goods (including patents, good will, and professional reputation). Such ownership should be distinguished from the possession of consumers' goods, which is an index rather than a cause of social standing." -Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, Principles of Stratification. "

As mentioned above, income is one of the most prominent features of social class, but not necessarily one of its causes. In other words, income does not determine the status of an individual or household but rather reflects upon that status. Income and prestige are the incentives in order to fill all positions with the most qualified and motivated personnel possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_upper_class

The 'Class War' Speech by Prof. Noam Chomsky

5iF3R

Even though this was recorded over a decade ago, there is nothing in it that is dated. If anything, it accurately predicts the present!

This speech was recorded live at MIT back in 1996. These aren't sound bites, they are documented truths expressed in honest language. By the way, Chomsky isn't in any way calling for 'class war' here, he is just describing the reality what has been going on for several decades now.

There is truth here that you never hear anywhere else. Even wild-eyed radicals seldom deliver hard, unpleasant facts this well. Let's face it, human rights have always been subordinate to business rights in the USA. But things have gotten outrageously worse in modern times. The U.S. is advocating a corporate tyranny far surpassing any level of totalitarianism found in the rest of the developed world. And it really started with outright criminal behavior under the "great" Ronald Reagan. I know- I saw it happen..

Perhaps the most frightening thing about this speech is its talk of "anti-politics". Briefly, this is the organized campaign to blame everything on the government- even when big business is really in control. They want the people to hate and fear the government, because democratic government has a dangerous flaw- it actually has the slight chance of becoming truly democratic. You see, corporations are perfect- perfect tyrannies.

The average worker, the average citizen, is never going to be able to change or control them. The government is the only thing the average citizen has the potential to control. Therefore the average citizen must be taught to hate, fear, or simply dismiss organized political action. What you get is "anti-politics" where people are totally atomized, fearful and hateful of nearly everything- and totally blind to the real problems.

Michael Zweig : Power of The Working Class - Occupy Wall St COOLS

NewYorkRawVideos

Filmed March 16, 2012. A Q&A with Michael Zweig of the Center for Study of Working Class Life. He talks about how change in America essentially boils down to mobilizing working people, and challenging the power structure of the system. Good questions were raised during the discussion.

Part of the Cultural Occupation of Liberty Square "COOLS" a lunchtime/noon series of music and culture designed to reinvigorate the occupy wall street movement emerging from winter hibernation.

Class Dismissed : How TV Frames the Working Class [Full Film]

http://www.mediaed.org/

Narrated by Ed Asner

Based on the forthcoming book by Pepi Leistyna, Class Dismissed navigates the steady stream of narrow working class representations from American television's beginnings to today's sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas, and daytime talk shows.

Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of working class people as either clowns or social deviants -- stereotypical portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.

Class Dismissed breaks important new ground in exploring the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality intersect with class, offering a more complex reading of television's often one-dimensional representations. The video also links television portrayals to negative cultural attitudes and public policies that directly affect the lives of working class people.

Featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York); Nickel and Dimed author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna (University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press.

Source: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=411

Empire in the andes, the war against the poor

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Colombia: Film about human rights, the armed conflict, plan colombia, US intervention and military aid, the war on drugs, the war on terror, free trade area of the americas etc
Barricade Films

Lew Daly - Unjust Deserts : How The Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance

pdxjustice Media Productions

Producer: William Seaman

The 2008 presidential campaign ended with a sharp moral debate about the distribution of wealth in the United States. In a timely and provocative work of empirically-grounded social criticism, Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly's Unjust Deserts provides powerful new ammunition in that debate.

At the center of their rich and persuasive argument is the economic impact of socially-created knowledge. As people have solved numerous problems that bewildered and plagued those before us, we have accumulated an immense "stock of knowledge" which now plays a central role in economic growth, and is largely responsible for the real income gains that separated the twentieth century from all that came before.

This "stock of knowledge" is a social inheritance, nurtured by governments, institutions, and culture, and created by many generations of people. And yet even as our economic growth has become so highly socialized through the impact of expanding knowledge, the fruits of knowledge--the wealth being generated by knowledge-based growth--flows increasingly to the top. A new aristocracy is reaping huge unearned gains from our collective intellectual wealth.

In exposing and challenging this contradiction,Unjust Deserts, says Barbara Ehrenreich, "reveals the untold story of wealth creation in our time," and, as Bill Moyers writes, it "opens an extraordinary new vista on the moral bankruptcy of our second Gilded Age."