Class Matters

The recent series of articles the NYT published on class is fascinating. I have read every single article so far, and did their interactive feature to see where I am in relations to the rest of America (education – higher than 99%, or at least will be; income – nowhere near there.).

I was also amused that for Americans, lawyers are the second most prestigious occupation, directly after “physicians and surgeons”.

The most interesting article so far is one about marriage across class lines: a working-class guy marrying a very wealthy woman. The stresses they said they have to deal with in their marriage is very realistic and occasionally made me cringe.

The article could have gone a little deeper and really talk about some of the social and cultural differences, like differences in their habits or vocabulary, rather than just generically about psychological resentment (“Her children had the opportunity my children never had”). But it’s still pretty interesting.

I can never imagine myself living with stresses like these. Isn’t just having a relationship itself, the logistics of two people living together and planning a life together, already complicated enough without these added issues of status, financial control, and power?

Also, the article about how 3 New Yorkers in different socio-economic classes received different treatment after a heart attack is also interesting, though hardly surprising. What else is money for, if not getting these advantages, both small and large, obvious and subtle, in your life?