>>17795470
>The average American sees themselves as self-made hustlers or farmers rather than members of a particular socioeconomic class
I don’t think Americans truly grasp how strong the class mentality is. There were times in Europe where poor people were considered a different species entirely from rich people (in a scientific sense). Like not even the same type of human. Class was who you are. People defined themselves by their class, even the low class (when you’d think they’d have the incentive not to). My grandmother was low class in Europe, and she’d get very uncomfortable in nice hotels because she felt she didn’t belong in such places because of her class. This is despite the fact that she married a man that made decent money. The fact that she had wealth/money did not change her class, because class was not a financial state, it was birthright. A low class man who earned a billion dollars was still low class on account of his birth.

The idea is hilarious to me (and most other Americans). I’m a tall, muscular, rather handsome dude. The idea that some short, fat retard is better than me solely on account of being born into a higher class is hilarious. Even more so that he could still be higher class than me even if I have more money than him. Absurd.

Humans never run out of ways to put each other in groups.