the original intent of the founders is made clear in article 1 section 9 clause 8 (titles if nobility.) i will concede that class mobility, upward and otherwise, is possible in the usa but wealth and power in the usa are generational and preserved by tax codes and other overt subservience of government to the "job creators." who do you think the "elite" are? how did they get that way? should the playing field be leveled in any way to reverse the inexorable downward flow of class mobility?
I would disagree with you second paragraph. While initial wealth and connections can be passed down to a future generation or two in the United States, a real loser can throw it all away very quickly. You can throw away wealth quite easily on bad investments or by simply being a drunk or a dope addict who signs away what they have. You can blow it all with sexual addictions, divorce settlements and fast depreciating assets like cars. As for inheriting business connections, that only lasts if you have the ability to be an effective manager. Establishing and maintaining a strong, money making business is hard work. The people who succeed at that, don’t want “dead wood” around. A loser son might get a nice trust fund or golden parachute, but read paragraph one. Failure is easier than success, and sometimes bad luck can land you there, even when you did a lot of things right. Where paragraph two applies is for royal families where titles, money and a stream of income is inherited. I am thinking of the British royal family. Prince Andrew (Charles’ brother) and Prince Harry are losers. Harry keeps his big money thing going because people are dumb enough to buy ghost written books about dirt on the royal family. Otherwise he would be a loser. Princess Anne, Elizabeth II’s sister was a loser. Fortunately for the Elizabeth II knew how to project the proper image. She kept the royal franchise going. At any rate, even the royal British family could lose it all. That’s why an Edward VIII (abdicated the crown to marry the woman he loved in 1936 - he had a thing for divorced older women) posed such a threat to the royal family’s continuation. The fact that he thought Hitler was cool didn’t help. That’s why they stuck him in the Bahamas during World War II and burned a lost of his correspondence.
so who is this "elite" i keep hearing about and how did they get that way? is it education then? that would imply more "meritocracy" than i have observed over the decades.
Elite are the ones who have the power, the moxie, the connections to get what they want and not have the rules apply to them by ordinary folk. In the past, this was royalty when we were under the King's authority. Today, it is anyone who has a large bank account, political connections, and the moxie to do what they want no matter what. This does not apply to all who are rich, but only those that exhibit this attitude which is pretty much most of them, unfortunately.
Generally speaking, the elite are those who are the best in their field. There are elites in various sports, for example. Things can also be elite. Colleges such as Harvard and Princeton come to mind. The US Navy Blue Angels are, perhaps, the elite of the Navy's airmen. As used in US politicalspeak, the elite are those who wield power and control over the rest of us. [Ed.: By 'us', Torus places himself in the non-elite.] These are often thought of as including families. The Rockefellers in business and the Bushes in politics come to mind. Regards, stay safe 'n well.
I'd break it out into "inherited wealth", vs "earned wealth". In America most of the wealthiest invented things. Like "Windows", "Amazon", "entertainers", etc. Follow on businesses like computer peripherals created a lower tier of serious wealth. The "earned wealth" does philanthropy, and rigging political races, and telling us peons how to live! I need to find my old college era "Eat the Rich" bumper sticker!
You are correct. If one got into one of the top schools, like one from the Ivy League, you were golden. Now I am less and less impressed with some of the graduates I see from those schools.
If you really want to study the subject, the classic work is Who Rules America? by G. William Domhoff. I was surprised to see that he has continued to publish new additions of the book since I was in undergraduate school.
All false premise. Wealthies People in America Elon Musk: $146.5 billion. Warren Buffett: $107.6 billion. Jeff Bezos: $107.3 billion. Bill Gates: $103.3 billion. Larry Ellison: $102.4 billion. Steve Ballmer: $78.5 billion. Larry Page: $77.3 billion. Michael Bloomberg: $76.8 billion. Which one of those are wealthy because of inheritance?
I don't use the term but I think most people think of it as people with power. They got that way by amassing money or cultivating what it takes to be powerful. Sounds like you want to put an end to freedom so my answer is no.
i'm sure we used that 1968 edition as well. i seem to remember "coming of age in samoa" as my favorite in that class or maybe thorstein veblin's "theory of the leisure class."
