Some interesting events occurred in the last week. First, Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion into the central bank of Turkey to help the country, which has been struggling since the devastating earthquake of February 6, 2023. Next, the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda have decided to auction off an $81 million yacht reportedly owned by the Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev. Finally, Paris Fashion Week recently wrapped up, with celebrities strutting their stuff in clothes ranging from classic to avant-garde. What these events have in common is that they all are examples of things associated with the upper class, a category of people who maintain the highest status and resources within a society. The upper class is just one of the groups found under the rubric of social stratification, a system in which categories of people are ranked in a hierarchy. Let’s take a few minutes to consider some of the others.
The concept of social stratification encompasses a wide variety of systems. Specifically, it includes class, slavery, and caste. A class system is an open stratified system that allows social mobility. On the other hand, the slavery system is a closed stratified system in which slaves and owners exist. The caste system is a closed stratified system in which people are designated to a particular social position based on their parents’ status in society. While examples of class, slavery, and caste have existed throughout history, the caste system and slavery have recently garnered much attention in the United States. On February 22, 2023, Seattle, Washington, became the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance banning caste discrimination. And in November 2022, voters in four U.S. states finally banned slavery from their state constitutions. Those states were Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont. Disturbingly, voters in Louisiana decided not to follow suit for fear it would disrupt their forced prison labor industry.
As noted in the definitions above, these systems of stratification can be open or closed. An open system encourages and allows for social mobility. Members of an open system can move up or down the stratification ladder in their society. For example, you can start poor, work hard (or win the lottery!), and move up the ranks to be in a position to buy that aforementioned multi-million-dollar yacht or attend a Paris fashion show. Or, you can start rich and gamble away your fortune in Las Vegas and end up with nothing in your bank account. By comparison, a closed system is a social system that does not allow for social mobility. In these instances, you are born into a specific societal position and can’t do anything to change it. For example, you are born into slavery and will always be seen as a slave in the eyes of society. Although outlawed by the Indian government in the 1950s, a low caste person may improve their economic status but still be subject to the expectations historically associated with their caste. The businessman Hari Kishan Pippal was born in the “lowest” caste but has worked hard and become a financial success. Because he lives in a closed system, his wealth, the total of all personal assets including property, investments, and income, does nothing to change his caste.
The class system is the only one on the list that offers some level of social mobility. In reality, most people in a class system aren’t upper-class members. The vast majority of people in a class system are, in fact, middle class, the category of people at the center within a social hierarchy, or lower class, the lowest category of people within a social hierarchy. The economic disparity between the upper classes and everyone else can be hard to wrap your mind around. The richest 1% of Americans have as much wealth as the bottom 90%. At the height of Elon Musk’s wealth of $289 billion in 2021, just two percent of his net worth, or $6 billion, could have solved world hunger for 42 million people. That $5 billion Saudi Arabia gave to Turkey could have done the same thing.
