Class distinctions are out in the open in nations like the United Kingdom and India. We in the U.S. falsely claim to be a classless society. Nonsense, of course social class matters in these United States, it is our dirty not-so-little secret.
For those of you who like to think social class doesn't matter in these United States, go read the article by Jonah Goldberg at http://townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2008/12/19/cinderella_vs_the_barracuda
[please forgive the awkward-looking link, the automatic hyperlink function isn't working].
Goldberg compares the media treatment Sarah Palin recently got versus the media treatment Caroline Kennedy is now getting. Night and day. The most glaring difference between these two women in public life is social class: Kennedy has attended the 'right' schools, has the 'right' vocations and avocations, and speaks with the 'right' accent. Coming from piles of old money doesn't hurt, either.
The media jumped on Governor Palin because she has working class roots, hobbies, and values. How awful. Google "Sarah Palin" and "trailer trash" and you get 55,000 hits. Ugly treatment for a self-made woman who is her state's CEO and has high approval ratings. Ah, you say, but she lacks class, we can't have that, can we? She might pick up the wrong fork.
Are we in the process of developing the equivalent of noble families in the U.S.? The Bushes of Kennebunkport, the Kennedys of Hyannisport, the Daleys of Chicago, the Udalls of the Rockies, I'm sure you have your own favorite examples of dynastic behavior. Actually, Palin comes out of the Andrew Jackson and Harry Truman tradition, a pretty decent lineage in its own right.
