Why Americans Can’t Comprehend Class Consciousness

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I write about a lot of issues of identity, but few things get people more in their feelings than discussions of class and capitalism. And while there are many reasons why this is, I like to take an approach to unpacking ideology that highlights the more frightening and fascinating sides of the relationship between media and sociocultural beliefs.

Therefore, I feel that it is important to write more about the issues with capitalism and the lack of class solidarity in American society in particular, as an example of what happens when you actually believe everything that you see on television and the internet.

Neo-Marxism and the Protestant Work Ethic

There is an idea within neo-Marxist philosophy which essentially states that Americans will never have a revolution in class consciousness because too many of us have an almost religious obsession with capitalism. This was essentially stated by Antonio Gramsci in his writing comparing the politics of Italy to America during the late 19th century. In many of his essays, he writes about how Americans have been indoctrinated in a belief system that praises work as a moral good and views the accumulation of wealth as a reflection of that goodness i.e. the Protestant Work Ethic.

Specifically, he states that America is the perfect example of the Marxist view of ideological, or cultural, hegemony, which is the idea that beliefs which benefit the ruling class (which in a capitalist society is the wealthy) tend to manipulate or influence how everyone in that society thinks. Due to the fact that capitalism serves the wealthy, there are many cultural beliefs within American society that support capitalism. For example, Gramsci describes how Fordism and the logic of the industrial revolution was used to promote the efficiency of the worker (at the expense of the health of the worker) becoming a cultural norm that was widely accepted by all.

Another cultural belief that supports capitalism, is the idea that we live in a meritocracy where anyone can move up the ranks of industry through their own labor. This view supports capitalism and the beliefs of the wealthy by also reasoning that an individual who isn’t constantly moving up in class is lacking due to their own (instead of systemic) issues. In this sense, the cultural belief of meritocracy, the Protestant Work Ethic, and even modern day hussle culture are all ideologies which can be used to blame the poor and working class for their lack of social mobility while applauding and benefiting the wealthy (regardless of how they achieved their perceived success).

Thinking back to the concept of ideological hegemony, Gramsci proposes that because Americans actually drink the poisoned kool-aid of this relationship between exceptionalism, nationalism, and capitalism the chance of them actually mobilizing in favor of the masses is unlikely. Especially within social media, any discussion of class or critique of capitalism is usually met by posts and comments praising capitalism and the upper classes. Therefore, this theory can be used to understand and grasp the way that discourse influences our beliefs about class and capitalism within this country.

Class in the American Context

As I am sure many of you have heard, there is a common belief that instead of viewing themselves as workers and/or members of a working class, many Americans tend to hold onto the belief that they are all “temporarily embarrassed billionaires”. Which is one of the primary issues with the very democratic view of class that Americans have taken on. In contrast to the aristocratic view of class, the Protestant Work Ethic and the rhetoric of the American Dream has influenced individuals to believe that social mobility is possible through intense labor and dedication to the machine. Therefore, if you have not made it, there is an investment in continuously giving to the system through labor with the hope that one day you will make it i.e. delayed gratification.

This delayed gratification is also similar to religious rhetoric around making it to heaven. As long as you continue to sacrifice and espouse the beliefs of those that are considered to be gods, then there is a belief that one day you will make it to the nirvana of the upper classes. This belief also keeps people from accepting or espousing any critiques of wealth in America. By wishing and working towards the American Dream, individuals are discouraged from critiquing the wealthy because they are caught up in the pursuit of one day being part of that class.

Due to the influence of these ideologies, it is also a commonly held belief that Americans have a very difficult time understanding class consciousness. This is due in part because America has used the concept of the upwardly mobile middle class to erase the actual stratification of class within our country at the level of representation and reality.

Within the media and popular culture it is highly unusual to see anyone who is not positioned as middle class or above. There is no voice or representation for unhoused people, day laborers, or anyone who lives in abject poverty or struggle. Even within conversations about politics, there is little representation or concern about what to do for those who live below the poverty line, despite the fact that we constantly decry any wage loss that might befall the middle class or the wealthy when making policy changes.

By not seeing representation of different class identities it is also easier to literally not view oneself in relation to people of a lower class status. This inability of Americans to view themselves in solidarity with people in a class viewed as below them becomes glaringly obvious when you analyze the rhetoric around movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Fight for 15. Despite the fact that America is a democracy, there is still a need to create an almost monarchical social hierarchy or caste system based on class and social mobility.

Instead of acknowledging the fact that millions of people are only one health crisis or job loss away from poverty and homelessness, it is more common to believe that you are just a few good years of work away from your wealth. By always aspiring upward, it becomes easier to look down upon those who are not doing as well. Thinking about the history of social mobility, those who are upwardly mobile are expected to deny any affiliation that they may have had with the lower classes in order to reach the upper echelons of society. In this sense, looking down upon the lower classes and acting in solidarity with the upper classes is viewed as the necessary evil of “making it” and being accepted by those who you believe to be your aspirational peers.

However, there is not enough conversation about the fact that most people will not “make it” in the way that they believe. In fact, looking down on the poor and praising the ingenuity of the rich only continues to keep society in a cycle of ever growing wage gaps and increasing legislation which criminalizes the working, and non-working, poor. By choosing to be in class solidarity with the class above you, instead of the class below you, you are only working against your own best and long term interest.

Especially as the wealthy seek to further separate themselves from the middle class, the markers and milestones of being viewed as rich continue to move as each access point becomes more achievable by the masses. In this sense, even if you do graduate from college, make it to the six figure salary, the successful business, and all of the small luxuries that the middle class is aspiring to, there will always be someone with more or something more that you have to do in order to be seen as a financial success. And in the era of social media, keeping up with the jones’ has become an even more difficult feat than ever before.

Class Complicates Everything

With that being said, it is important to note the many ways that class complicates everything, especially every intersection of identity. Even for those who are able to make it in the game of social mobility, rising from one class to the other, there are still many ways that one’s prior class affiliation or identity markers influence the way that class privilege is acknowledged or ignored. This is because class does not stand on its own as an identity marker or social position, it is placed in concert with other aspects of your identity, such as race, gender, sexuality, and ability, which either support or detract from your class identity.

Scholars, such as Kimberle Crenshaw, have done extensive research on the intersection of identity and the necessity of not simply conflating or collapsing the various identifiers of an individual who stands within more than one community. In this sense, you are never just your class, but a matrix of other identities which work together to create the way that you are viewed in the world and how you perform your identity. Within an American context, knowledge of class identity and its proper performance influences a variety of social outcomes, which includes, but is not limited to, our inclusion or seclusion from particular groups, communities, events or positions within the social hierarchy.

While many people have a hope to be a part of a certain class, there is not enough discussion of whether that individual will be accepted or acknowledged within that group once they have “made it”. The commonality of terms like “good old boys club” and the rules around elite spaces, such as country clubs, gated communities, and even schools demonstrates that achieving the benefits of a particular class position is about more than money. In working towards being a part of a space and/or social position which is not accessible to everyone, it is important to ask the question of why you would want to be included in a space which has been created to exclude so many others?

In addition, there is always the question of whether inclusion in the upper echelons of society will actually, as it said on the internet, “give what it is supposed to have gave”. As too many people are wasting their time and money on this never-ending pursuit of wealth and power, I would argue that there are significantly more benefits to working towards the common good of greater working class solidarity, than working against this solidarity in an attempt to be accepted by the wealthy.

The Class Conscious Curriculum

In ending this piece, I would also like to mention that I don’t usually like writing pieces like these because the writing is commonly taken as a divisive opinion, despite the fact that I am an educator offering a highly condensed overview of a multi-century canon of research and literature. Without fear of sounding hyperbolic, I will also note that the longer these collective issues are not taken as a concern within society the worse off we will all be as individuals.

Therefore, I thought it would be instructive to include a few books and reading lists for those that are new to understanding class consciousness and the issues with capitalism, outside of political talking points and whatever the news and social media is saying. Overall, I hope that you find this piece and the following resources instructive in your journey to a greater understanding of how class and capitalism works within our society!

• Introduction to Marx Reading List
• The Principled Marxist’s Reading List
• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
• The Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci
• Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition
• The Work of Louis Althusser
• History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics by Georg Lukács
• Class Matters by The New York Times
• The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K Shipler
• Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class by Barbara Ehrenreich
• The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good by Michael J. Sandel
• Books on Economic Class for Children and Youth