Common questions about Upper class

Short answers, pulled from the story.

Who were the Fagoaga Arozqueta family and what did they represent in 1730 Mexico City?

The Fagoaga Arozqueta family was a lineage in Mexico City captured in a 1730 family portrait that represented the upper class through inherited status and the ability to live without working for a living. This historical reality distinguished them from the merchant class who possessed liquid cash but lacked the social capital of hereditary land ownership. Their existence defined the upper class for centuries by prioritizing lineage over earned wealth.

When did the upper class in Great Britain and Ireland change after the Second World War and independence in 1922?

Since the Second World War, the definition of the upper class in Great Britain expanded to include rich and powerful members of the managerial and professional classes. In the Republic of Ireland, the upper class has all but vanished since independence in 1922, with aristocratic titles granted by the British monarch holding no recognition in the Irish Constitution. This shift left Irish society generally perceived to operate on a two-tier system of working and middle class.

How many billionaires were in the United States by 2004 and what was the average net worth on the Forbes 400 list in the early 1980s?

By 2004, the number of billionaires in the United States had reached 374, marking a dramatic increase in the concentration of wealth at the very top of society. In the early 1980s, the average net worth of individuals on the Forbes 400 list was merely $400 million. Today, that average has surged to $2.8 billion, illustrating a shift in how the American upper class derives its power through money management and investing.

What is the Donor Class and when did Bob Herbert of The New York Times coin this term in 1998?

In 1998, Bob Herbert of The New York Times coined the term The Donor Class to describe a tiny group comprising just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population. This group possessed the unique ability to buy access to political power through their financial contributions. The distribution of wealth in America serves as the primary highlight of the upper class's influence, with the top 1% of Americans owning around 34% of the wealth.

Why does the traditional upper class believe that individual wealth or fame cannot make a person a true member of the elite?

According to the traditional upper class, no amount of individual wealth or fame can make a person from an undistinguished background a true member of the elite. One must be born into a family of that class and raised in a particular manner to understand and share upper class values, traditions, and cultural norms. This perspective suggests that the upper class is culturally distinct from the nouveau riche who lack the generational socialization required to navigate the subtle codes of the elite.

What percentage of Americans identify as upper class and how does this compare to the estimated size of the American upper class?

In the United States, 98% of Americans identify with one of the five other class terms used in surveys, with 48 to 50% identifying as middle class. The American upper class, estimated to constitute less than 1% of the population, functions as a social group within the United States consisting of people who have the highest social rank primarily due to economic wealth. This self-identification gap underscores the difficulty of defining the upper class in a society that prizes egalitarianism.

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