It's interesting that you would pass right over a little chestnut like this
Mills75 wrote:The socio-economic class you are born into is the single most important factor determining what socio-economic group you wind up in.
to focus on the word "permitted." You will, I'm sure, forgive me for passing over
John Creasy wrote:I have a friend...this class?
since anecdotal evidence has limited, if any, value.
There are numerous factors hindering people from the poorer classes in achieving social mobility. First, our social class tends to be reflected in our environment--poor people tend to live in poor areas, middle class people in middle class areas, and wealthy people in wealthy areas. The quality of primary and secondary education (elementary and high school) available to children is usually a reflection of the economic condition of the community it's in. Thus poor children tend to go to underfunded schools while the wealthy children tend to go to state-of-the-art schools. The seeds of class disparity are fertilized heavily early on; poor children tend to be less prepared for entry into college than middle class and wealthy children; lower quality of education manifests itself as lower scores on college entrance exams; fewer scholarships are available or their existence is unknown; etc. The children of the poor are less likely to have college presented to them as a viable option, and they're unlikely to see, much less have personal contact with, many examples of college educated adults outside of their school. Put simply, the children the poor simply don't tend to be steered towards college or provided the resources to enable them to get into college. Financial aid is available, but a student must know where to go for it, how to apply, etc.
Those few children of the poor who do make it into college are much more likely to drop out due to their often inadequate preparation or financial pressures. Of course, this failure plays directly into our culture's fetish of meritocracy--the kid just couldn't hack it; we'll ignore all structural obstacles hindering him or her.
Those few of the poor who manage to graduate from college face additional obstacles. They don't have the same networks assisting them in finding employment or gaining admissions to graduate programs as middle class and wealthy graduates tend to have. In addition, most financial aid comes in the form of student loans that come due shortly after graduation. So while graduates from the middle and upper classes usually start out their professional lives with no substantial debt and, indeed, often enjoy further financial assistance from their families as they start life after college, graduates from the poorer classes usually begin their professional lives on their own economically and with a substantial financial burden.
How are members of the poorer classes hindered from achieving upward mobility? A preponderance of obstacles not faced by members of the other classes, that's how.
Now, you did ask an interesting question--who's doing the "permitting" with regard to social advancement? It's the people who have the most influence over those social and political mechanisms by which social advancement could be either facilitated or hindered. Some social thinkers have used the term "power elite" to describe this social group and it's members are typically the wealthiest or most politically powerful members of society (frequently the wealthiest are the most politically powerful, but not always). This isn't a secret society out of some conspiracy theory; what makes them a fairly cohesive social group with common interests (economic, political, social, etc.) and relatively homogenous ideals and values is a tightly interlocking network of social circles. Our business and political leaders frequently either come from this group or rely heavily upon its support. We're a wealthy society and have the means to provide free quality education (including college, grad. school, etc.) and, thus, a relatively equal start in society to all our young, but those currently with the power will not do this (permit it, if you will). Make no mistake, the power to enforce their political will and promote their own interest exists within the poorer classes, but their members are too alienated from one another and too blinded by false consciousness to unite and take the power. Until that happens, social mobility will largely be controlled, or permitted, by that wealthiest minority who has the power to do so.
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