ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on classism and addresses the various other isms that feed into classism. While all of the isms contribute to greater accumulation of wealth for the upper classes, it is the class structure itself that most directly manifests the effects of the other isms toward the objective of greater profits for the wealthy. Early models of the class structure identify two general categories of the upper class: upper-upper and lower-upper. Bill Gates, considered the wealthiest person in the world for about 12 consecutive years, might be considered lower-upper class since most of his extreme wealth was created in one generation, and since his behavioral characteristics do not fit the upper-upper class profile. There are two components that constitute social class. The first component, economic, is the primary basis for what sociologists referring to as economic stratification. The second component, not completely separate from the first, is that of sub-cultural characteristics.
