Where you lived, in 1982, was a reliable indicator of class. The truism “money can’t buy class” explains why high “proles” like actors and pop singers are barred from the upper classes despite their wealth. New money separates upper and upper middle from top out-of-sight. Class is only weakly correlated with money. Both groups are rare and avoid public notice, and are thus difficult to study. Those at the apex never earn their money, nor do inhabitants of the nadir. We’ll look at changes in the specific indicators that Fussell chose to characterize his class taxonomy, in the fine distinctions between tiers, of which he found three: Florence King writes, “The subject skims across our minds like a hair blown across the face: a constant ticklish irritation, invisible but very much felt.” Class distinctions are as alive as ever and the subject is as taboo now as then-our fierce egalitarian heritage guarantees this-but a certain amount of fun can be had in their study. When Fussell wrote in 1982 (and published in 1983), he said that acknowledging the class divisions that exist in America exist was poor form and that doing so would likely lead to argument.
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