How much does social class matter in America today?

The class system is based on perceptions with different measures for everyone. In the documentary Joe Queenan expressed that it is criticism that drives us and creates our desire and motivation to get more and have more. And while appearances still matter it is much easier to create your own desired lifestyle today. You may be born in a certain area into a family with a certain bank balance but the opportunity to move beyond that has never been better. While social class still matters in the US, today it is much easier to remove the limitations and blur the lines. Technology has created new opportunities in education, one of the important dimensions social class stratification. Social programs and the internet make education more accessible. You can attend Nova through their distance education programs even though you might not have enough money to move to DC. Things that were once only available to those in the upper class such as learning proper etiquette, attending "knife and fork" school or learning about investing and financial planning are available to anyone with access to an internet connection. The same holds true for material possessions. No longer are designer clothes or the fastest lap top or the biggest screen tv available only to those who live in certain areas or to certain classes of people. If, according to the text, "Modern societies have become consumer societies, and in some respects a consumer society is a "mass society" where class differences are overridden" then in today's society it is much easier to regard yourself as being like most other people. By removing limitations and making more available to everyone the distinctions of the social classes are not as important today as they were 10, 20 or 50 years ago.