Atlanta class obsession/Class insecurity. (Decatur: how much, to buy, college)

[Onthemove2014]

I notice people talking about 10 year old cars. My first car when I was 16 was 10 years old and I drove it until I crashed it 6 years later and totaled it.

[DTL3000]

I think that sort of attitude is common with people who come from poorer backgrounds and who happen to start making a little more money than they are accustomed to. It's doesn't even have to be all that much money and in fact, I have seen people look down on others who make more than them because their job has some sort of stigma attached to it(e.g. fast food manager). I also honestly think a lot of the contempt is based on paranoia that they could just as easily be in that position or worse if just a few things go wrong. They don't have much to fall back on either monetarily, or skills-wise in case something were to happen with their current job.

People who come from middle class and higher backgrounds don't usually have that attitude past their college years. I doubt many even really think about it.

[Onthemove2014]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

Here is my personal experience on this:

All my Uncles and Aunts are black baby boomers who were the first 1964 CRA/Post Jim Crow generation who able to reap the benefits of a relatively liberal middle class white-collar & high paying blue-collar hiring boom. I would say that there are a lot of other black baby boomers who fit this same description as well.

Being that they were able to take advantage of the hiring boom, they sought "arrival" into the middle & upper classes by way of buying into all the trappings that one would think is readily identifiable with the upper class strata, i.e. 2 to 3 story houses with 2 to 3 acre plot of land, cars that cost at least $30,000, name brand clothing.

Because when you think about it, before the 1964 CRA and President Nixon's affirmative action policies, a sizable majority of black america was relegated to low-paying menial jobs, and forced to live in small houses packed together. And in that time everyday life for many black people was a humiliating struggle, especially when it came to dealing with middle to upper class white folks, who sought to remind black people at every minute of their lowly status in life.

I guess to put it all together, much in the same way that the "Feast or Famine" cycle puts forth the notion that people will overeat as a way of overcompensating for the latent fears of past famines, a lot of black folks will buy more than what they need because they want to get over the fear of the crushing poverty of the past. And they will act out this mindset of feeling "wealthy" and "saditty" as way of comforting themselves and forgetting those painful memories growing up, even if the wealth isn't truly real.

Unfortunately though this mindset has been transferred over to many in the generation X and Y, who have grown to expect to be rewarded with fancy cars and other shiny baubles for relatively little effort. In other words, the materialistic mindset of the baby boom generation has created a monster in the new generations, hence the resulting mortgage meltdown of the present.

This is a good point. I never thought if this.

[RoslynHolcomb]

I think this article explains it better han any sociologist I've ever heard. Note, it's on Cracked, so the language is raw, but it's still good.

The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor | Cracked.com

[AcidSnake]

I definitely agree with this statement. I would think of it as the "one paycheck away from absolute financial ruin" phenomena. It's especially worse when a person comes from a family where everyone is mostly in the same dire position, or that the community has precious little resources to bear to soften the blow for anyone who for reasons outside of their personal actions, fall through the economic cracks into poverty.

Our society has a "winners vs losers" culture where there is nothing in between. If you are not a winner or if you don't display yourself as a winner according to these insane rules...then you are a loser, and as such will be castigated and humiliated in ways as a loser big and small. Just look at how many ways this culture plays itself out, whether in dating, interacting in the workplace, and then in mingling with families and neighbors.

Personally, I think that this is a sick mentality and is evident of a society that is seriously hurting on the inside.

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I think that sort of attitude is common with people who come from poorer backgrounds and who happen to start making a little more money than they are accustomed to. It's doesn't even have to be all that much money and in fact, I have seen people look down on others who make more than them because their job has some sort of stigma attached to it(e.g. fast food manager). I also honestly think a lot of the contempt is based on paranoia that they could just as easily be in that position or worse if just a few things go wrong. They don't have much to fall back on either monetarily, or skills-wise in case something were to happen with their current job.

People who come from middle class and higher backgrounds don't usually have that attitude past their college years. I doubt many even really think about it.

[berkeleylake]

Originally Posted by Onthemove2014

I notice it a lot on this board and since most people on the Atlanta forum live here I'd thought it fit for the city. Why do so many people look down on low wage jobs or low income earners here? I see it a lot in the comments. Someone has to do those jobs and they are needed for the economy.


I also notice a lot of people turning their noses up at things that seem
"cheap" or "poor" here too.Its not all but a lot. People leasing expensive cars. 30k millionaires everywhere. Does the city have a history of class warfare? Atlanta is known for its flashiness.

For any message board, including this one, I just try to ignore the "noise" (being critical of some people whatever it may be) and focus on what I want to read. All of us judge, it is just some are harsher at it than others. I don't think the average person living in Atlanta is any different than other places about this topic.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Onthemove2014

I notice people talking about 10 year old cars. My first car when I was 16 was 10 years old and I drove it until I crashed it 6 years later and totaled it.

And your point here is what, that you were a lousy driver even with 6 years of driving experience?

[GRS86]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I think that sort of attitude is common with people who come from poorer backgrounds and who happen to start making a little more money than they are accustomed to. It's doesn't even have to be all that much money and in fact, I have seen people look down on others who make more than them because their job has some sort of stigma attached to it(e.g. fast food manager). I also honestly think a lot of the contempt is based on paranoia that they could just as easily be in that position or worse if just a few things go wrong. They don't have much to fall back on either monetarily, or skills-wise in case something were to happen with their current job.

People who come from middle class and higher backgrounds don't usually have that attitude past their college years. I doubt many even really think about it.

Great point. I agree. I've noticed this among people that I know.

[ATLTJL]

The whole flash thing is not a big thing in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Ansley, Druid Hills, etc.

I just want to say that Gerogialakesearch's perspective is once again completely off.

I lived in Buckhead for years. I love Buckhead. But to say that flash is not a big thing there, you have to be completely insane. Haven't you ever noticed that anywhere that offers valet parking puts the Bentleys, BMWs, and Mercedes in the very front so everyone can see them and puts the Accords and Camrys in the back? Why would they do that if they didn't care about flash?

Lenox and Phipps are both filled with people who can't afford to buy anything in the malls, but walk around trying to be seen.

You might be able to argue that a lot of this behavior comes from people who don't actually live in Buckhead and just come there to try to impress, and there would be some validity to that.

I live very close to Sugarloaf CC and I don't see much flash there. Actually, I don't see much of anything there because the place is locked like a fortress. So maybe they are just flashing for each other, but they are certainly not doing it for the general public.

I get the whole old money vs. new money thing. However, to me, it all comes down to class versus the age of the money. You can't make assumptions based on the age of money. While it's true that old money is generally more refined, there is some very classy new money out there and there is also some old money that is as classless as they come. Class has to do with how you conduct yourself and how you treat others, not so much how long you have or have not had money. In fact, there are some very classy people that actually have modest means just as there are some billionaires that are by all other measures worthless human beings.

I do think that Atlanta tends to be a little flashier than a lot of other cities. Especially among young people trying to prove that they have "arrived." One nice thing, though, is there is a big anti-flash counterculture that sees through the BS.

I never bought into it. I saw movies at Phipps and did all of my shopping around the Lenox area of Buckhead for years and never wore anything nicer than a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. HOWEVER, everything I wore was always clean and I tried to treat everybody I encountered with the kind of respect and dignity I would like to be treated with (except for a few failings which I have highlighted in other threads here). So I think that makes me a class act, even though I wouldn't consider myself to be either old or new money. Then again, I don't think I could have any sum of money that would make me label myself as "money." It's all silly and once you have a certain amount of money, additional is really meaningless and does't make a big difference in how you live your life. It's really irrelevant to me whether people think I have money or not. In fact, all things being equal, most of the time I'd rather have people think I have less than I do. So to me, flashiness is really counter-productive.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaLakeSearch

I am familiar with black culture because my wife is 75% black 25% white.

Uh. Having a wife who is black doesn't give you any special insight into 'black' culture. You're getting a glimpse. And a small one at that.

Even being black would not make you an expert. African americanism is not a monolith. There are all sorts of class/education/social distinctions and issues which are not simple enough to hear discussed on the news or on the radio.