myth of upward mobility

[John Gulick]

Do you/we really want to make the argument that Society A is better
than Society B b/c there is a higher degree of inter-generational mobility in
Society A ? Both Society A and Society B have a persistent and tenacious
social class structure, one grounded in unfreedom and exploitation, but in
Society A there is more upward (and hence downward) mobility. Even supposing
away the possibility of a transition to socialism, I'd rather take Society B
if Society B featured a proud, defiant, and class-conscious proletariat,
rather than one preoccupied with "moving up in the world" (to some squalid
middle
managerial job replete with a pseudo-cosmopolitan lifestyle). Mike Leigh's
vitriolic cinematic satires of the UK's post-Thatcherite working class come
to mind.

John Gulick


>In fact, a 1996 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
>Development (OECD) compared earnings mobility in eight countries. 
>Measuring mobility by how often workers in the bottom fifth of earnings 
>ended up in the upper three-fifths, the United States came in last. The 
>country that came in first was Denmark, a nation with an elaborate social 
>welfare system.