The Great Depression Changed Rules for Many People

This book is very interesting and it gets you thinking about the difference and similarities between classes. In America, we [...]]]> I recently came across this link about the Hidden Rules of Class and it reminded me of the book for which it summarizes: Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty.

The Great Depression Changed Rules for Many People

This book is very interesting and it gets you thinking about the difference and similarities between classes. In America, we tend to think we are so egalitarian, but really there are some major differences between the classes. There are five categories that Payne uses to distinguish the classes: generational poverty, working class, middle class, new wealth and old wealth, but sometimes this is just pared down to the three major ones: poverty, middle class and wealthy.

I thought some of the conclusions were very interesting about the hidden rules of each class. For instance:

“In respect to personality, the poverty class values entertainment and having a sense of humor. The middle class values acquisition and stability; achievement is highly valued. The wealth class values connections—political, social and familial.”

This is fascinating when you think about it in action and how difficult it would be for a person in poverty to make an immediate jump into wealth because they would have no political, social or familial connections. Additionally, they would probably think the whole process is utterly boring (think about watching CSPAN all day…most of those people are the wealthy and therefore powerful). The middle class would fare somewhat better at moving into wealth but because they are busy being the worker bees and competing with the Joneses, they don’t have those connections either.

Basically, it is saying that in the poverty class, survival, close relationships and living in the present are the most important things, in middle class, life is about working, acquiring possesions and achieving (possessions signifying achievement), and in wealth it is about your connections and what those connections can do for you.

It also says when you move from poverty to wealth you go through these stages: 1) what I (my body) can do (the worker), 2) what I can get others to do  (the supervisor) 3) what I know (the manager) 4) who I know (the leader).

I’ve heard that oftentimes people confuse management with leadership. Basically, the manager should be able to do the level 2 and 3 functions above and some about what it actually entails to do the work (level 1), but a leader is really the person who sets or changes the direction and keeps the partners happy and connections alive (a lot of deals on the golf course and smoozing).

Some of our classic stories are Cinderella tales or “rags-to-riches” fables. Even our more recent movies or books will take someone from the poverty class and instantly make them rich and see how they handle themselves. Pretty Woman, Trading Places, Brewster’s Millions and Pursuit of Happyness are all examples of movies that do this. However, it is very uncommon for someone to skyrocket into to wealth without knowing these hidden rules of the class. In fact, even in most of these movies, the characters still had to learn these hidden rules (remember Julia Roberts with the snail!).

In life, probably the biggest example of  where poverty and wealth collide is when someone wins the lottery. Many studies and stories have been done about what happens after someone wins the lottery. What nearly all of them find is that no matter the amount, if a person hasn’t learned the skills of managing the money the way a wealthy person does, they will be back to the same lifestyle that they had before they had the money, most times in just a few years. What this shows is that it is not the money, but the perception and view of money that changes a person from a poverty mentality to a wealth mentality.

One filmmaker for a movie called “Reversal of Fortune” even decided to do an experiment with a homeless man giving him $100,000 without any real rules. It is an interesting study of one man’s experience with wealth from a poverty perspective and was featured on Oprah. While it is controversial, it was quite interesting. For a more comprehensive review of this, visit this blog.

While I find these studies fascinating, I do have a few criticisms of Payne’s and the others’ work. It is definitely important to understand these hidden rules and make them so they are not quite so hidden, but it is also important to understand why they exist and that there may be a very good reason for it. In Payne’s more recent work, she has taken to the additive model of finding strengths in each of the modes of thinking and talks about being able to float between each of the classes as the greater thing we should strive for rather than just tossing out all that we can learn from poverty and middle class.

For instance, if the poverty class is mainly concerned with survival, it makes sense that strong, personal relationships would be important. That is a positive attribute. Living in survival also means living in the present. While this can turn into the “tyrrany of the moment” it is something that people in the middle class “future” mindset find very difficult to achieve (the Zen power of now idea).

Another critisism I have is that the book does little to try to tackle social injustice or the causes of the poverty and status quo itself. For instance, if we consider Wal-Mart’s business model, the very wealthy Walton family has basically made it extremely difficult for a mom and pop middle-class shop to stay in business. So what does that do? It forces the family to close down shop and work for low paying wages maybe at Wal-Mart itself. This then places them into the poverty class. Not exactly the way you would want to learn the poverty hidden rules, but often a reality. In the US and other developed nations, we have much less poverty than other developing nations because we have put a value on education, standards on housing, and health. Without these standards, poverty would be even more painful and difficult to move out of. In some ways, because of these positive standards, people living in poverty in the US would be considered middle class in other, poorer nations.

So, we need to realize and work to make sure our policies and social values reflect a desire to move people out of poverty into middle class and wealth and not the other way around while at the same time learning from the skill set that life in poverty brings to the table.

Overall, there is a lot to learn about these things and there is not one answer to help address it. Whenever we are talking class, you must be careful not to oversimplify or blame people for the state that they are in, as this only makes things worse. It is probable that most people reading this site are from middle class looking to move to wealth, and that is probably where you should focus your efforts, but it’s important to understand each class and work to make the world a better place for everyone. In that way, we all benefit.