Fourth footnote to the post titled “Class Situation”

We are also compelled to make a distinction between class on one hand and status on the other hand. While class is derived from economics and the economic order and as a result class mobility depends on money and wealth, status pertains to the social order and in turn education and social esteem are what determine status. Social mobility is determined by education and social esteem. There are classes, but there are also status groups within every class. Status groups are the building blocks of classes. And at the core or heart of every status group is prestige. It is prestige which serves as the currency of status groups embedded in every class. In turn, all classes subject themselves to the overall social order and to certain status groups, as long as the social order and those particular status groups can maintain their influence over the various classes but particularly the working class. Once the social order and certain status groups lose influence over the working class, the social order begins to fall apart.