"We don't live in a fly-over state, we live in our home" I'm not even American and I felt that one.

Im being sarcastic here but isnt it strange how topics like these arent a fixture of mainstream news/media EVERYDAY...mmm...i wonder why not.

This should be pointed out repeatedly in public discussions: When people use the term "middle class" they are referring to a group positioned well above the economic middle.

What a fantastic Ted talk. Kudos to this woman. She is doing the work that will maybe just maybe save the American dream and begin to reunite the American people. I come from the PME, and it irks me to no end the simplistic and pretentious thinking a lot of us have regarding the White working class and class in general. This talk should be mandatory to watch in universities and in workplaces and on the massive screens in Times Square, and blaring into the ear pieces of every single news anchor in the mainstream media.

This is an important talk. Class slurs are not stigmatized like racial slurs because socio-economic status is not a protected class under the American Constitution.

This video is criminally underviewed.

It's not about class it is about lifestyle choice or lack of it. The working class and the poor have no lifestyle and are devoid of hope, they have to work to live, work till they die, with little or no saving, little or no pension but plenty of debt. The middle class have seen their income stagnate, whilst the top 15% have bombed ahead. Who's jobs have they exported to asia? manufacturing which supported the working class, who supported the middle class management class hence both these classes of citizen suffered. Question Joan, why is it bad to look back to the days when an American dad could work, earn a decent wage support a wife and a couple of children on one wage, retire with a pension, and live debt free. Is this the message do not look back otherwise your eyes might be opened as to what you have lost? Who lost their homes in the 2008/9 recession not the people who caused it they prospered whilst the working/middle class paid the price either via evictions or a stagnation in salary, with no support of the elite who were in government. What you can not get her head round is the democrat party lost, and can not understand why the middle and lower classes are in revolt. I would respectfully point out Joan look at France for over a year a lot of the French citizens have been in revolt. Basis of which is worker working to survive, or are working and having to borrow just like Americans to eat at the end of the month. Whilst the elite in France are thriving just like America. In equality can possibly be about your ethnic background, whilst equality when you are poor do not take this into account as you are all poor all devoid of life style choice all dollar free and debt ridden. Look at the elite who have thrived, ask how they have thrived, in a recession enquire into their wealth, and you just might find who received the free money first always thrive, because their wealth has been given to them off the back of the rest.

This is the type of discussion we should see on major networks. Whether you agree with her points or not, this it intelligent discussion.

Noblesse oblige. While the working class wages has been stagnant for 30 years. The PME has more than tripled. Shutting the door on education and or jobs. See College Admissions Scandal. This is commonplace for those with money or influence. You want change you start Noblesse oblige.

I love Americans. Thank you so much for talking of this argument. Lovely watching and listening to you here at the top of the mountain of Italy.

Blue collar class is stuck in the middle with both sides attacking the blue collar while they take from the blue collar without giving anything back. One day the blue collar will be pushed beyond the point they are willing to tolerate.

If unfulfilling jobs paid a really good wage it wouldn't be quite so bad.

Incredibly well spoken. Thank you.

So true! $200K is NOT MIDDLE CLASS!

The inter-class adversity is caused by us being 'farmed' too hard. Ms. Williams failed to even mention redistribution of wealth as a driver of bad blood. The middle class is being eliminated by disenfranchisement of their wealth - making family life, marriage nearly impossible in family economics is their end-game.

I think she's right that we have economic and social elite groups that look down on what we consider the working class - Republicans have for some time been considered economically elite, and she is probably correct in that Democrats are perceived as having embraced a sort of social elitism. But she got off the subject of class. I think abortion will always cut across class strata because it arises from an unresolvable metaphysical question that gives rise to a legal question that has to be resolved one way or another. Also, the idea that guns in some way characterize the working class seemed to have been just assumed rather than proven or demonstrated.

I prefer "middle financed", I have tons of class.

Class is made up of a lot of things- not just finance. It is the most divisive factor in the world

Please put this woman in the White House oh my gosh! I agree! What a beautiful good idea. Thank you

How ironic, that the word "classism" is underlined in wavy red on KZfaq and Facebook. Seems like classism simply doesn`t exist.

Outstanding Ted, professor Williams! Sorry it took me _four_ years to get to it. Life, you know. It has a messy tendency to get in the way. That said, too bad our new USSC majority has not viewed this presentation which gets to the core of our present culturo-political dilemma. This past session seriously disrupted our Republic with the abortion issue, one long settled by _Roe v. Wade_ , and opened a wound in the American body politic which may fester for years. Loved the way you referred to guns and abortion as "proxy wars" for deeper sociological and psychological (i.e. rage, self-loathing, identity insecurity, economic uncertainty, etc.) issues roiling in the deep recesses of the American psyche. Be well.

Safety is less important than government power

Who said trade jobs were not satisfying? 80k a year and no college debt? A set of skills that are valued everywhere? What's wrong with any of that?

A fabulous talk. Eloquent and succinct, thank you Joan.

Wonderful talk. Thank you Joan.

Class and income are two very different things one is social and the other is economic. Lower, middle and upper income is different from lower, middle and upper class.

Incredibly insightful and lucid

Wow...impressive talk. Something to think about. Thank you Joan!!

And why is it that those who understand the problems and want to try to fix them arent the people in charge...

Many of the people in the 2/3 she describes have college degrees.

Education. You and yours are condemned without it. Education frees you from class.

The problems we have,are inherent to Capitalism. I recommend reading Marx. On the other side, Countries that have called themselves "Communists",have found new ways to "F" things up. It is evident to me that greed screws up everything. Marx,himself,stated that he was not a Communist. I am more in line with Leon Trotsky's beliefs. My mom was introduced to them working in the "Sweat Shops" of NYC,when she was only 14,back in 1928. She became a member of Knit Good workers LU 155 of The ILGWU. She was the economic backbone for three generations. Happy Mothers Day Lucy!

This seminar was five years ago. Not one thing has changed.

A great read about this, in Britain, is Owen Jones "Chavs- the demonization of the working class"

A must watch.

I think the phenomenon of rising income inequality (that leads to class conflict) is a result of technological change in the society. US has changed from being agricultural to industrial to information society. Productivity rises in each change to a degree that now most jobs could be done by machine or AI. Naturally the PME would shed the lower rank workforce instead of firing themselves. You can imagine most truck drivers would lose their jobs once self driving technology is matured. Also, globalization hurts the middle class more than any other class by off shoring their jobs. US has come to a point where a few high tech companies amass most of the wealth of the nation. The middle class has their income shrank and their number drop to 30% because the other 30% has gone down to the lower income class. So the class structure is more like 5% high income class, 30% middle class and 65% low income class. The income is heavily skew towards the top 5%. It starts to look like a third world class structure.

15:25 But will they care? When have they ever? "The hitherto of all existing society is the history of class struggles"

beautiful story, thank you.

Not sure why talking about class is so taboo here in the United States. I enjoy talking about social classs and society as a whole . Allows me to self evaluate myself and how I feel about where I am in life, and where I want to be.

I think a good policy choice would a higher tax on married couples, who have an income level above a certain multiple of the minum wage, if both of them work full time. Couples, who have either one of them stay home to raise the children, should then get an extra tax break. One of the big problems I see with the PME class, is that it is very insular. It is very hard to get into. Class mobility is far less than it was when I was coming of age in the 1970's. It used be that a college degree was a boarding ticket. Now, it is a lottery ticket. And a very expensive one at that.

Tex bracket is the major factor. It should be readjusted for the better fairness.

"class slurs should be as stigmatised as racial slurs". Isn't that what a least some part of movie Joker is about?

I would like to see her also address lower income families more

So true

Very good summary of each perspective that is now fighting over the future of the Western world. Each summation was brief and over simplified, but Mrs. Williams was operating under a severe time constraint. For example, I would disagree that the bureaucratic managerial mind is independent, creative, and "living on the edge." It is quite the opposite. Rather, the current managerial class mindlessly absorbs Neo-Marxist theory in college and then fanatically goes out and enforces what they have been taught as a set of moral imperatives as they virtue-signal each other up the corporate, government, or university totem-pole. I would point to James Damore as being one of the upwardly mobile who showed true independence in pointing out the truth in issues surrounding diversity. The PC police at Google crushed him like a bug to preserve their New Left echo chamber. Bureaucratic minds tend not to be so nimble or connected to the bottom line truth so much as lost in a procedural maze of arbitrary rules that hinders the pursuit of the truth or practicality. Bureaucracy and post-modernism fit hand-in-glove since both deny an objective reality. But Mrs. Williams' plea to listen and to consider the perspective of each side of this Culture War is wise. We should be able to listen to one another, unlike what we see at Google & other "woke" corporations and Speech Codes at colleges. As we do, we should carefully consider the set of trade-offs that we make with each perspective and see that other people value differently the options that we all face. We can respect one another even if we strongly disagree as we more fully discuss the full ramifications of the pursuit of either social/economic, political/legal paradigm. At some point, if we cannot resolve these differences, it makes sense to part and let the different peoples found their own nations where they can pursue their alternative ways of life separately. Then, over time, successive generations can better judge which perspective is more in tune with the natural order that governs the world.

I've never heard of a pink collar job, what exactly is that?

Fun fact Archie Bunker was the inspiriation for Eric Cartman

Its nice to see someone you disagree with and listen to them from start to finish.

I'm glad she didn't say White working class this time. We have nationalities from all over the world who are now americans. Many are now working class.

*IM EUROPEAN* but the best line a Trump supporter ever said to me was: "We knew he was lying to us, but at least he was talking to us, and not ignoring us or making fun of us"

I like how she said 49% of women with HS educations supported abortion like that's not ALMOST HALF of that population. But they're "different" from PMEs. Yeah, by the slimmest of margins.

Hi! Why do Americans avoid talking about social class?

It is Truly birds of a feather.... Churches are dying,because, the Swells,will not cross that class line...

This is so great!!!! Excellent!!!

who could it be now? *saxophone music intensifies.

She's not wrong. Everyone needs to listen to this.

Last thing,Social Class,as we know it,was born from Capitalism. Any problems we have,we must examine our economic system and it's part in it. Without this examination,we just blowing smoke up each others butts. LOL :-)

1. More sepration and divide? 2. Empathy 3.Thi is 1. 1 is 3. 4. Is politics. Politics is about everyone else.

what a lovely kind smart woman

This was kind. But you can tell it was 5 years ago now. The financial situation is even more desperate for the "middle" class, and everyone else beneath...

How much money I make has nothing to do with my constitutionally given right to protect myself by keeping and bearing arms.

Like every Ted Talk-the solution is in not having a capitalist economy.

Superficial. Although I appreciate her conciliatory tone.

This is a great explanation of neoliberalism

I loved everything, but comparing political slurs to racial slurs is soooooooo not the same.

**************************************************************************** *"Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go,* *lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul."* -Proverbs 22:24 ****************************************************************************

She is on target!

I'm a low class American your points dont make since. Abortion is not an issue we cant afford it we also cant afford not to have guns. It's not a masculine thing eather its safety. People do desperate thing some times when they havto make choices over food water power or a place to sleep.

This is generally a good start, but it's painfully noticeable that Williams doesn't say a word about the poor after they are listed on her graph. She assumes that literally the entire conversation is between the middle class and the PMC which she refers to as the PME. She also neglects to mention that the PMC is what was formerly known as the petite bourgeoisie. When you look at it such stark terms, it is then obvious that the class interests of the petite bourgeoisie are far more aligned with those of the bourgeoisie, which are fundamentally antagonistic to those of the working class-- and that is the true source of tension between them and everyone else. Reducing the entire source of dissent down to two predominantly socio-cultural issues loses the plot.

Protecting one's family should be key to the internal identities of ALL men, both blue AND white collar. "These proxy wars on guns and religion, they reflect the raw pain of Americans unable to give their families a future." How sanctimoniously ironic it is that your very next statement stresses the utmost importance of how we need to "change the way we think about each other." Spoken like a stereotypical academician.

"'class slurs should be as stigmatized as racial slurs." No actually, the problem is not that we need to be nicer to poor people. The problem is that there are poor people.

AOC has a degree in International Relations and Economics from Boston University. That means in Joan's world, AOC is the "educated elite" and someone running a small business with a HS education is the uneducated rube. Who would you ask advice from on economics? A small business owner or AOC? As an employer, I can attest AOC is not an exception to the rule with today's college graduates, she is the norm. If you took the word "like" out of their vocabulary, they wouldn't be able to communicate. It is truly pathetic what colleges are churning out these days. I wonder how much Boston University charged AOC to send her into the world with a phony degree in economics. Obviously poor Joan Williams' intelligence criteria is flawed.

Clearly does not understand either of the two divisive subjects she pretended to speak about. Abortion can’t be simplified down to womanhood and firearms aren’t about manhood.

If only everyone else had college degrees we would all be so much better. Really? Somehow I earned a BA in music and an MA in education and I only agree with the spirit of this talk. Definitely not the conclusions. Maybe all that learnin' didn't take. Thank God.

Let me see? middle class average +/- one standard deviation?

. New King James Version Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

She’s against market economy. The market economy create that social class thing.

I heard Joan C. Williams on NPR's Hidden Brain. She makes a lot of sense. However, the graph here on wages leaves out the rise in paid benefits for employees, which has risen consistantly over the same period, particularly health insurance; it also leaves out much greater purchasing power achieved by Americans since the 1970s.

Das Thema ist für Amerikaner doch viel zu schwer, keine Show, kein Entertainment, nur differenzierte Analysen... 23 mio. Abonenten - unter 10k views says everything the USA

Idk wtf you're talking about.

It took

Too little too late

After listening to this, I’m convinced this woman just doesn’t get it.

She's a lawyer for sure. She takes her unexamined beliefs and tries to fit stories to compel. What a surprise it would be for her to learn that many professional women such as doctors who bear children leave their profession if they have a husband who earns enough to support them so they can stay home with their kids. And to discover that men keep guns mostly to protect themselves from the government. Me? I hold two graduate degrees and supported a stay at home professional wife. That's what's best for kids. I agree with much of what she says, but politics is government which is too powerful. Reduce that and you will see the tempers decrease. Start by eliminating the public school system and moving to backpack funding. Give people more freedom.

she a word warrior. What bs

Ummm a few good points but very biased about abortion. Sounded very selfish. Me .me .me .... Didnt evan mention the life that was lost. Tragic

Her opening was pretty good. However, she lost me on abortion. What does discrimination against women getting into medical school have to do with abortion? Also, why is she using a woman's identity to advance abortion?

Typical, out of touch, academic elitist. "Let's talk about people" -then talks about TV shows.

The deserted editorial internationally zip because budget terminally blind through a amazing laura. protective, useless barbara

Never seen so much hypocrisy put out so eloquently.

She has assumptions about guns, abortion, men, and women that are imaginary at best and illustrative of her predudices at worst. I thought she was doing quite well until her "explaination" of guns and masculinity. Ridiculous. Perhaps her demonstration of how uneducated she is even though she has a post grad (law) degree is illustrative of the reasons for the disparity of opinions between the less propagandized and grad school propagandized. She makes good points about 1/3 of the time - the rest is opinion and she clearly shows what she herself describes - as a "PME", she has little understanding of middle class values.

Jewish

ratio

Drivel. Wow.

Liberal clap trap.

wow, can you say oversimplified and condescending?

“American classes need to work together” **spends half the talk bashing men

This is the worst Ted talk Ive ever seen.

To solve the "class problem", stop talking about it.

I'm a low class American your points dont make since. Abortion is not an issue we cant afford it we also cant afford not to have guns. It's not a masculine thing eather its safety. People do desperate thing some times when they havto make choices over food water power or a place to sleep.