Source: The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and
Immigration by Michèle Lamont (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, copyright
© 2000 by the Russell Sage Foundation).
+Frequent
++Very frequent
A study of California’s Central Valley found that in settled-living families, typically both
parents are high school graduates, with at least one stable job between them and health
insurance.^31 They maintain strict control over their children and expect them to finish
high school,^32 keep their nose clean, and not run wild. The working class values
responsibility “because they are highly dependent on the actions of others.... The
physical conditions in which they work and live and their limited financial resources
make it difficult for them to buffer themselves from the actions of neighbors, coworkers,
kin, and friends,” notes Lamont.^33 A friend from Atlanta remarks, “Why did people vote
for Trump? All they want is a three-bedroom, two-bath cinderblock house. But now
they’re losing those homes.” The working class worries that opportunities for a settled life
are slipping away.
Maria Kefalas’s study of working-class Chicago described houses set very close together,
with “elaborate lawn decorations, manicured grass, color-coordinated kitchens, [and]
American-made cars.”^34 And owners house-proud and insistent on upkeep; “[m]uch
more is at stake than dust bunnies.”^35 Well-kept homes are “an outward manifestation of
work ethics,”^36 notes Jennifer Sherman’s study of a rural community in California.
The professional elite also values hard work, of course—but it’s different. To working-
class members of all races, valuing hard work means having the rigid self-discipline to do
a menial job you hate for 40 years, and reining yourself in so you don’t “have an
attitude” (i.e., so that you can submit to authority). Hard work for elites is associated with
self-actualization; “disruption” means founding a successful start-up. Disruption, in
working-class jobs, just gets you fired.
Free spirits born working class can’t count on the second chances available to elites.
That’s why blue-collar families are so big on stability and self-discipline, and they
embrace institutions that support these traits. Chief among these is religion. The devout
have greater impulse control and “tend to do better in school, live longer, have more
satisfying marriages and be generally happier.”^37 “Regular church attendees commit
- Why Does the Working Class Resent the Poor?