Mathias, I have to disagree with you about "rags to riches doesn't work in the U.S."
I don't think he was saying that rags to riches doesn't work. I think he was saying that you rise to the level of your social class and upbringing, and a in lot of "rags to riches" stories people aren't changing classes - they were raised by intelligent, well schooled middle class people in a bad spot, and due to their education and upbringing they knew the way out and took it.
Not having been raised by high school dropouts and mentored by gang bangers, I can't imagine not being able to dig myself out of a bad situation.
However there is a ton of learning that goes on before age 15 that embeds, deeply, certain patterns of living, and there is some social theories that indicate that human beings, raised in a bad situation by people who can't give them the tools they need to get out of it, will never be able to climb out no matter what they learn after they're 15. Yes, there are outliers, and a great mentor can take one person every year or so and try to reverse those broken patterns, but this is not something that can be taught for an hour a day in a classroom with a reasonable expectation of change.
"Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is only, in theory, possible for those that already have those patterns programmed into them. It's not an issue of being lazy - although perhaps they were programmed with patterns of laziness instead - it's an issue of brain wiring. They
cannot grasp the thing that is in front of them because they
cannot see it, no matter how you point it out. It is not something their brain can work out. And it's not because they are stupid or unintelligent - it's because that's how their brains were wired when they were children.
Brain patterns that are set easily as a child are very, very hard to change as an adult.
I disagree with his assertion that everyone would loot if they were in a given place at the time of looting - I know I'd be spending time figuring out a way to protect my family, then my property. Who cares about a new TV when there's a mob on the streets? My preservation instincts are a bit stronger than my consumption instincts.
But regarding the social class structure - human nature being what it is, it is very difficult for someone to change classes.
However, the idea that classes are imposed by the governement is not strictly true, and society is only partially responsible for the class divisions.
If you replaced every bad parent with a good parent with the same financial resources and means, you could NOT keep the next generation "in their class". They would climb out of whatever hole you built.
It has more to do with upbringing that anything about society and "the man" oppressing the lower class. Unfortunately it's a circular, vicious cycle, and while society and government do their part in making it easy to stay in place, they aren't forcing anyone to stay there more than their own parents are.