The grubby literati in America

Lee Hadden says:

Social Class and Reading
Reading has always been one way of telling the social classes apart. With a patronizing smile, we can see that low class immigrants, jailbirds and subway riders either don’t read or read trash novels and cheap photo-filled gossip/celebrity magazines.
      We are surprised and startled then, when we see the low class members reading high-brow stuff- that is usually reserved for the upper classes, those with higher education, and the wealth to give the members time for contemplation and intellectual stimulation. America has always allowed some up and down movement in the social classes, certainly more so than in other countries, but it always seems to surprise people to see the working class doing upper class entertainment. After all, it is easier for upper class people to go slumming than lower class people to ape their social betters. This is also a frequent literary device- either from “Trading Places” where a street hustler is placed in luxury, or “Captain’s Courageous” where an upper class boy has to learn working class skills and morals, and “A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” where a man of technical merit but no social standing makes a life for himself in a stratifed society.
        And it actually works. In America, we do hold that image of Abraham Lincoln reading by the light from his fireplace and growing from country bumkin and Kentucky redneck to become president of the United States. Anbd this was in part what early public libraries were designed to do- allow working men and women to increase their education to become almost middle class.
        And remember, it was once unlawful to teach slaves how to read- it might give them ideas above their social station where God had placed them! How ungrateful!