Does the US have aristocrats?

24 comments

1. not in the traditional sense of the word.

2. Traditional Aristocrats? No.

   Industrial Oligarchs? Yes, though their direct political influence is more limited than in most other countries. They still have a lot, but most of it is indirect.

3. No. Nobility hasn’t been a thing in America since 1776.

4. No, we’re trending more towards a new class of oligarchs.

5. In the UK aristocracy status was more important than actual money. Meaning it was possible to be a “poor rich person”. That’s not really a thing in the US.

   So to answer your question, not in the sense you’re probably thinking of.

6. Old Money East Coast Elite is the closest. Think the Vanderbuilds, the Kennedy, the Astors, etc.

7. There are plenty of families that are old (for the US) money, especially at the state or city level. If you live in rural areas, you can find families whose ancestors were town founders and their family still runs the area and holds most of the positions of power like sheriff, judge, chair of local chamber of commerce, etc…

   They’re rarer on the national level, but there are still families that carry a lot of weight. Dupont, Hilton, Bush, and Kennedy for example plus plenty of folks that us regular people have never heard of. Even if they’re only a few generations old I would say they fit. It’ll be a while before any of their kids aren’t automatically accepted into the ivies or guaranteed executive positions if they decide to work at all.

8. No, that’s the whole point of the US.

9. No.

   A lot of the old political families have sort of died out with years of squandered inheritance and taxes. We don’t protect them like Lords in the UK.

   Gloria Vanderbilt was sort of the last of that family to receive any money and while her son, Anderson Cooper is famous, he doesn’t have the Vanderbilt fortune and it’s all money he earned on ABC/CNN over the years as a journalist.

   Kennedys are still around and while their heirs do have a leg up, it’s not to opulence.

   Roosevelts are still around but they aren’t in the public limelight at all.

   Rockefeller had a senator recently retire so the family is also in the background.

   In the US, new money has rightfully taken over. It lasts maybe a generation or two and then through taxes or mismanagement, it dies out.

10. No. We have ‘old money’, and families with great influence, but not aristocrats. In fact, we had a big kerfluffle over that concept back in 1776.

11. No, but we do have *The Aristo****cats***, a 1970 Disney animation in which, with the help of a smooth-talking tomcat, a family of Parisian felines set to inherit a fortune from their owner try to make it back home after a jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country. So you might enjoy that.

12. No legal distinction but we have plenty of billionaires.

13. Kind of, but more in an oligarchal kind of way as opposed to a nobility kind of way

14. I think the biggest thing that separates the US from old world aristocracies is that even if we have families with generational wealth that function like the aristocracy they have no legally recognized inherent rights or authority. All they’ve got is their money, and if they lose that, which does happen, then they have nothing but their name. Obviously in practice they can have a lot of influence and nepotism can carry a lot of mediocre people very far for many generations, but if someone like the Kennedys somehow destroyed their whole family fortune they sure as hell wouldn’t be able to keep playing in politics unless someone else was footing the bill for their campaigns.

15. It is actually written in the US Constitution: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

    There was also a constitutional amendment in the 19th century that congress passed but was never ratified by the states (2/3 of the states have to agree for an amendment to become law) that went as far as stripping US citizenship from anyone who accepted a title of nobility.

16. Yes, the best fucking joke of all time.

    https://youtu.be/yiBAfmxwdKc?si=v0nABt7bMGWsFLLy

17. There isn’t a legally observed set of inherited titles that could be called an official aristocracy.

    However; there are very wealthy families that have deep roots and connections, and try to preserve their wealth through the ages, with varying success levels.

18. So, this family goes into a talent agency….

19. We have rich people who influence a lot of things, but for the most part they aren’t based on bloodlines. The Vanderbilt family all but ran out of money, and its youngest heir, Anderson Cooper of CNN didn’t have a massive money fund to draw from. Hence, he went into a totally different field to make a name and a living.

    Point being, yes wealth can transfer from one generation to the next but it’s not an enduring thing that can last centuries or millennia like in other countries. Most rich people in America are young money.

20. By strict definition? No.

    However the top 10% of the country is very immobile in wealth (few enter, few leave), entrenched in all levels of politics and industry control, and very dynastic. Your local city council is likely to be packed with people who are the direct descendants of folks for whom the bridges, roads, and buildings were named after. You could call it oligarchic instead of aristocratic, but even Aristotle knew oligarchy was just a flavor of aristocracy.

21. We have the dirtiest joke ever told. And the punchline is…aristocrats!

22. As in tirled nobility? No

    As in just general rich fancy people? Sure.

23. Officially, no. There’s no system enshrined in law that encodes what a duke or a countess is & what their privileges are.

    Realistically, there’s a lot of generational wealth & privilege that gets passed along. Elite colleges like the Ivy League ones give a lot of preference to “legacy” applicants. Being born into that sort of family gives people tons of advantages most of those people take for granted.

    Having trouble getting a job? Just ask your family members to work their professional contacts. Or ask their friends at the country club. It never crosses their minds that not everyone has these resources.

24. I’d say no in the old sense of lords and ladies. But yes in the modern form of powerful “upper class” and influencial families.