I'll defend my OP in that when I was a-growin' there were less distinctions obviously drawn in the U.S. between the super-rich, the rich, the middle class,etc. There have always been 'dollar' divisions in a Capitalist environment. What the English had that we Yanks thought we were free of was 'blood' class distinctions. What I think is happening is that the dollar divisions are now great enough, what with the elimination of such things as estate taxes and the acceptance of very very high executive to worker salary rations that we have effectively instituted a locked in class system of opportunity. So now there are limited educational opportunities, the 'digital' divide, and limited access estates, not to mention private islands. And of course the current college application scandal. I think items mentioned in the essay about England are distinctly applicable to the USA. Not to mention our inequalities in access to the criminal justice system, the punishment apparatus, the healing apparatus, etc.

I think those who take personal issue with the author of the article are not being fair. I happened to be bicyling in Holland when all at once church bells began ringing out all over and overlong. Turned out it was the anniversary of liberation. The man who wrote what he wrote saw and heard what he did and wanted to show us a unique outsider's viewpoint. What he sees in the UK is among other things a culture of 'grievance' that is obstructing improvement for all and creating barriers between natural allies; it is quite the thing over here in the US.