Over 100 years ago, German sociologist Werner Sombart famously asked, “Why is there no socialism in the United States?” For Sombart, the answer was America’s unusual prosperity, social mobility, and weak class consciousness.

It is that weak class consciousness that truly separates America from much of the rest of the world. Like any nation, the U.S. has always had rich and poor, but Americans have not traditionally thought of themselves primarily as “rich” or “poor.” Compared with people in many other countries, Americans have been less likely to see themselves as members of fixed classes set apart from one another. One big reason is that America has long had a common culture.