"What has happened in America is that achievement is so important that everyone wants everyone to know what they have done. . . And in case you don't know, they want to tell you with a deadly combination of houses, cars and diamonds (Fabrikant 2005)) Inequality in the United States is changing, and for the worse. People who are not rich are now competing for the "status" of being rich, resulting in the rich literally getting richer while the middle and upper middle class are taking on more and more debt to try to get by. keep up with the rich. easier for people who aren't rich to keep up with the rich. Godiva, the chocolate company, once sold its products only in high-end stores, but that has now changed. According to Jennifer Steinhauer, "Today, it is one of those companies whose customers come from all points of the economic spectrum. Its candies can be found in 2,500 retail locations, including Hallmark card stores and department stores mid-sized like Dillard's." (Steinhauer 2005). People buy Godiva candy and feel like they're getting premium candy, not just any old Hershey's bar. Gene Dunkin, president of Godiva North America, says, “People want to participate in our brand because we are affordable luxury. (Steinhauer 2005) » Gene is right. People want to feel like what they're buying or "participating in" (as Gene Dunkin would say) is more valuable than someone else's "stuff." Thoughts between old money and new money also began to change, Michael Kittredge gives a good example of this when he says "The old money man has a plane with two propellers and it's pretty amazing , for his time it's pretty great, but now he's talking to a guy half his age and who has.. ... middle of paper ...... a certain grace, that n "Just because you can go to Chanel and buy a dress doesn't mean you have class. A person who just pays their bills on time can have class (Fabrikant. 2005)." Works Cited Fabrikant, Géraldine. 2005 “Old Nantucket Carefully Meets New” in New York Times Correspondents (Eds.), Class Matters (182-191). New York: Henry Holt and Company Kilborn, Peter. 2005 “The Five-Bedroom, Six-Figure Rootless Life” in New York Times Correspondents (Eds.), Class Matters (182-191). New York: Henry Holt and Company Steinhauer, Jennifer. 2005 “When the Joneses Wear Jeans” In New York Times Correspondents (Eds.), Class Matters (182-191). New York: Henry Holt and Company Johnston, David. 2005 “The richest leave even the rich far behind” in New York Times Correspondents (Eds.), Class Matters (182-191). New York: Henry Holt and company