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that religiosity, work ethic, industriousness, family, etc., have either remained strong or have weakened minimally in the New Upper Class, whereas these same attributes have either weakened substantially or have become almost nonexistent in the New Lower Class. Much of his argument is centered on a notion of self-selective sorting that began in the 1960s and 1970s, when he argues that cognitive ability became the essential predictor of professional and financial success, and people overwhelmingly began marrying others in the same cognitive stratum and living in areas surrounded largely by others in that same stratum, leading to not only an exacerbation of existing economic divides, but an unprecedented socio-cultural divide that had not existed before in
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Additionally, Murray writes of several differences he sees forming between and causing two emerging classes—the New Upper Class and the New Lower Class—among which are differences in or lack thereof in regard to religiosity, work ethic, industriousness, family, etc. Murray goes on to provide evidence
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wrote, "I'll be shocked if there's another book that so compellingly describes the most important trends in
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203:"A Lightning Rod in the Storm Over America's Class Divide"
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Coming Apart: The State of White
America, 1960–2010
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Coming Apart: The State of White
America, 1960–2010
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223:"Is White, Working Class America 'Coming Apart'?"
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201:Schuessler, Jennifer (February 5, 2012).
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281:Painter, Nell Irvin (March 24, 2012).
185:'s list of 100 Notable Books of 2012.
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283:"Opinion | When Poverty Was White"
247:Brooks, David (January 30, 2012).
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339:Books about the United States
249:"Opinion | The Great Divorce"
128:American Enterprise Institute
369:Crown Publishing Group books
364:Works about White Americans
308:"100 Notable Books of 2012"
16:2012 book by Charles Murray
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374:Books about conservatism
344:Books by Charles Murray
359:2012 non-fiction books
114:is a 2012 book about
116:class stratification
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312:The New York Times
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134:Overview
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318:July 5,
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