An old joke has an Oxford professor meeting an American former graduate student and asking him what he's working on these days. 'My thesis is on the survival of the class system in the United States.' 'Oh really, that's interesting: one didn't think there was a class system in the United States.' 'Nobody does. That's how it survives.

Summary

This quote humorously captures the paradoxical existence of a class system in the United States. The joke suggests that the strength of the American class system lies in the fact that most people don't even acknowledge its existence. By portraying it as a concealed entity, the quote implies that the class system persists due to society's reluctance to openly discuss and address its impact.

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