An article in The New York Times Magazine explains that freedom means different things to different classes in America. To upper and middle class Americans it means the freedom “to.” To working class Americans it means freedom “from.”
We also analyzed how freedom and choice are presented in one of our most pervasive and influential cultural products: popular songs. In every region, Americans with higher education and higher incomes typically prefer rock music over country. We found that rock lyrics had a lot more talk of choice, control and self-expression, as in the Rolling Stones’ refrain, “‘Cause I’m free to do what I want any old time.” But when we analyzed country music, preferred over rock by less-educated Americans in every region, we heard more mentions of self-protection and defense, as in Darryl Worley’s observation, “We didn’t get to keep [our freedom] by backin’ down.” When choice was mentioned, it was often as a prelude or coda to tragedy, as in George Jones’s lament “Now I’m living and dying with the choices I’ve made.”
Another study that compared people in different occupations showed that those employed in middle-class jobs got upset when a friend or neighbor bought the same car as theirs because they felt that the uniqueness of their choice had been undercut. But those in working-class jobs liked it when others chose the same car because it affirmed that they had made a good choice.