"Topic : Class expectations and rules
Status : Absent"

Well, I would say, that was rather American of you! ;-) For instance, on July 4th, 1776, didn't Thomas Jefferson and friends write 'an excuse for not attending' to King George III and his parliament?

But seriously, part of American culture has always, at least in our own self-perception, been about our uncompromising pursuit of freedom ... I believe this sentiment was much stronger before the 20th Century, whereas it seems to me, since the end of the second world war, uncompromising pursuit of consumerist status and material comfort has overcome the need for freedom, self-reliance, and the immense personal responsibilities that come with liberty.

In the context of the first Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, our Bill of Rights written in 1789, informs Americans that the chief role of a government in a constitutional democracy, is to protect the people from tyranny, already well-recognized at the time of its writing, how government has a tendency to attract certain individuals who only wish to usurp liberty from other individuals, and thus the constitution itself, speaks strongly to the paradoxical need of government to protect individuals from the government itself.

Now that 'the frontiers have been conquered', abundant resources exploited, we are settling into a more sedentary mode of existence, as if, freedom itself is a luxury only available to societies that can afford it, and for about half a century (not surprisingly) concurring with US Peak Oil production, the US has spent its capital (natural resources and a workforce that has bona fide incentives to devote their lives to the labor required) needed to sustain a high level of freedom and liberty.

Interestingly, you mention Social Mobility, and within my lifetime, it has become increasingly apparent if not downright ironic, that China has surpassed the US in upward mobility due to China's economic growth rate in recent years peaking around 8% and in 'bad years' at least 4%. Whereas, the US 'economic growth' has more accurately been merely inflation caused by over a decade of Quantitative Easing. In other words, the only remaining individuals in the US experiencing social upward mobility are those 'closest to the fiat printer' ...

It has been the job of our mass media, and sadly also of our education system as of late, to distract us from these palpable observations, with all sorts of tactics, including 'divide and conquer' those most likely to take exception to these matters that are limiting our personal freedoms and upward social mobility, such as, by assigning an enemy among us, McCarthyist 'Cold War', 'War on Drugs' ... and now an Intersectionalist 'War on the Patriarchy'.

I am heartened to hear persons like yourself have a keen view on Group-think as you stated, and have a strong notion that the Intersectionalist form of Collectivism is merely a distraction away from personal freedom, self-reliance, and the immense personal responsibilities that necessarily come with liberty.