Quick disclaimer - this is very much a theory. But one which I've been thinking about more and more over the last few months. In essence, I want to find a single concept that can explain the commonalities of all people who are within a particular societal class and contrast them to those who are in another class. The amount of time allowed in between crucial decisions seems to be a unifying concept.
As an example, let's imagine that there are two people who are in between jobs. The first person has a net worth of $1M, and the second person lives paycheck to paycheck. It's plain to see that one of these people has more time to think about their next best career move. By fully utilizing this time between their jobs, they will find the best option for them. In contrast, the second person is very likely to take the first job offer they receive. This initial offer will maximize their short-term need for money but might come at the cost of a better career decision which could make their life better in the long run.
Instead of this drastic difference in class, imagine instead that both of our subjects are 22, about the graduate from college, and have equal grades. The difference between these two people is that one came from a wealthy family who paid off all of their college tuition, and the second had to fund their own education. Both of these soon-to-be-grads will be searching for their next career move, but one of these people needs a job. That sense of need will feel almost like impending doom, and will cause that particular student to seek to optimize short-term placement over long-term success.
These are but two examples I can think of within the business world, but this separation of class by time extends to more current topics as well. If I were to summarize the underlying debate between BLM and "Pro-Police" is the fact that people of color are, on average, considered guilty of a crime much faster than their white counterparts. Police may make judgments much faster to people of color and assume the worst-case scenario rather than give the suspect the benefit of the doubt to start.
Or, put another way, the time between the decision of identifying a potential crime and accusing the person of a crime is very short. This difference in time between decisions, in effect, creates multiple societal classes: those who are innocent until proven guilty and those who are considered guilty out of the gate.