Social Class

Social Classes contribute to most of the issues found within our country. Nobody wants to feel as they don't belong somewhere and that's exactly what social classes do. They separate us from one another. Whether it be financially, educationally, or socially, these classes create problems and solutions to problems that are not entirely fair. I would say that I am part of the middle class in America, however this wasn't always the case. My father used to be a manager at a car dealership and I was born into the upper class. My grandfather had his own business and raced horses for a living, so my family was well off. Eventually my father lost that job and my parents got a divorce so my mother and I moved into the upper middle class as well as my father. This is what's called intragenerational mobility, because my immediate family moved social classes within my lifetime. The benefits of being in the upper middle class are very impactful. I am able to go to one of the greatest high schools in the country and my future looks bright because of it. The access I have to certain colleges is very beneficial to the type of lifestyle I will be able to create for myself and eventually a family of my own. Other people in other classes like the working class or the working poor, don't have these same luxuries. While I was able to focus on school and my future, kids in these lower classes don't have that same mindset because they are focused on simply surviving. In the SPENT game, I had to worry about basic things like car payments and rent and I had to deny my kids benefits like a class field trip or buying a present for their friends birthday. They might have to get a job after school to provide for their family, instead of focusing on their school work. Or they simply might not have the access to a quality education because schools on lower classes tend to not do as well. This adds to the cycle that is social classes. Most likely whatever class a person is born into is the one they are going to stay in for the rest of their life. In the people like us documentary, Tammy had been poor for her entire life and no matter how hard she worked, she wasn't able to move social classes because she did not have access to the same financial opportunities that people in higher social classes have access to. In Tammy's case she was able to keep believing that one day she could make it, for others though is isn't always the case. Being constantly reminded by society that you are poor can be crippling to a person's mental health. This contributes to why crime is higher in lower social classes, because people have given up on themselves and their futures and feel they have no options left. When my group played monopoly the person that started off poor didn't really want to play because they felt it was a waist of time when they couldn't really do anything. It's this mentality that adds to the cycle of social classes because the less motivated a person is, the less likely they are to be successful and person can't possibly be expected to be motivated when it seems their life has no social meaning.