Living in two Class Stratospheres

Is class position determined by Individualism or Socioeconomic Structures and Policies?

As I was finishing our readings last night I asked my husband about this vary question.  His answer: your class is based on how much money you make, period end of story.  I could not help thinking that this was not exactly how I saw it but it may have been the answer I would have given a few weeks ago.  Today, if posed this question by my husband, I believe that I would answer that most people can belong to two different social classes at the same time.

On the one hand there is the class we belong to based on our socioeconomic status.  For a co-worker of my husband’s this class is the middle-class.  He has a decent salary, owns his own house, and works 40 hours a week with only the typical grumbling that is to be expected.  In this version of our class status he does not turn down handouts from the government or friends but would never ask for them.  (Sure, there is the typical two-turn-down – “Please have this;” “Thank you but that is not necessary;” “I insist;” “Only if you are sure;” “I am sure;” “Thank you very much” – but this give and take is just socially accepted awkwardness and the outcome is predictable.)  In this way he allows “the myth of self-reliance to obscure the reality of [his] own life [history]” as he accepts the handout while maintaining his ability to say that he attempted to turn it down. 

In this particular man’s second social stratosphere he goes home and researches if his meager salary will allow himself and his wife to gain access to food stamps.  Here in the working class status this man sits on his couch all weekend, drinking beer and watching the game.  And, if his buddy wants to come and “borrow” his new satellite TV he better bring enough beer for two!  This man will not step foot into a museum of his own accord and would not know what to do with a truffle if it was put into front of him. 

In both of these scenarios the life that this man leads is perfectly respectable.  While he perpetuates the Alger myth in one stratosphere (that life is of his own making and no one helped him achieve his current status) he also enjoys simple entertainment and turns up his nose at “refined” lifestyle choices. 

This man, not unlike my husband and myself, wishes he paid lower taxes but does not understand why his street is a pothole heaven.  We all wonder how we are going to put our children through college due to ever leaner Pell grants and do not understand why as CEO bonuses get bigger our mortgages get harder to pay.  These juxtaposing values, I would argue, put all three of in two different social stratospheres at the same time.  One stratosphere based on our socioeconomic status and the other based on our individual choices. 

Class and its Impact

            As Americans we are taught that if you work hard enough it will not matter where you come from you will be able to achieve the American dream of a well paying job, a house, two cars and 2.5 children.  In school children are taught that everyone is equal and that each person can achieve this dream with the same amount of hard work.  I will admit that I was a sucker for this romantic version of how America worked until I went to high school and learned a little more about the inequalities of life.  Even still it was not until I met my husband, from the city, that I even came close to having my rose colored glasses taken off.

            Despite what I was taught in school I realize that each person comes with their own unique struggles and inequalities depending on who their parents are, where they live, and even the color of their skin.  Most importantly though despite race and economic background a person can be disadvantaged the most by their class status.  Class is what our functioning world is based upon.  Class allows access to better schools, better friends, and better situations.  And, while a person can achieve a better class status in their lifetime it is a rare occurrence which in my opinion should not be as hard to achieve; I would like to note here that despite my rosy hopes most Americans are sliding backwards while trying to move forward in these current economic times.   

            It is important as Americans to understand class and all that comes with it in order to understand basic human necessities.  Some of these necessities include access to public or private health care, access to a well trained police force, access to good nutritional values, and political clout.  Each of these issues is either taken for granted or striven for based on a person class status in the United States. 

            Conservatives in the United States will argue that systems have been put into place to better the lives of the working class; it is their fault that they have not taken advantage of these opportunities.  Unfortunately the systems being referred to are the trickle-down theory and such ineffective economic strategies which only allow the rich to get richer while the poor get poorer.  I believe that the author of “Geese, Golden Eggs, and Traps” has it right when he says that “shifting money from the high-saving rich to the high-spending rest of us, and not the other way around, will spur investment and growth.” He backs this up by stating that in countries with equally distributed land and money the economies grow faster than in the United States.  One reason for this is that inequality breads social conflict which works against advancement as we have seen in the many riots worldwide and in our own back yards as the poor get poorer.

            A conservative viewpoint such as the one mentioned above would be easier for the majority of America to fight against if class status was clearly defined and understood by more Americans.  By obtaining a class understanding Americans would be able to “understand how the economy works and the place of working people within it, and… [help] clarify the way power works in our society.” This understanding is important to a prosperous and well balanced life.  As Americans we are taught to blame the poor for all of the problems our nation faces.  If you look through a class lens, however, it is clear that the greedy rich are just as much to blame!

            A perfect example of this would be the destruction in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  For generations the rich in Louisiana, the political voice, had been fighting against federal control of Louisiana’s lands and political issues.  When they were forced to Louisiana requested Federal aid in the form of flood prevention but were denied this due to the power structure that they helped put into place.  Due to the Republican values of the Louisiana political structure damage beyond the imagination was created when Hurricane Katrina made landfall.  This damage was confined to mostly low-income black neighborhoods resulting from a long ago established class structure which pushed black Americans to the bottom of the totem pole without a voice and without resources.  This structure, in place since slavery, is a clear class issue, one that white Americans would like swept under the rug.  Class in Louisiana has been clearly defined and segregated due to discriminatory practices and generations of acceptance.  It is now the hope that New Orleans can be re-built in a new class structure made up of a smaller, whiter, more affluent community than what existed before.  This may be possible due to the fact that while the rich of New Orleans were willing to ask for help before the storm, they are now not willing to ask for help to bring back their citizens from the cities that they were displaced to around the country.

            One has to ask if class structure were apparent in our society and Americans were more aware of the differences facing each class would we stand for people being pushed from their homes and not being allowed to return? Would we stand for the rich receiving benefits that the poor do not? Would we stand for electricity to be turned back on in Gillette Stadium before Foxborough residents regained power? Or, would Americans go on like we have been accepting that there is nothing that can be done, nothing that can change?

Lucky Break or Class Difference

Americans are out of work.

Americans pay too much for their oil. 

And New Englanders are still out of power!

Over a week after the Hurricane that hit New England some residents are still living on generators or restaurant served dinners. I personally was without power from Sunday morning at 9AM until Thursday night at 6PM (it was such a glorious event to be powered back up that I memorized the time)! Note that my middle class neighborhood was put at the bottom of the list due to the fact that we were “too small of an outage to worry about at this time” quoted by my neighbor after his third phone call to National Grid. And, while I would bestow credit to the hard working men and women who after this storm restored power to customers of National Grid I would not give credit to the company itself.

All one has to do is read the latest headlines about National Grid to understand my downright refusal to honor this company with anything other than words of laziness, graft, and self mindedness.  The headline “Power Restored at Patriot Place, Gillette Leaves Foxborough Residents Angry” leaves my blood boiling and I do not even live in Foxborough! Clearly this is a case of money exchanging hands and those without the means being left to fend for themselves. 

It is impossible to believe that Patriots Place gained power while the rest of Foxborough was left with rotting food due only to a two electrical feeds. It is my solemn belief that backroom deals and upper management greased the correct hands to get the ball rolling.  Pushing my theory even further is the charity gala and football game that just happened to be scheduled soon after power was restored. 

It is astonishing to me that highly needed social services, such as senior center food delivery, had to be canceled during this state of emergency due to lack of power but muck-ity mucks can rub shoulders under the shining lights of Patriots Place.  Clearly National Grid is telling each and every person who does not make the grade that their health and wellness needs just have to wait.

http://foxborough.patch.com/articles/power-restored-at-patriot-place-gillette-leaves-foxborough-residents-angry

Introduction

Hello fellow bloggers! My name is Amanda. I am a full time career women, full time mother and wife, and part time student pursuing my Master's Degree at Rhode Island College.  Currently I am enrolled in Class Matters, the reason for the creation of this blog!  My semester is already hectic but I presume that I will live through the next few weeks as I have before!


After our first class I am very intrigued about the subject matter we are going to discuss.  I am also excited that our first assignment was related to a book I read a few years ago and love, Nickle and Dimed. I look forward to opening my eyes to the class struggles, inequalities, and differences around me on a daily basis through discussions and thought based on our course work.

Until next time...