Blog 8

This week in class, we talked a lot about social class. Something that was brought up a lot in class discussion was upper class versus lower class, and I noticed a lot of stereotypes being mentioned unwittingly. Upper class people were snobby, and lower class people were uneducated. These false observations stuck with me, and I thought about them while sitting around the table at Thanksgiving. I had all the food I could ever hope to ingest and a huge family to eat it with inside a beautiful home. I was overwhelmed by how "upper middle class" the scene depicted before me was. Be that as it may, I was not ungrateful. I didn't feel that those without this were lower than me. It is apparent to me that I defy the stereotype for my class often. I am constantly thankful for what I have. I believe in the value of money and learning it by being somewhat independent. Though I, fortunately, have never had to hold a job to help my family, I have had one before. I've earned my own money. My Mommy and Daddy didn't buy me an iPhone, I saved and bought it for myself. Because of a few nasty people, the image of the Middle Class as a whole has been tarnished, and people are made to feel ashamed for having money. It is something people don't like to talk about, because they will incur negative judgment for their classification. I think this is a sad thing, because America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, where a man can come from nothing and make himself a fortune. It's hard work, but those that are able to achieve it shouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a shame that there are people that are less fortunate and are not financially stable, but I think that as long as the Middle and Upper classes do their parts and help those less fortunate without being condescending, everyone can live in much more harmony. Perhaps there will even be less people in the Lower class this way.