Americans today consider
themselves either upper class, middle class, or lower class. Its the
opportunity to achieve the American dream that allows people to
change social classes. The problem with having social classes is
that it creates social inequality. A social class is made up of many
different elements. A social class can reflect an individual's talent
and effort but it also reflects race, ethnicity and the gender you
were born into.
Although the three social
classes that I named earlier are the most recognizable, in class we
learned that it is divided into 6 classes. They are the upper-upper,
lower-upper, upper-middle, average middle, the working class and the
lower class. Each one of these classes are linked to a persons
health, values and attitudes, politics, and family life. When it
comes to health, the lower class has the biggest disadvantage because
they are more likely to die from disease and violence. The upper
class however tend to have excellent health and are living longer.
The values and attitudes vary from class to class. The upper class
has to do with great wealth and power, so everything they value is
anything that deals with self concept and status symbols that show
off their social position. Family life is another concept that varies
from class to class. Lower income families tend to have more kids and
they teach their kids lessons and rules that will benefit them in
their future; assuming their kids stay in their class, and upper
class families teach their kids skills and give them necessary tools
that will help them stay in the upper class.
Social
classes are groupings of individuals that are usually based on
wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, or social
network. The upper class usually end up going to high prestige
private schools and colleges, and have highly prestige occupations
like a lawyer or a physician. Middle class can vary when it comes to
education because majority of individuals completed high school, but
not all get a college degree and for the most part have good social
networks. The lower class have very little to no income and the most
amount of education that the majority complete is high school. Very
few complete college. The lower class usual hold low wage jobs which
means low prestige titles. The American dream is what all lower class
individuals wish to accomplish which is a person born from a poor
family, works hard, goes on to receive scholarships for a college
education and then becomes successful. Unfortunately, most people
never achieve the American dream because most end up staying in the
same social class that they were born in.
In
today's society, everyone is trying to gain upward social mobility.
People are trying to go back to school, more attending college and
staying longer to increase education, and more social networking.
Another way people obtain upward social mobility is through marriage.
Married people gain twice the wealth and they are more likely to work
harder in their jobs and save money. As long as there are social
classes in the united states, there will always be social inequality.
Social mobility will keep motivating people and poverty will continue
to exist in the united states.
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