The quiz we took on class was interesting. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it did end up placing me in the correct class (or at least I think it did). The quiz said I was part of the middle-class American's which I can completely agree with. My family lives a pretty good life. We have a nice home, plenty of food and a few extra things that aren't needed for survival. I believe that the way to quiz defines middle-class is fairly accurate, although, I happen to enjoy heavy metal music!! I guess some people are just different, hah.
We have been reading a lot about class recently and there have been several experiences in my life that I could relate back to the texts we have read. After reading "The Shadowy Line That Still Divides" I began to look back on several family trips I have taken. Last spring break, my family and I went to Tennessee. On the way there we drove through and area of Kentucky that really made reminded me of this article. There were mobile homes everywhere. Typically when you see mobile homes you think they are part of the lower-class. Well, these were different homes. They were run down, old, and needing a lot of work. BUT sitting right outside of these homes were brand new, fancy, cars. Like, sports cars. It confused me. They lived in such poor conditions yet had these gorgeous cars parked in their yard. So, what class were they? They had homes like lower-class and cars like upper-class! It was disorienting. I never realized how hard it was to tell what class someone was until that day.
Carolyn, I completely agree with you on the confusion between classes. I have actually had an almost identical experience, except I witnessed it in a neighborhood in Madison. The houses were falling apart, but there was a Mercedes Benz parked outside. This also confused me and made me wonder if it is less about social class, and more about what certain social groups value. I have a feeling that the particular group I saw, valued what they look like outside of their home, more than what their home looks like. Some social groups may also emphasize their appearance over their homes or cars. I have a feeling that in order to figure out someons social class, you may have to first look at what value most in their lives.
ReplyDeletePeople in the current time don't really care about the important things, they really only care about the things that they want to care about. Like the people in Tennessee, they only cared about those nice, fancy, brand spanking new cars and not about the house they lived in, which could very well contain a family. That reminded me of just last weekend when my family and I went down to Beloit. We ended up driving through a neighborhood that was kind of run down and the houses were old and falling apart and there was trash littered all over the yards. These people really didn't care about the way they lived, but we ended up driving by one house and I kid you not there is a brand new Lamborghini sitting in their drive way. This is just like what Ally said in her article that Americans are more accepting of debt and just want to spend money on the products that they want.
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