Social Class

This week in class, we discussed social class. We learned that social class plays a very significant and huge role in shaping who we are, and the things we do or don't do. We looked at specific graphs and data. One thing we looked at was how family income and wealth affects our lives. Our family's wealth and income determine things like where we'll live, what kind of houses we buy, the people we hang out with, the quality of education we receive and other things. While we were looking at the different graphs, one thing I realized was kind of shocking. A very tiny percentage of people in the entire country owns most of the countries wealth. The rest of the people fall in the middle, which is the middle class. Then, at the way bottom is the lower class, which is a really large percentage. This showed how there's a huge gap in the distribution of wealth in our country.  The coin wager activity that we did, did an excellent job of showing how wealth is distributed and how certain people have advantages to earn more money. I have never thought about these things. I realized that the way I'm shaped, is largely determined by my family's wealth and income. These things affect who I create relationships with, how I do in school and where I go to school. I think the most important role that is affected by social class is education. Many people say that it is easy to go to college, find a great job, and make "new money". However, many people have certain advantages which may make it harder for others. People often blame people in poverty by saying that they choose to be there, however, you need some advantage in the beginning to start your life. For example, you need money to make it to college and earn a degree, and it takes a lot of investing. I realize that I am lucky for the education that I get. It was only luck that I was born into a financially stable family, and I am lucky enough to get the chance to get to college.