Social Class or Social Cash | Teen Ink

Social Class or Social Cash

December 8, 2017
By jepaul01 BRONZE, Boulder, Colorado
jepaul01 BRONZE, Boulder, Colorado
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

America, the land of the free where we are all equal. Wrong. In America we also have social classes, the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor with some of us stuck in the middle. While we do not have legally defined social classes we still have social classes. The rich and poor are in their own worlds while the middle class in between. Yes, in America you can move between classes but that is rare. In Iran though, social classes are more permanent and you can not move up or down and you can not marry up or down like you do in America.


Studies show that 70% of the poor stay poor while 26% mecome middle class and 4% become upper class. This just shows how in America we have social classes and it is very hard to move up and change. We live in the land of the free yet we are always trapped. We are trapped in our “social class”.


In Boulder we are in our own bubble where a majority of us are the same. Almost all of us are middle class with a few exceptions. We do not get to experience diversity here. Especially in Fairview high school where we are all rich and white. We do not get many people who are different and have a very different situation outside of school. We never interact with people in different social classes than us. If this was a bigger city like New York or Los Angeles then we would go to school with the rich and the poor and would be surrounded by people who are in different social classes and have a much different life outside of school.


In Iran though, you can not marry up and you can not move up or down. Like when the nanny liked the boy next door when “In reality she is our nanny” (36). The boy lost interest when she found out the girl was a nanny not another rich person. He lost interest immediately. In Iran you would be shund in you were rich and married the poor. It is all about social class over love.


In America we think that we are above the rest of the world, more evolved, but we are very similar to the rest of the world. We think everyone is equal in America when we are not. We have the rich and poor who are treated differently, who live in different worlds, and are in their own social classes. While our social classes may not be as formal as they are in other parts of the world we still have our that are defined by society and there is no changing that.

 

Sources:
Hargreaves, Steve. “New Reports Shows 70% of Those Born Poor Stay Poor.” CNNMoney, Cable  News Network, 13 Nov. 2013, This Sourced showed me how the social classes in America are very hard to move out of. I used this source to give me more insight into how majority of people stay where they are and do not move up nor down.


The author's comments:

This piece is comparing my life to Marjane's life in Persepolis. It is all about how social classes exsist in America and in Iran.


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