Social Classes

I found the article whole section “Class Matters” of the New York Times to be extremely interesting. It talks of how far we have come in respect to certain matters segregating class, yet how we still seem to be further away from social equality even with supposedly fewer clear lines to segregate.  Class can no longer be determined by looking at what a person buys, their religion, their ethnicity, or their political views. All different classes have become more of a melting pot over the last several decades. It is my opinion that the diversity within the different classes is what matters, rather than conforming to a socialist way of life.

By keeping up exactly what we are doing (whatever we are exactly doing, I am not sure that anyone knows), we will further mix up the different previous “class determining factors” which made it so easy to tell who belonged to what social class. I believe the important thing is that we are on our way to completely erasing these lines of religion, political beliefs, and ethnicity between the classes. There is absolutely no doubt that the higher you climb the latter, the more influence you have upon those around you and the more of a possibility it is for you to change how things are. By the people on the top rungs of this latter representing all different walks of life, this will lead to a more democratic society. Although this is a much more balanced possibility, this does not deal with the exact matter of social class, but would completely erase the lines by which you could attempt to measure who is in what social class besides directly looking at their jobs, education, and income. I am not completely sure how to speed up the process of the integration of all religions, ethnicities, etc., into all classes, but time will surely allow this complete integration.

I do realize that this is not really discussing the matter of social classes and how to get rid of them, rather it is discussing how to get rid of any possible social injustices that could allow the playing field to slant in any one direction.  As long as we are living in a democratic, capitalistic society, there will always be social classes. There will constantly be people trying to get ahead, those who can succeed with flying colors, and those who just weren’t able to acquire the position which they wished. Due to the nature of capitalism, this is something we cannot escape. And due to the nature of human beings to want to achieve all that they possibly can (whether it be through some internal drive referred to by Krishnamurti, or by greed), there is truly no way to have a completely class free world without there being a Utopia.

I believe it is impossible to ever allow every person the same chances to reach the top as those around them. Some people will just happen to know the right people, others will get the right things and connections from their parents who are in the upper class. In order to make it just as possible for every person, I believe our biggest flaw, and biggest area to work on is our education. Our schools are where we pick up many of our ideas of how the world works. If we could have all social classes learn in the same way that Anyon presents the upper classes learn, everyone would start out with many more of the same chances than in today’s society.