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I just responded to a letter that appeared in my newspaper in which the writer contended that in America we should never talk about class because everyone is free to determine their own class. Does anyone really believe that a child born into the lower class has the same life chances as a child born into the upper class?
Whether we like it or not, the class system exists in America. We all make judgments everyday about class based on a person’s occupation, clothing, speech patterns, educational level, residential location, etc. To deny the reality of class in America is to deny reality itself.
So why does the mention of our class system make some people so nervous? I suspect it’s because the recognition of class reveals the chasm between the American ideal that all people are created equal and the reality that, in fact, all people are not created equal. We want to believe that everyone has the same chances but our class system contradicts that
belief. The unpleasant fact is that the class you are born into is a major determinant of your life chances.
Rather than pretend that class does not exist in America, we need to ask why the upper class has so dramatically increased its wealth during the past seven years while the rest of us have been struggling to make ends meet. It is only when Americans realize that the Republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the upper class that we will see some fairness return to our economic system. We have been fooled far too long by the smokescreen propagated by the upper class that it is wrong to talk about class in America. We are warned by the upper class that talk about class warfare is dangerous. The fact is that the upper class has been waging war on the rest us quite effectively since they put Bush into office.
It’s time to start fighting back with the most effective ammunition we have—our votes. We need to start voting to protect our own interests instead of foolishly voting to protect the interests of the class we wished we were in.
