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| Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice (2005) |
The narrator describes her children in terms of the social class differences between her and Sam: "My kids are each half silver spoon and half service industry. Half homemade hands and half paying full price. Half clawed their way out of a rural province in China and half houses in several states" (151).
Do you think it is fair to say that the differences between people who grew up with greater wealth and those who grew up with less wealth is much more than money?
How likely is it that they have have profoundly different attitudes, expectations, and worldviews and sense of their place in society?
Do you know any people who have relationships that bridge wide social class divides?
Those who grew up on the wealthier side versus the poorer side definitely have more differences than the number in the bank account. Children with more wealth grew up with more opportunities. This can include extracurricular activities, higher educational opportunities, and future job prospects. Wealthier families also tend to send their kids to wealthier school districts, which increases opportunities and education quality even further. Wealthier children also tend to be healthier, as they can afford higher-quality food, health care, and their neighborhoods have more adequate outdoor space and playgrounds. There are also many other differences that I have not listed.
ReplyDeleteThe attitudes between the class divides are very different. Poorer children and adults tend to live in survival mode. When something goes wrong, for example, after a flat tire, they are figuring out how to fix it, eat food, and maintain a place to live. Wealthier people see it as a minor inconvenience; they will complain about it, pay for it, and move on. They also have different expectations for how things should go. Wealthier people are more likely to believe everything will work out, whereas poorer people have more overwhelming threats if something goes wrong. Poorer children also tend to believe they cannot pursue their dream careers because it is not stable, while wealthy children have an easier time to pursue more risky careers because they have support to fall back on. In the relationships I have seen with class divides, the one who grew up wealthier tended to have less of a sense of urgency when things go wrong than the one who grew up less fortunate.
I definitely think the difference between people who grew up wealthy and people who grew up less wealthy is much more than just money, however, most of it does stem from money. People who grew up wealthy don't have to worry about what they can and can't afford when they go shopping. They also don't have to be concerned about being able to afford bills. Wealthy people are also more likely to attend better schools and universities. There are definitely exceptions to these examples. For example, someone that grew up less wealthy may have performed exceptionally well in high school could potentially receive a big scholarship to a prestigious university. On the opposite end, someone that was raised wealthy might not be receiving support from their parents for tuition and they might have to scrape by on their own. I do think there is a difference between the attitudes of people who were raised wealthy versus people that weren’t. Generally I feel like people who were raised less wealthy are more appreciative and people that were raised wealthy tend to take more things for granted, however, there are always exceptions to this generalization. I have seen a few relationships that bridge across social classes, however, the ones I’ve seen are usually due to circumstances like being in close proximity at school or college.
ReplyDeletePeople who grew up in different wealth gaps often times does mean more than just wealth gaps. Most wealth people got brough up in it. Most people who go to college’s parents also went and can afford to send their kids to college as well. This is not always the case, but often so yes. They probably do have very different world views. Their day-to-day lives are both probably completely different. They each most likely have never experienced each other's realms of life either. Yes, I do, especially in college. I went to a small 3A school in high school where many people's lives looked very similar. However, in college people come from all different walks in the world and different lives. Many times, friendships in college bridge wide social class divides.
ReplyDeleteI think the difference in fiscal standing is way more than just money. Your economic standing impacts your whole life where you grow up in who you are around what you eat, what you know,. It can shape you quite substantially. I'd say it's quite likely I personally for much of my early life grew up really poor out in the country. Because of my standing I was only able to do things that were needed. My academics were good but I couldn't afford to do sports or other extracurriculars. As for expectations I feel it's very common for those of a lower class to feel ignored and abandoned. The expectation is there are few people to help you out. As for world view, how can they not be different when so much of your life is changed based on what you can afford. I do most significantly being my parents my fathers side of the family was much less well off with my dad enlisting to be able to pay for college whereas my mothers side was much more fiscally stable. Their different experiences have led to me seeing a different outlook on life and how they can change how you act and who you are.
ReplyDeleteClass differences are definitely about more than just money, but money is still the root of it all. When you are rich, you do not have to stress about the price of things at the store or worry about paying your bills. You also have a much better chance of going to top-tier schools. Still, there are usually exceptions. A student who grew up poor might get a big scholarship to a great college, and a rich kid might get cut off by their parents and have to scrape by on their own. These backgrounds also tend to affect how we act. Usually, people who grew up with less appreciate things more, while wealthy people can easily take what they have for granted. This also might not apply to everyone. In my experience, when people from different classes do form relationships, it is usually because circumstances brought them together, like having gone to the same high school or done the same sport.
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