The Between Rich And Poor Social Classes - 1433 Words

British novelist Benjamin Disraeli once wrote: â€Å"There are two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws †¦ the rich and the poor.† A description of industrial England during 1845. However, these words could easily be applied to modern America. â€Å"Social mobility has been sliding in the United States. Within the past decade, there has been a growing gap between rich and poor social classes. A poor kid in America now has about the same chance of becoming a rich grown-up as in socially rigid England (Ferguson). Moreover, this fear of an increasingly socially rigid America has inspired several reforms to take place. Most notably, higher minimum wages, in an ef fort to reduce household poverty [...] to protect unions from low-wage competition, and to promote social justice and other normative/ideological goals† (Kaufman), which are all important attributes for a socially elastic society. To exemplify this, last year the highest minimum wage in American history was passed. Enter Seattle, â€Å"Members of the Seattle City Council recently voted unanimously, nine to zip to increase the minimum wage from $9.32 to $15. That’s a 60 percent increase† (Bustamante) in an effort toShow MoreRelatedâ€Å"How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?† In the Great Gatsby1136 Words   |  5 Pagesthe prescribed question, â€Å"How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?†. The text that will be analyzed is The Great Gatsby and the part of the course that will be dealt with is literature and critical study. The task will focus on a few main themes of the book, mainly, the hollowness of the upper class. The social group that will be analyzed is the upper class but more speciï ¬ cally, the newly rich. The newly rich have a weird social stature at this time where many lower classRead MoreSocial Classes Of The Rich And The Poor1535 Words   |  7 Pagesthe social classes of the rich and the poor. This isn’t a battle for power on the side of the poor, but for equality and stability, while control is what the rich have, and what they intend to keep a hold of. There is a gap that between the rich and the poor, that recently has rapidly increased. In the question of the gap there is a growing concern that the separation can cause an economic depression if it is to keep up like it has been. The battle between the classes of the rich and the poor hasRead MoreSocial Construction of Race1418 Words   |  6 PagesThe Use of Humor to Poke Fun at the Social Construction of Class: Illustrated in the Film The Jerk through Navin Johnson Money does not last forever. All the money in the world can become the reason why people change their personality and behavior. In the film The Jerk by Carl Reiner, a complete moron struggles to make it through life on his own, until a bizarre invention makes him unbelievably a wealthy man. Navin grew up in Mississippi as an adopted son of a black family, but on his birthdayRead MoreClassism in North America1216 Words   |  5 Pagesword  Classism  was derived from  Class  and  -ism; the word  Class  descended from a French word, Classe, and a Latin word Classis. The word was originally created by Servius Tullius in one of the six orders into which he used to divide the Roman people for the purpose of taxation. Those words together make the word Classism which means a biased or discriminatory attitude based on distinctions made between social or economic classes (classism.  Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 20 Jan. 2012. DictionaryRead MoreWhy Do People Come America? For Corn Dogs?1332 Words   |  6 Pagesthrough hard work and determination. Through this there would be little to no class system permanently fixing someone to a definite status meaning it would allow the status of the person to move up or down freely. So if a poor person were to work hard enough they could move up and be rich essentially letting them live better lives. This idea appeals to immigrants and encourages them to come here to America. Immigrants come here to live better lives than the ones they had lived before, but is the AmericanRead MoreWhy Do People Come America? For Corn Dogs?1332 Words   |  6 Pageshard work and determination. Through this, there would be little to no class system permanently fixing someone to a definite status, meaning it would allow the status of the person to move up or down freely. So if a poor person were to work hard enough, they could move up and be rich essentially letting them live better lives. This idea appeals to immig rants and encourages them to come here to America. Immigrants come here to live better lives than the ones they had lived before, but is the AmericanRead MoreA Perfect World, Economic Inequality1337 Words   |  6 PagesIn a perfect world, economic inequality would be nonexistent. There would be no disparities among the races, nor would there separate laws for certain classes of people. The words â€Å"all men are created equal† would truly have meaning and its applicability could not be tampered with or deviated from based on a person’s zip code. If within this perfect world crime did exist, the ramifications of criminal acts would be blind to race, wealth, or family name. Unfortunately, the illustration ofRead MoreGreat Gatsby Wt2 Essay example838 Words   |  4 PagesWriting Task 2 on Great Gatsby Question: How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? The Great Gatsby presents different social groups to embody and transmit the idea that each class has it’s own problems to prevail over and unhappiness transcends over all the social classes. The problems in each group, despite the social stratification, reveal the instability of the world they live in. The three classes are old money, new money, and no money in which all three believe theirRead MoreMary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell1348 Words   |  6 PagesGaskell creates a divide between the poor working class and the rich higher class in Mary Barton. Gaskell places emphasis on the differences that separate both classes by describing the lavish, comfortable, and extravagant life that the wealthy enjoy and compares it to the impoverished and miserable life that the poor have to survive through. Though Gaskell displays the inequality that is present between both social classes, she also shows that there are similarities between them. The tone and dictionRead Moremarx and carn egie1126 Words   |  5 Pages My Ma English 1A Prof. James Click 2-19-2014 The Problem of Rich and Poor For centuries, many philosophers have discussed the issue of class struggle. Karl Marx and Andrew Carnegie both developed theories of the unequal distribution of wealth a long time ago; however the only Carnegie’s ideology could apply to American society today. In â€Å"The Communist Manifesto†, Marx first introduces the two main social classes: bourgeois (the upper class) and proletarians (the lower class or working