1984 - Due 10/30/07

The New York Times published a series of articles and excerpts concerning the current social class system in America today. This reminded me of the portion of 1984 when Winston is reading his secret book, chapter 2, Ignorance is Strength. This description of Oceania goes through the concept of the upper, middle, and lower classes, and really how the system works. Basically, the lower class always stays low, because the high class does everything in it's power to stay high, and the middle class only includes the efforts of the lower class, by using words like freedom and power, to help themselves get ahead. And soon, when the middle class has increased in number and power, it will become the high class, replacing the existing one, and a new middle class is broken off from the previous high and low. It is a switching back and forth of the wealthy, while the poor always stay poor. This goes along with a statement made by David Leonhardt in "A Closer Look at Income Mobility." He states, "Mobility -- the movement of families up and down the economic ladder -- is the promise that lies at the heart of the American dream. Economists sometimes study mobility by examining what percentage of families move to a different section of the income spectrum over time. Some families do move up and down the income spectrum, but it does not seem to be happening quite as often as it used to." He explains that even though we have an "American Dream" to fall back on, that seems to be the goal of every American, and although the lower class may have the desire to move up in socioeconomic status, this is not greatly occurring anymore. In another part of the website, "Class Matters: An Overview," there are graphs depicting facts about all 3 classes in America. Overall, you can see that your class is directly related to your occupation, your income, and your education. The Lower Class is the least educated, subsequently have the worst jobs and the smallest incomes. The High class is on the opposite of the spectrum, having the most education, the best jobs and making the most money. Whether or not each person is in the class because of their education, or they received the education they did as a result of being in that class is to be determined on an personal basis, but does make a difference in the argument.


http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/class/index.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1192759989-SaeLp2ArbXqw7E7IeqQy7A