Despite the All-American Dream of equality and achieving success, I do think social class plays a prominent role in society. The book provided many examples of how one's social class influences what type of job, income, life experiences and the community one lives in. For example, many children who are born from parents of a low socio-economic or working class may not have the chance to go to summer camps and could fall behind in school. Many middle to upper class families will send their children to summer camps or enrichment programs where they will be challenged to learn. These programs benefit them in the classroom and can give them an advantage over children from the working class. Although social class is important very early on in one's life, I do think one can move to a different social class.
I also think people value social class and strive to achieve a higher status in terms of impression management. How we appear to others has remained an important value for the majority of the American population. The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, where we shop, and the activities we participate in during our free time are indicators of our wealth, just as the PBS "People Like Us" website demonstrates. Our class status can affect, although I do not believe that it should, how we interact with others. We may hold people who are the CEO's of various companies in high regard, while a worker at McDonald's with not as much respect. I think until the gap between the rich and poor lessens and people begin to treat each other more equally, then one's class status will still continue to be an important value in American society.
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