Classism

Who's missed Jeff's socio-political rants this winter? Well I certainly have and since it has been building up in the back of my skull for the last several months it's time to burst the bubble and allow some of that wonderfully disgruntled ooze to pour out here for my good ol' blog compadres. Today's topic is one that is of great interest to me particularly because it's one of the few prejudices I don't just find disturbing, but that I actually find myself in the middle of fairly often. I'm talking about Classism. What is Classism? It's pretty simple really. If you are of one class and you think of people who are of another class as somehow inferior or wrong or lazy or some other negative adjective that makes you feel better about the way you choose to live your life, you are a Classist. This is not too unlike being a racist, or a sexist, or an ageist, except that we are talking specifically about money and the things money does for your life.

For example, let's say Tommy grew up in a blue-collar family. His Dad was an electrician, his mom worked at the local bakery down the street. Because neither of his parents went to college, they didn't know the first thing about saving for Tommy's college education, or helping Tommy to study the things he would need to get into a good college, or alerting Tommy early enough in his adolescence that every grade he gets from freshman year of high school on matters tremendously with regard to what he can be when he grows up. Mom and Dad can't see past blue-collar society, Tommy can't see past blue-collar society. Not only can they not help out, but once they have some money and things aren't going too badly they start to take a certain pride in the fact that they didn't have to go to college to "make it." Tommy inherits this sense of pride and when he actually does go to college everyone there sounds extremely snotty and care-free compared with the struggles he has known his whole life. On top of school being difficult and expensive, it's also embarrassing to be in a culture of people who unintentionally talk about your family as though they are the scum of society.

On the other hand, Lucy grew up in a family with a Mom who was a nurse and a Dad who works with computer software, both have graduate degrees and began putting money into a fund for Lucy's college the week after Lucy came home from the hospital. They helped Lucy with her studies her whole life and where they couldn't help they hired someone to tutor her. She was punished more severely for bad grades than for certain misbehaviors that Tommy's parents would have smacked him silly for (literally in some cases). There was never a question of whether or not Lucy would go to college, instead the question was always which one and what she would study there. The possibilities of career and lifestyle were limitless.

So, here's where Classism comes into play. It's not cool on any level for any person to judge another person based on what they do for a living. I do it, you do it, we all do it--we don't always say it out loud, but we do it. The mechanic who starts making jokes about the lawyer who doesn't know the first thing about his car engine, the lawyer who in turn goes back to office mocking the mechanic's bad grammar, even things as subtle as talking plainly in mixed company about things that cost a lot of money as though everyone has one or about how glad you are that you don't have to do the job Tommy is doing. There is a huge gap today between the haves and have nots. What some of my relatives consider pretty typical in terms of lifestyle--flat-screen TVs, Tivo, a couple of cars in the driveway, a cupboard full of groceries--a lot of my close friends could never imagine owning with the jobs they work. So here's some of the variables to consider: The Lucys of the world may end up being the lawyers making fun of some guy's accent or philistine behavior at the Jiffy Lube, but without that guy's help they would never get to work on time. Without Lucy Tommy might loose his shop for fixing the wrong part on a guy's car and getting sued. It's not a pretty world out there and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has friends and family on either side of the social spectrum. It's uncomfortable and tricky for either person to be themselves without treading on the pride of the other. I think being aware that these issues are going on helps the situation all around. Tommy--don't act like a tasteless redneck and try to appreciate that school is not easy no matter how much help you receive. Lucy--stop being a pretentious snot and appreciate how hard other people are working for your comfortable life. In general people, just try to show a little common human decency. You're not that special, no matter who you are.

And that concludes today's lecture on Class...