draft

Lilliana Carrillo

Walcher

Never Doubt Yourself

            It is funny how I am twenty years old, and this is the first time I am actually thinking of the social class my family and I belong to. When I was growing up, I remember having the five basic needs of life a home, food, clothes, healthcare, school, and sanitation. I also grew up with a loving and caring family that has always been there for me. My family is made up of my parents and two sisters making our home a place full of laugher and joy. However, now that I am thinking about the social class my family belongs to I am realizing that as an eight year old girl I did think of social class without even knowing. As an eight year old girl, I always asked my mom why my dad worked a ridiculous amount of hours. I would complain about seeing my dad only for an hour before I went to bed. I remember getting excited when it was the weekend because I would think I would spend more time with my dad, however, I would see him for the same amount of time because he also worked weekends. I remember my dad was not able to go to important events such as my graduations, family reunions, mass, recreational activities because of his job. During my years in elementary school, I had a hard time understanding why my dad thought work was more important than his family. Fortunately, when I started middle school I understood that my dad did love his family and the only reason why he was working a ridiculous amount of hours was to give his family a better lifestyle than what he had growing up. With this being said, social class is very important to society and most people unconsciously think of it. 

             As I was reading Americas Four Middle classes, I started thinking what middle class my family and I belong to. After giving it some thought, I realized that my family and I belong to the anxious middle class. The anxious middle class is neither affluent nor poor (Morin, pg. 8). People that belong to the anxious middle class have family incomes of 50,000 dollars or more, are employed full time, and are most likely homeowners (Morin, pg. 9). My parents are United States residents that came to the United States from Mexico seeking a better lifestyle. My sisters and I were born and raised in the United States. My parents were not able to go to college because in Mexico their families were very poor that would put their son and daughters to work at a very young age. After my parents got married, they became United State residents and decide to come to United States seeking a better lifestyle to start a family. My dad was very fortunate and currently is working full time at a factory that pays him fairly well he also puts in a lot of extra hours sometimes adding up to 50 hours a week. My mom has always been a stay home mom she was always taking care of her three girls and babysat to add to the family income. My family income has been around 55,000 dollars in a year and the family has always had health insurance. My father is a homeowner he finished paying the house my family and I currently live in around 15 years ago. These are the facts that made me make the choice that my family belongs to the anxious middle class.

            The type of social class one belongs to defines the person’s lifestyle. A person’s lifestyle is basically the choices he or she makes about how to live life.  My family and I try to live a life where we do not spend a lot of money on luxuries because we do not want to spend more money than what we have. Home amenities are bought at Meijer, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Menards. These businesses offer home amenities at great prices that allow my family to stay on our budget. We also love to go out to eat as a family to a restaurant once a week, which is usually on Sundays. Going out to eat as a family has always been a family tradition to have family bonding time and it’s nice being able to spend time with the family. The restaurants we visit every week are Olive Garden, Fridays, and Red Robin. I know my parents would like to take us out to eat more often, but they cannot because that would be exceeding my parents’ budget. I have always attended public school and education has always been very important. In the article The Burdens of Working –Class Youth, I can totally relate to Brandon because my parents told me what he was told when growing up education was the path to “the land of the working honey” (Silva, pg. 1). My parents have always told my sisters and I that education was the key to success and have always pushed us to do great in school. Another important factor of my lifestyle is having a part time job. I started working when I was sixteen to help pay for my cellphone, clothes, gas, car insurance, and school. My older sister also started working at the age of sixteen to reduce the amount of money my parents spend. Family vacations are taken every summer to Mexico, Florida, California, or Wisconsin. Every year we choose a different place and we go for two weeks. On the other hand, another important aspect of lifestyle is the people one associates with. For example, our family friends are individuals who like my parents decided to come to the United States for a better lifestyle. All of these people have jobs that do not require a college degree but that do require a lot of physical labor. My friends are usually people I met in school, work, or church. My friends and I have a similar type of lifestyle because they also belong to the anxious middle class. For instance, all of my friends have a part time or full time job and are currently going to a college or university. Their parents did not go to college and are trying to go to school to have a better lifestyle a couple of years from now. Class consciousness understanding the social class one belongs to. Plays a major role on my lifestyle and group of friends I associate with.

            The assumptions a person makes about what is morally correct and wrong is based on the social class he or she belongs to is known as ideology. My ideology based on life experiences I had when growing up with my family in an anxious middle class system. Even though my parents have been making enough money to give us a normal lifestyle, I have seen them go through moments of distress. For instance, the factory where my dad works in requires a lot of physical activity, and he would sometimes come home hurt because of all the lifting, pushing, and running. It was very sad seeing my dad in pain, and the next morning he still had to wake up early to go to work. Another stressful factor was when the factory fired over 100 workers in 2008. Fortunately, he was one of the few employees that were not unemployed, however, present day he is worried that next time it might be him.

Seeing my dad work 50 hours a week definitely has shaped the way I view the world. My dreams and goals are based on the opportunities available to me according to the class position I was born in, which is also known as life chances. My goal in life is to go to college to study Elementary Education. After I graduate, I want to find a job as a second grade teacher. My family definitely wants my sisters and me to go to college, so we can have a career that does not require us to work as much as my dad. However, I do know that many of the decisions I make regarding school are limited to the social class I belong to. For instance, I decided to go to Elgin Community College for two years to take the general classes required for my major. I made this choice because it was cheaper and something my parents were able to afford. After Elgin Community College, I decided to transfer to Roosevelt because of the academic scholarship I was awarded for having a 4.0 GPA at Elgin Community College. Roosevelt is paying for more than half of my tuition which is awesome because that has helped my family I with tuition. All of these decisions have been made because of my family’s income. If money would never been a concern my first choice was to attend Northwestern University which I was accepted in right after high school. However, it was too expensive and my parents would have had to take out a huge loan which my parents thought was a bad idea. I definitely want to finish school to have a better lifestyle than the one I grew up in. I am not complaining of the lifestyle I grew up in and currently have, but I do want something better to make my parents proud and let them know I did took advantage of the opportunities they gave to me by coming to this country. 

            Clearly, in the United States individuals are classified into a distinct group based on their economic status known as stratification. Money is a huge factor when stratifying individuals to a specific group. The group that has more money will have more power than the group who has a small amount of money. Since individuals are stratified based on their income, social justice does not exist in America. After studying social justice in class, I do not believe it is strongly implemented in America. As nation we have come a long way trying to provide equality but more can be done to make everyone feel like they belong. Individuals are always looked down upon because of their race, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, career, religion, and age. I do not believe that social justice exist in a country where social classes exist. The social class one is born into defines the life chances one will have in life. People can only set goals that are realistic to their current lifestyle. Another important reason why social justice is not implemented in the United States is because people that belong to the same social class judge each other based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and etc. Solidarity being able to understands members from the same or different social class. Solidarity is the first step for social justice to be greatly implemented being able to understand others. Having an open mind that allows one to understand where others come from and lifestyle is the key for equity.