<p>My exact location will be kept anonymous for privacy concerns. Im sure if i gave it, kids at my small small 50 person class would be able to identify me.</p>
<p>I’m certain posting “Manhattan” would give you away to the other 1,629,053 inhabitants of that island. Let me guess, you reside in the Upper East Side or Upper West Side, you and your father were likely walking around lower Harlem or perhaps somewhere in the East Village.</p>
<p>The hilarious part is that your father says “don’t look at anyone in the eyes” as if people are going to jump you and eat you alive. I will admit NYers tend to avoid eye contact, especially in the subway, but usually one survives the occasional glances or 3sec stares. Still funny that your wealthy social circle is so isolated from less wealthy social groups that this kind of remark was made, if true.</p>
<p>Classism?</p>
<p>I guess we need some laws passed to make it illegal.</p>
<p>Honestly, if people are worrying about whether others are looking down on them then I think they really don’t have many problems to deal with.</p>
<p>This is the most ridiculous. As anyone can see racism and classism is alive and well.
Grow up, you are clueles.
Money cannot buy you class.Period.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^
qed</p>
<p>we are using class as in social status. </p>
<p>In most circumstances, money indicates your social status (political elites are exceptions).</p>
<p>We are not using class as “classy.” That Cadillac CTS DOES NOT HAVE “class” for our purposes. We are going to substitute social status for class from now on.</p>
<p>I was recently accused of being “classist” by a 24-year-old. He is going to graduate school to study an arcane field of the liberal arts in the fall. I was terribly amused. He thought I was “classist” because I am an admitted educational snob (I care about grammar and spelling)–I think he’s “classist” because he wants a PhD so he can teach an obscure subject of no use to anyone. </p>
<p>The word has become a way of telling someone you think they’re a snob, no more, no less.</p>
<p>JasoninNy…I think you will like the following show…I think you can relate.</p>
<p>It’s about social class in America. You cab watch a brief clip here and read about the show.</p>
<p>There are also a few clips on YouTube. Just put people like us social class in America in the search in YouTube.</p>
<p>It is a fantastic show. You’re a guy…but I think you will like the Belles Belles Belles clip on YouTube.</p>
<p>There is definitely classism in America. </p>
<p>Here is a good clip.</p>
<p><a href=“http://videosift.com/video/People-Like-Us-Social-Class-In-America[/url]”>People Like Us: Social Class In America;
<p>[People</a> Like Us](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/]People”>http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/)</p>
<p>Social status is generated by wealth or by birth. But there are standards within that realm. Some can attain wealth but never be accepted as someone with social status. same holds true for someone who has social status but is a total disaster, low life and uneducated, but because they were born into a class that they are entitled to, they will always have their social status.
Racism on the other hand is just ignorance and intolerance for anyone who does not,look or act like them.</p>
<p>“Class” only matters if it matters to you.</p>
<p>Jason, your dad is one person – he may exemplify the attitudes of a certain type of person, but his attitudes are not universal. </p>
<p>Because of high housing costs in NY, even the poorest neighborhoods tend to have more young, middle-class people moving in over time. My d. is a recent college grad employed in NY with a salary in the mid $30K range – typical of starting salaries in her field. After taxes, she takes home little over $2K a month – there is no way that she could afford a NY apartment in, say, midtown or the upper east side. </p>
<p>My d. previously lived in a college-owned apartment on the upper west side / Morningside Heights. It is an area filled with students where I felt quite comfortable walking in the evening on the streets over the years that I visited my daughter. But, being NYC, it is also an area where there are many homeless people, some sleeping on the streets. My d. could point out some of the homeless, tell me their names - comment that they had been there occupying the same street corner for all 4 years of her college years – and even stop to have a conversation and joke around with the guy who hung around at the front of her apartment. This didn’t surprise me – we’re from SF and have similar experiences walking around the downtown and tenderloin areas of SF - I have some fond memories of interesting conversations with various street people over the years. We don’t talk to to them all – some are so crazy that you couldn’t have a simple conversation even if you wanted to. But in my family, we all will sometimes give someone a dollar or two, or the change in our pocket – or sometimes get a take-out bag of our leftovers from a restaurant and offer that to a person who says they need money to eat – and if the person is polite and says thank you, that often leads to a conversation. </p>
<p>Now, we ourselves are “middle class” – median income earners – so maybe there is a difference in the way the “upper class” behaves. </p>
<p>But my point is, you don’t have to be “classist” or act like you are better than people. You can simply go through life deciding to treat everyone around you with courtesy and respect. The eye-contact thing is a little complicated, because there are some cultural expectations, and eye-contact with the wrong person can get you in trouble. It can be perceived as a challenge in some quarters. And Manhattan isn’t a place where people typically initiate contact with strangers, or start friendly conversations – likewise, what passes for courtesy in NY is very different than what “courtesy” means in the south or midwest. And the homeless guy ensconced in front of my d’s building was not a “stranger” - she walked by him every single day. So it made sense that after awhile they got to know one another. </p>
<p>But my suggestion to you would be that – rather than drawing conclusions from your dad’s behavior and trying to apply them broadly – that you think about who YOU want to be and how to treat others around you. There is big difference between the concept of “classism” (as you call it) – and then there is the notion of having “class” or being a “classy” person. The person with true “class” is the one who is not afraid to show courtesy and respect to everyone. It does not diminish you to say “thank you” to someone who opens a door for you, or “excuse me” if you accidentally bump up against someone on the sidewalk, no matter how poor and scruffy that person appears.</p>
<p>^Well said.</p>
<p>Classism exists whether we pretend otherwise or not. </p>
<p>This doesn’t mean it is ok to treat people differently. But classism exists.</p>
<p>How we dress…how we look…what we eat…our friends, activities…our possessions…our jobs…our education…the way we talk…class plays a big part in America…</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t drive a Volvo.”</p>
<p>“He’s a dork”. He’s ghetto".</p>
<p>Quotes from “people like us”. Jason check it out.</p>
<p>As I posted, it matters if it matters to you. Successful people who make a real contribution in life pay no attention to it. The choice is yours.</p>
<p>It does not have to relate to being successful. Whether it matters to you or not doesn’t matter. Whether you pay attention to classism or not doesn’t matter. It’s what is.</p>
<p>[People</a> Like Us: Social Class In America • VideoSift: Online Video *Quality Control](<a href=“http://videosift.com/video/People-Like-Us-Social-Class-In-America]People”>People Like Us: Social Class In America)</p>
<p>People looking down on, or feeling superior to others is a human trait that isn’t going to go away in my life time or my children’s or maybe ever. Even within groups there is stratifying. There is old money vs nouveau riche, dark skinned vs light skinned African Americans, the upper vs lower Ivies, etc, etc.</p>
<p>Some people need to put down others to try to feel better about themselves. Call it classism, racism or “human natureism.” lol It only becomes dangerous when people with similar insecurities group together and essentially become a mob. Or a perverted leader (think Hitler) is able to rally groups of insecure people and make them feel superior to some other group, even to the point of willing to destroy this other group.</p>
<p>It really takes concerted effort to not readily judge or put down someone else. At least on my part. I constantly have to remind myself that I have no right to judge others (I’m not talking about child molesters, rapists and murders etc. I do judge them.) because every person or family has some dark or not so perfect side.</p>
<p>“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”</p>
<p>Well, yes, Dstark, it’s out there - it flows in both directions, up the income ladder, down the income ladder. Envy and resentment also exist. The best way to make them matter less is to make them matter less by ignoring. Stomping our feet and railing is just . . . kind of useless and silly. I grew up with people who cared intensely about this stuff. I think it stunted them.</p>
<p>Sewhappy it’s not just about money.</p>
<p>Yes Sewhappy, I am sure those people who were obsessed with social class…were obnoxious. I know a few myself. I try to avoid them too. Luckily, they try to avoid me. Lol</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/about/index.html[/url]”>http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/about/index.html</a></p>
<p>"Louis Alvarez Making this film has not exactly been a walk in the park. Americans may think about class both consciously and subconsciously all the time, but generally they tend not to acknowledge it or be particularly good at talking about it. It’s like someone we interviewed said — “Class is like the elephant that sits in the corner—everyone knows it’s there, but nobody talks about it.” So we have to find those individuals for whom their
class has had a particular impact.</p>
<p>So much of this is about perception. Who is middle-class or working-class and who isn’t? Everyone seems to be running around with a class meter in their heads. We judge each other by the way we dress, where we live, our accents. So pious pronouncements aside about how “we’re all Americans” and “we’re all one people,” it’s really all about making distinctions between people. It seems to be wired into us. We can’t help ourselves</p>
<p>Is class in America just about money? Lots of people say it is. But others would say it’s about breeding or taste. It’s all a great mish-mash, and we’re somehow trying to untangle it. And it has repercussions in so many aspects of our society. If we can make Americans have a better understanding of how social class effects their lives then we have done a service."</p>
<p>^^^^ I definitely agree. People think about it a lot more than they will admit. </p>
<p>Im gonna check out the videos.</p>