Rosanne Response

In the Rosanne episode, the average family was depicted, at least in my opinion. My household at home consisted of my mom, stepfather, sister, and myself. Both of my parents worked at a local Delphi factory. The issues that arose in the film were no stranger to my household. A few years before taking the buyout, my stepfather was laid off for a few months. In that period of time his jobs future was uncertain. While hos unemployment was not the full amount of his salary, I can remember him and my mom arguing over financial responsibilities. I can also relate to the part of the episode where the teacher suggested that Rosanne not spending time at home due to working was affecting her daughter’s behavior. A few years ago, my mother and stepfather separated. In order to maintain our household, my mom would work a lot of overtime. It felt as though I never saw her. So to some people who have always had a home with two parents who had steady jobs, this show seems like a funny unrealistic fantasy, but for me it was all too familiar. Rosanne almost missing her conference with her daughter’s teacher rang bells to me. I can remember having to give my mom extensive notices for school events because she needed ample time to find someone to cover her shift or to call off in advance. If I didn’t, I could forget about her attending. If I would’ve seen this episode on TV, it wouldn’t be something I immediately related to social class issues because I lived similar circumstances.

Post #5

My sources for my SSI are perfect examples of social class issues that exist in our country. In Source A, the author makes our nations dwindling economy become real. Many people have not been affected altogether or not as bad and neglect to see just how bad things really are. The author presents the argument in a more personal level, including facts and statistics as recent as the 2010 census. In Source B, you have a homeless person who has an ability that could gross him thousands of dollars annually, but is asking for money on the street. The article shows that even having a skill or education in the economically harsh times is not always enough. In these hard times, no one is safe from hardship. People with degrees, certifications, and trades are jobless. If someone can code computer encryptions, you would think they would have a job doing that, but instead they are out soliciting their skill for money and other means. But in these hard times, issues of social class are at an all-time high. Our nation needs to band together. No one is better than anyone. The working class makes our nation go round, people need to realize that. There is not enough money to go around for everyone to be millionaires. However, that doesn’t make them insignificant. Without the working class, there would not be an economy! Even though it is in a shabby state, the working class contributes a vast majority to it. When the wealthy realizes they don’t make the world spin, issues of social class won’t exist in everyday life.

Blog Post #5

 Before taking this class, I never really saw social class as an issue that America faces today, and I am still not entirely sure that it is something that we should be particularly worried about. I think that social classes and the concept of class warfare is actually a good thing. No matter what, people are always going to make different incomes, and policies are always going to favor one class over the other. I think that there are negatives and positives to every social class. Different policies cater to different classes, and that is okay.

 When I think about class issues, the first thing I think of is the sinking of the Titanic, and how being in a certain social class was an issue of life or death. The fact that they organized lifeboats by class is just ridiculous. How much money one makes should never determine whether they live or die. During this time period, I think the organization of the class system was inhuman. First class passengers got to get into the lifeboats first, so almost all of them survived. Many third class passengers didn’t even get to use a lifeboat at all, causing them to go into the ice cold water unprepared. This was a time when status was everything. I think that is why when I look at the current class system, I don’t see it as being an issue, when compared to 1914. I think we have come so far, and I don’t see it getting much better in the next 100 years. Class systems and class warfare are necessary for a country to function, and the way they are currently is not terrible.

Blog #5

In Indian Culture there had been a Caste System for many years. In which your ‘class’ or role in life is determined at birth. There was no changing their place no matter how much they resented it. This fits right in with our class theme, Class Warfare. The difference is there isn’t as much war over this because this is believed to be the way that class is handled as deemed by religious texts.

Instead of separating out by Wealth like what we see in the United States, Upper, Middle and Working/Lower Class structure, the caste system separates out by job/duty. The “working class” still remains as a caste, the people who do labor, services and craftsmen are the Shudras. Then they separate those who do more important jobs like farmers as the Vaishyas. The Upper/Aristocratic caste is the Kshatriyas which includes Kings, warriors and people of law. This sounds very similar to our definition of class, but from here is where the differences emerge, the Brahmins are the religious and educational staff/workers like priests and teachers placing them in high respect.

In America teachers and priests can be found among varying class status and usually depends more on their own personal background than anything else. Maybe this accounts how our nation has fallen far behind many others in the field of education. As our culture pushes the respect and higher pay/dignity towards other jobs that are revered as better for the nation.

The final major difference is that foreigners are seen as casteless and then certain foreigners by trade are referred to as untouchables; maybe out of fear of the damage the influence that their culture could do or maybe out of respect, either way in America foreigners in the past have been immediately filed into some of the lowest classes in history among arrival. Americans may accept their culture, but the more that come, the more jobs that are taken away from Americans. Blame in many subjects is constantly shifted to something involving race, religion, or citizenship.

This brings out a more positive view on the caste system, but don’t get me wrong. These are just the aspects that they got right and how they ended up avoiding a lot of class warfare, there is much more to this system enough to write a thesis on. How? Because it has already been done, America may be the “Melting Pot”, but we still have a lot of lessons to learn.

What I wish I knew.... (blog 4)

From the Bud Light Real Men of Genius Campaign it talks about the treatment of people from the public scope of their jobs. It would be very helpful to know how they are treated by clients, other personal and bosses behind closed doors. While the NFL Cord Carrier guy does hard work on the field and a lot relies on him, after the game maybe the coach takes him out to dinner as thanks. I guess that would also depend though on the person that they are working under. Which some would get lucky like that, and the other ones who are unlucky would get fired after just one game full of problems. Then the Major Highway Line Painter guy, at one point in time had to paint them manually but so much of what we do is automated now. A lot of Bud Light’s Real Men of Genius Campaign probably have not aged very well, there is no Cord Carrier guy, most things are wireless and the major highway line painter guy just drives a truck down a part of the highway that people can’t drive on. In another decade though the tables will turn again and the relevant arguments we come up with now will partially be irrelevant to any argument not involving historical background reasoning.

Jerry Springer brings up a lot of controversial things. But in a time when the President is giving tax cuts and health care to those who “can’t get jobs” and then years ago people were still complaining about how they can’t get jobs no matter how many applications they submit. That’s introduced in his show in the episode I picked, one side of the argument claims that they only filled out like 3 or 4. Do people who don’t have jobs really try to get them or at this point do they just live off of the unemployment checks that the government gives them. It’s a choice they are given, but the money has to come from somewhere and they sure aren’t earning it like the people who have to give the government the money they get. Is the amount that some people receive through unemployment and other programs enough to live off of and allow them to be lazy or does it actually push them to try to get a job and make their own living.

What I Need to Do..

In order for me to complete this assignment, there are a few things to do first. In my senior year of high school, we only focused on just enhancing our skills but in doing that I forgot a lot of practices and terms I had previously learned. Terms that are commonly used to describe techniques for advertising would be helpful for me to revisit. My source for sure uses testimony as a technique, but revisiting those terms will allow me to determine whether it uses other less obvious techniques to attract viewers. Also, I need to carefully examine the image and do some more research on the product. Getting information on the demographics of the targeted audience may lead me to an understanding of why the advertising techniques were used. Another helpful thing I could do before completing my paper would be developing questions about the source. In developing questions, I can pose them to myself. Once I find the answer to these questions, it will allow me to form an even better-rounded essay on the image. I should also do more research on Kimora Lee Simmon’s background and her fan base. Obviously people who closely follow her would be the people the most prone to purchase the Rush Card with hopes of living a glamorous lifestyle like her. I should check surveys and stats on stars and their influence on the public to see how much of an influence she has and whether it was successful in promoting the prepaid visa.

Blog Post #4

First of all, in order to talk about how the song “Politically Uncorrect” makes an argument about class, I need to know more about which jobs classify as middle and lower class jobs, which could just be a matter of opinion. The song lists different jobs that have a negative connotation, and to better understand the song, I need more examples of jobs like this. I also need to know background information about the writers of the song in order to understand where they came from and why they would feel compelled to write about how the world views class. Knowing about the writer of a text, song, movie or any other type of media helps to better understand the message that is being presented. All artists create work that they are passionate about, so there must be a particular reason that Gretchen Wilson decided to sing about how the world views the middle class. Another thing I need to know more about in order to talk about the song is how people in the Southern areas view different classes versus how people living in the big cities view different classes. Often, country singers sing songs to represent the lower and middle class, implying that people living in those Tennessee-South Caroline regions are not members of the upper class. To better understand the song, I need to look at the different incomes in that area as opposed to the incomes in other areas of the U.S. That would help me to understand why country singers are so pro-middle class.