*Bye Bye Middle Class*

Welcome back to another intriguing look into the Social Classes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PsUyEYO16E

This week I have a video for you all about the explanation of the rapid disappearance of the middle class. The middle class was once the epitome of the economic opportunities in the United States, however since the Recession hit and affected all 3 classes, the middle class was the first class to start disappearing. 

With the unemployment rate still high, and houses virtually being abandoned, the gap between rich and poor in the country is becoming even smaller and smaller. We face the chance of only having rich and poor if the Recession continues on the path it is on or gets any worse. This video shows how the middle class, which was the basis of American income has taken a significant dip lately. Enjoy your weekly cartoon! :)

*This week's focus: The Upper Class' 'Worry-Free' Controversy*

Welcome back to my weekly blog... serving you up some of the most interesting, riveting social class news out there! This week we will be focusing on the Upper Class, or as they have become popularly known after last year's Occupy Wall Street, the 1%. This article shows how recently the top 1% have been becoming richer as a result of the middle class depleting. It gives the usual incomes of 1%-ers and how they compare to the working classes. The article explains how even for the Upper Class, their homes which they were once able to fall back on as an asset are in jeopardy due to the Great Recession. In response to the 1% getting richer by the year, last year's protests of Occupy Wall Street based their anger around the 1% predominantly controlling the wealth in America. "The average wealth of the top 1% of Americans fell 15.6% between 2007 and 2010, while the median net worth of the average American household dropped 47.1% during the same period." The upper class' depiction of being worry-free has not exactly been upheld since the Great Recession has taken a toll of their status and redefined the social classes as a whole.
I leave you with this week's comic relief..

*Introduction to Social Classes within our Society*

Well, here goes my first informative blog post ever! Welcome everyone, to the interesting, controversial, ever-changing world of understanding and classifying the social classes within our society. To start off with a brief explanation, social class refers to a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence, and status.

Today, we see 4 distinct social classes: The lower class, the working class, the middle class, and the upper class.

The lower class includes those living in poverty, dealing with unemployment and abusing the system by taking advantage of welfare. Very few members of this class have finished high school, live in adequate conditions, or have medical care.

The working class, also referred to as blue collar workers, are underpaid, unskilled workers who make a small living. 

The middle class are divided into two levels according to wealth: the lower middle class and the upper middle class. These people usually have highly respected jobs and ways of living.

The upper class is compromised of the wealthiest people in society. These people make up only about 1-3% of the United States population. Usually they either make grandiose business ventures to earn their wealth, or inherit it from their extremely wealthy families. They have usually have a great deal of influence, and sometimes power, over society.

Now that you well-informed idea about different social classes, you can read this interesting article that shows that the current economic crisis' effects are completely redefining social classes. The article shows how the middle class is rapidly shrinking as unemployment remains at a high 8.1%. It even, interestingly enough, brings up the relevance of race in social classes. 

Thanks for reading this week's blog post, everyone! And as promised, I leave you with a funny, yet informative, political cartoon of the week. 

- Grace 

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/09/11/americas-middle-class-shrinks-further-now-blacks-and-whites-equally-broke/

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Types-of-Social-Classes-of-People.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26880.html

http://0.tqn.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/o/B/2/rich-vs-middle-class.jpg

First Blog Post... WELCOME :)

Hello everyone out there in cyberspace and beyond! Our world is made up of innumerable amounts of people, all with different ways of living, spending money, learning, working, and enjoying life. This blog will delve deep into the aspects of the different social classes that make up our diverse, interesting society. Hopefully I will be able to enlighten you all in interesting details, articles, and facts. With the current negative outlook on the state of the economy, I will make it my duty to finish off each one of my blog posts with a relevant, humorous comic relating to the topic of social classes in our society. ENJOY!