...the charming downtown of Redwood City, squarely in the center of the fabled Silicon Valley. You might expect this to be a busy place, shi-shi, with fancy shops and long lines to get into the restaurants.
Think again. This is a sleepy little town, much like most of those dotting the peninsula from our biggest regional city, San Jose, all the way up to our most famous, San Francisco.
The peninsula takes some time to get to know. There are the mountains rising above the reservoir to the west. The tract homes worth many times as much as any sensible Midwesterner would pay for them, due to location, location, location.
There are also communities like Woodside, once a hippie paradise under the Redwoods, now quite upscale.
Alongside the Bay, on the eastern shore, you have wetlands and the giant SFO airport complex.
Back in the middle, like my new surroundings each workday, you have working class people and half-empty restaurants, train stations, and curio shops. This may be one of the richest places on earth, by the numbers, but it is also the home of billionaires and paupers.
America is a class society, though no one wants to admit it. Don't take my word. Come here to see the evidence.
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3 comments:
America is not a class society. I repeat AMERICA IS NOT A CLASS SOCIETY. That wrong perception, oddly, exists exclusively in the eye of what we now loosely refer to as the “liberal” perspective.
You see, “only in America” became a popular, if increasingly misinterpreted, phrase because of the single most striking feature of this country and the feature which has always drawn immigrants from every corner of the globe; FREEDOM.
In its simplest definition, freedom in American terms means the greatest degree of self determination that individuals may exercise, under the protection of law, without diminishing the same ability of others to exercise their own self determination.
I have found it peculiar that among those of highest academic achievement reside the greatest incidence of such limited and narrow understanding of the human condition. Among the many (most really) of us who have been very seriously challenged financially at some time in our lives, there have been those who always knew that life in this unique country offered the greatest opportunity to meet those challenges and overcome them. The price of such success is hard work and determination.
Our shared heritage includes Alexander and Elsie Anderson who immigrated from Scotland in 1923 and 1924, respectively. Their hurdles to overcome were considerable by today's standards. Our Grandfather, Alexander, was separated from his young wife and three daughters (one of whom was your Mother, Ann) to leave a country which did operate under remnants of a true class system; some of that class system still supported by laws. There were stiff requirements that he establish a home and evidence of his ability to provide for dependents before they could be admitted to the country. That required a long and frustrating, if not frightening, separation. They persevered, as did millions before and since, because of our constitutional commitment to individual liberty and the hopes and dreams inspired by that liberty.
That the human is a very imperfect species with many ill-behaved, and some actually evil in their actions toward others, has always been true in every society in history. Absent the Second Coming, it will most certainly continue to be so for a very long time. Idealistic dreamers will not change this, but, in fact, have frequently aggravated bad behavior by facilitating those who act badly.
Attempting to label people of less means as “victims” of class segregation is acting in ignorance of our primary laws. Teaching Americans that being treated as a lesser class to in some way limit their individual liberty is against the law and educating them on how to assert their God given rights enables them to participate in moving this great nation ever closer to its vision for all Americans, and yes – even someday all citizens of the world. Treating Americans as poor wards of the state smothers the hope that this great nation otherwise extends to all of its citizens; countless among us have persevered in the face of enormous obstacles to build for themselves incredible lives of pride and joy. This does not happen to those operating with the crutch of victim-hood. It most certainly occurs among those who understand the simple concept of individual liberty coupled with individual responsibility as provided in, and guaranteed by, our founding documents.
Even more insidious is the attempt to artificially “equalize” the circumstance of those considered “victims” in order to promote a wrong headed concept of equality; It is profoundly true that you give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, you teach a man to fish and you sustain him for life. Our national effort to eradicate poverty through “entitlements”, as noble as that effort may seem to some, has actually enslaved untold numbers of Americans by enticing them to believe they were powerless to do for themselves. How many millions have relegated themselves to lives of cynicism and hopelessness having been taught they could do nothing for themselves, never knowing that hard work and perseverance would allow them to discover the joy of self reliance or the pride of independence, never believing that the Declaration and Constitution carry, even this day, the force of law if one only understands the simple concept of American freedom.
My convictions here are born of knowing many Americans who have brought themselves out of difficult circumstances, and having read the history of many others. If you wish to gain my ear to argue that this great nation does not offer its citizens the greatest opportunities to cast aside despair and pursue their dreams, you will first have to name just one other great nation that does it better. JUST ONE!
I think the distribution of wealth figures are at odds with your assertion that America is not a class society, Dan. That does not necessarily mean that opportunity to move up into a wealthier class does not exist here. It clearly does, as I and many others can attest. But when you examine the global economy (as I've demonstrated in previous posts), our lowest class is upper class in global terms. That is the benefit of living inside the beast of a global empire.
But make no mistake about it: I love the democratic opportunities of this society. I love that merit, hard work and intelligence is rewarded here.
I clearly love the private sector, especially the entrepreneurial edge where I devote whatever talent I may have year after year.
But, despite my personal successes, I am not blind to those around me who cannot compete in our economy, for various reasons.
What it boils down to is whether you think a class society is a bad thing. I guess you do, from the tone of your post. I think it is the natural outcome of a competitive economy.
On the other hand, I do not think being "rich" is a goal worth pursuing. No. The meaning of success, if any, is the ability to do good by doing well.
Anyone who has profited from this marvelous society is obliged, under my code, to give back at least as much as (s)he has accumulated. This can be done by volunteering, joining nonprofit boards, or becoming a philanthropist. This certainly includes giving to your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple.
Because only a blind man would claim we start with an even playing field in America.
And, if you are entirely honest, when you look at one of the "losers" among us, you'll admit that you've uttered more than once, "There, but for the Grace of God, go I."
I think we have a profound misunderstanding about the definition, and application, of the word “class” as it applies to our society; and in looking into the nature of that misunderstanding I believe my assertions are bolstered. What I mentioned as peculiar about the view most commonly held by Americans with advanced academic achievement offers clues to the compulsion to continuously categorize all Americans and label what is “wrong” in that manner. And it is that compulsion which skews reality, crippling the best intended efforts to improve the present condition of any citizen.
Central to understanding the greatness of the American Dream is the dynamic nature of American Freedom. Core to that dynamic are the principles which acknowledge, and protect as supreme, the precious value of each life within reach of that law which defines those principles. In their haste to correct the multitudes of “wrong” they see all about them, many well intentioned forget this.
That law is restrained by acknowledging that it is subservient to the best interests of each citizen; each citizen therefore having supremacy over any law to the contrary. In practice this is a difficult concept to perfect, but the ongoing (dynamic) struggle to perfect it is part and parcel of the American Dream.
Law can limit freedom; it cannot compel perfection.
With a broad brush we attempt to help large groups of “victims” of various “categories” we contrive with universal antidotes to quickly make them “better”. In so doing we immediately diminish the freedoms we so cherish; for to employ the law to create the antidote, we compel all citizens to do, or not do, as prescribed by the law and not their own volition. The unintended consequences are devastating on so many levels, beginning with those targeted by the medicine.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. caused many very positive changes. His focus was on black Americans and their struggles to overcome the racism afflicting so many millions in direct contradiction to the principles of our founding. Though his primary focus was with black Americans, he knew of and spoke often about many forms of discrimination afflicting many other Americans as well. He employed our highest law as it was intended and vigorously forced millions of Americans to confront the awesome reality that long held and deeply rooted prejudices were destroying the fabric of our country. He continuously raised the inarguable fact that all Americans had equal privilege to the protections acknowledged by those principles; he did not accept that those privileges could be either diminished or enhanced through laws created by men. Dr. King never advocated taking freedom from some to give to others; he knew that it was the very act of “categorizing” people that enabled some to deprive others.
Herein is the nuance so crucial to understanding what is wrong with viewing America as a society of classes.
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