Confronting Classism: Why It Costs to be Lavish
by Do you harbor prejudices you did not realize you had? Do you see yourself as superior to others? Perhaps you don’t realize that you do.
What do you do when a beggar asks you for the time? What do you do when a poor man offers you advice? What do you do when a homeless woman offers to help you in some way? Do you listen? Do you offer your support? Or do you not waste your time?
Would your attitude change if it were a person of your economic status? For many people, the answer is yes.
Classism is one of the most common types of prejudice, yet it is also one that is commonly overlooked. Classism is the conscious or subconscious understanding many people – especially in America – share that one’s amount of money, prestige, or education determines one’s rank in a social hierarchy. In other words, a classist believes that people with a lesser paying job, a smaller house, or a lesser degree are of a lower social status than him/herself.
Though classism is prominent in many cultures, capitalism especially breeds this kind of thinking. The idea that one’s goal in life is to achieve the highest paying job, the most money, the most material things, etc. gives people a false understanding of superiority and entitlement at a very young age. It is important to distance oneself from this type of exclusionary thinking because it can alienate a vast number of people.
The Capitalist Mentality
Not only can classism affect the people around you, but it can also have many negative effects on your own personality. Classism in a capitalistic society such as America’s often evolves into what I call the “Capitalist Mentality.” Someone with a capitalist mentality is constantly thinking of 1. how to make more money and 2. what he or she must buy to “complete” themselves. Each day, this person will seek to fulfill these two needs, and if they are not met, the person will complain.
Complaining is an almost direct result of classist thinking. This is because people complain only when something is not handed to them, when a possession of theirs is not to their liking, or if something is thought to be “too difficult” to achieve. In a way, people complain when they are not able to make the next step in the classist hierarchy. People at the very bottom of the hierarchy, for example, rarely complain about their status because they are too busy trying to live from day to day. A classist may complain that the sandwich he bought does not have enough mayonnaise, while a non-classist is content having food at all.
This is not to say that complaining is always wrong or classist; however, it is good to be aware that complaining is almost always a sign of a privileged position.
You Are Not What You Own
One of the first and most important things to realize when attempting to battle a capitalist mentality, or classism itself, is that you are not a product of your material things. Your status as a human being does not change based on how large your wallet is or how many possessions you have. You should make decisions based on what will give you the most joy, not based on how others might perceive of you. No matter how eccentric you may think you can be, there will always be others who respect and support the decisions you make about your life.
You should certainly be happy that you are able to buy the things you need or want, but never take advantage of this ability. Also remember that you can indulge yourself without considering yourself superior to those with fewer resources. All in all, if you are one to think more about what you don’t have rather than what you already have, it is time to change your perspective.
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