Questionnaire
Social Class: Surviving in Poverty
- I know which churches and sections of town have the best rummage sales.
- I know where the nearest food bank is and when it is open. ✓
- I know which grocery stores’ garbage bins can be accessed for thrown-away food.
- I know how to get someone out of jail.
- I know how to fight physically and can defend myself if necessary. ✓
- I know how a person can get a gun even if they have a police record.
- I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat. ✓
- I know what problems to look for in a used car.
- I know how to live without a checking account. ✓
- I know how to get by without electricity and without a phone.
- I know how to use a knife as scissors. ✓
- I can entertain a group of friends with my personality and my stories.
- I know what to do when I don’t have the money to pay my bills. ✓
- I know how to move my residence in less than a day. ✓
- I know how to feed 8 people for 5 days on $100. ✓
- I know how to get and use food stamps.
- I know where the free medical clinics are and when they are open.
- I am very good at trading and bartering. ✓
- I know how to get around without a car.
- I know what day of the month welfare and social security checks arrive.
Social Class: Functioning in the Middle Class
- I know how to get my children signed up for Little League, soccer, piano lessons, etc. ✓
- I know how to properly set the table. ✓
- I know which stores are most likely to carry my family’s clothing brands. ✓
- My children know the best name brands in clothing.
- I know how to order in a nice restaurant. ✓
- I know how to use a credit card, checking account, and savings account. ✓
- I know how to use an ATM card, and I know where the nearest ATM machines are. ✓
- The children in my family expect to go to college. ✓
- I understand term life insurance, disability insurance, and house and flood insurance. ✓
- I know how to get the best interest rates on a mortgage or new car loan.
- I understand what a pension annuity is and how it works. ✓
- I understand the difference between the principal, interest, and escrow statements on my house payment.
- I know how to help my children with their homework. ✓
- If my children have a problem at school, I do not hesitate to contact the teacher or principal. ✓
- I know how to decorate the house for different holidays. ✓
- I know how to get a library card and how to check out books at the public library. ✓
- I know where to go, register to vote, and where my local polling place is. ✓
- I repair items in my house immediately when they break or I know a repair service and call it. ✓
- I use at least two of the following on a regular basis: laptop, cell phone, DVD player, mp3 player, digital camera, and social networking site(s). ✓
- I know how to use various tools in the garage or basement.
Survey 3: Functioning in the Upper Class
- I can read a menu in French, English, and another language.
- I have several favorite restaurants in different parts of the country or in different countries.
- I know how and where to hire an interior decorator to identify the appropriate themes and items with which to decorate my residence.
- I know how and where to hire domestic help, including maids, caterers, and gardeners. ✓
- I can name my regular financial advisor, lawyer, and barber or hairstylist. ✓
- I have at least two residences that are staffed and maintained.
- I know how to ensure confidentiality and loyalty from my domestic staff.
- I have at least two “screens” that keep people from me whom I do not wish to see.
- I frequently vacation in foreign countries.
- I fly in my own plane, the company plane, jet timeshare, or first class.
- I belong to at least two exclusive, members-only private clubs.
- I know how to enroll my children in the preferred private schools.
- I know how to host parties that “key” people attend.
- I am on the boards of at least two charities.
- I know the hidden rules of the Junior League, the country club, and other private organizations.
- My personal phone book contains the unlisted numbers of at least a dozen well-known people.
- I am familiar with personal security systems and devices.
- I have a favorite artist whom I support by buying his or her work (originals, not prints).
- I know how to read a corporate financial statement and the stock reports in daily paper.
- I can easily converse about the “best” wines, art, designers, resorts, etc. The most exclusive designers created my clothing, personal items, and residential furnishing.
Social Class in the US
Surviving in Poverty
In this social class, these individuals’ survival tactics and living conditions have been taken for granted. For example, they have to understand the community’s unique areas, do some odd tasks, and be creative in many aspects. This group needs to know the rummage centers, food banks, garbage bins, and where food stamps are issued. These are pieces of information that help them survive the harsh conditions they live in. For example, there is an inquiry about how one can feed a family of 8 with $100 for five days in questionnaire. This action is quite impossible; therefore, there is a way to provide them, hence looking for food banks, rummage centers, and collecting leftovers from garbage bins.
Furthermore, there is an assumption that they can break someone out of prison, be able to access an unlicensed gun, and live in a place with no electricity and a phone. Again, they need to be creative, like entertaining people, feeding others with a lower budget, and using a knife as scissors. The mentioned traits are some of the survival tactics that one needs in a poverty-stricken environment. The getting of unlicensed gins explains why these poverty-stricken areas have more crime rates than other social classes (Dollar et al., 2019). It further explains why people strive to move from all those places in search of better living standards.
The only place to learn all the mentioned aspects is living within the area and understanding why the residents have to perform those tasks that they do. People orally pass the knowledge since the poverty levels do not allow some to access many knowledge storage devices. Breaking the poverty cycle has not been entirely successful due to its challenges. In conclusion, these people need to survive the harsh conditional environment they are in, and that is why they have to look for means to help them cope.
Functioning in the Middle Class
In the middle class, it is the ability to multitask as people expect to be an all-knowing individual. The range of what-to-know starts from helping siblings do homework, playing piano, using an ATM card, and knowing about insurance, mortgages, and pension schemes. Moreover, there is the need to understand how to decorate a house, know how to use garage and basement tools, and be able to use certain materials daily. These activities are learned as people do their day-to-day activities and perfect the skills over time.
From a general perspective, one can describe them as survival tactics that each needs to possess. With more interaction and practice, people in the middle class become perfect in the field. Most of the activities are school taught and learned informally. To be successful in this class, one needs to be open to learning and implementing new skills daily. An open mind will enable one to intake the skills with new ones depending on the individual’s need (Putra et al., 2021). People in the middle class will need to adapt to whatever comes their way as they need to survive.
Functioning in the Upper Class
Money and resource management are skills taken for granted in the upper social class. The questionnaire depicts these people as focusing on spending the money at their disposal. The range of activities they involve in requires a lot of money, for example, hiring interior designers, going on vacations, owning planes, admitting children to private schools, and being able to interact with prominent people. Therefore, one needs to understand money and resource management to maintain social status. These pieces of information are learned in schools and financial institutions and experienced over time.
The upper social class needs people who can manage their resources, as most possess vast property. Traveling, private schools, and their expensive lives make these people careful of whatever activity they indulge in. They sometimes need helpers who can advise on specific issues they may not be knowledgeable about. One needs to understand that these people are familiar or have a team that helps ensure they do not lose their social status (Dolifka et al., 2021). Again, this class is defined by priorities, as people will decide where to use plenty of resources. Some will travel, others will buy residential, while others will invest.
As a Social Being
I had many ticks in the middle-class questionnaire and the least in the upper class. I consider myself in such a class as I can relate to most questions. Even though I may not be at the highest level of the middle class, but I can categorize myself within the bracket. I feel like I am on the lower end of the middle class as I can relate to more poverty-related questionnaires than the other class. In the upper class, I do not tell most of the questionnaire’s questions since I am not privileged to some extent.
I am not surprised by the outcome as I consider myself in that class. I think most of the people in the class learn more through interactions and having to do most things on their own. I am one of those people that understand a lot about what goes around them and adapt to the changes. Manly indicates that Charles Darwin states that people must adapt to their situation as survival is always for the fittest and those willing to change (2020). Furthermore, I believe that change is always necessary, and people have to adapt to different lifestyles to fit in society. The change will help people become knowledgeable and relate with others well.
One question that got my attention is the people ‘surviving in poverty,’ having the ability to break out someone from prison, and being able to get a gun with no police record. I always believe the middle and upper-class people are the only people with that privilege. My limited gun and jail-breaking knowledge made me think that the exercises would require a lot of money and resources. For example, breaking someone out of jail, like in the movies, requires well-connected people who could help in the cover-up and the mission completion. Therefore, putting the question under the poverty level makes little sense. The same applies to the accommodation of unlicensed guns. As much as the crime rates are high among the poor, I think accessing those weapons requires a tall person for easy accessibility and gun acquisition.
The exercise brought mixed reactions; it made me realize how people categorize and stereotype others in society. For example, the poverty surviving social class is associated with more crimes than others. The middle- and upper classes have zero questions compared to the two in the other class. One cannot argue that there are more crimes among the poor than in the other courses, but does it mean the different types cannot be related to any crimes? Again, the middle- and upper classes are only asked about the finer things in life, making one wonder if they do not face any societal challenges. However, the questionnaire made me understand the three different social classes cannot easily co-exist in one place as they have other goals and priorities (Bond, 2020). I think the lower and middle class can relate much of what they do and know than the upper class, which seems to be on their own.
People react differently to news depending on how they feel about specific issues. I feel like the question was unfair to the poor. That explains my adverse reaction to the questionnaire, as I always advocate for equity among the people. One should understand that all people cannot be equal, and it is advisable to respect the differences in the community. Demeaning other people cannot help elevate others but will discourage them more. In a situation where the questionnaire was fair and balanced in its assessment, I would have enjoyed knowing what kind of crimes the privileged in society can be accused of.
In another instance, I enjoyed replying to the questionnaire as I learned what each social class values and is defined by. For example, I enjoyed knowing that the poor are determined by the idea of getting food and being able to survive the harsh conditions they are exposed to. It was pleasant to know that these people can survive adversity and live harmoniously. On the other hand, the middle class is defined by how they can juggle between escaping poverty and multitasking since they are exposed to several surroundings. It was the most interesting social class to learn about, and I realized how they try to fit into every category. For example, they portray the poor and upper-class characteristics. Hence I classified them as a hybrid. Lastly, I learned about the upper class’s obsession with spending money and their privileged accessories and financial freedom.
References
Bond, M. A. (2020). Diversity in the community: Rethinking psychological perspectives on bridging differences. In Rethinking Community through Transdisciplinary Research (pp. 69-83). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Dolifka, D., Spiller, S. A., Herzog, N., Bartels, D., Goodyear, L., Howard, C., & Pomerance, J. (2021). The psychology of financial resource allocation. ACR North American Advances.
Dollar, C. B., Donnelly, E. A., & Parker, K. F. (2019). Joblessness, poverty, and neighborhood crime: Testing Wilson’s assertions of jobless poverty. Social Currents, 6(4), 343-360.
Manly, B. F. (2020). The Survival of the Fittest. In The Fascination of Statistics. CRC Press, 331-350.
Putra, M. A. H., Rahman, A. M., Jumriani, J., Abbas, E. W., & Subiyakto, B. (2021). The street clowns in Banjarmasin city as a life survival strategy. The Innovation of Social Studies Journal, 2(2), 121-126.