Classism..... is there a such thing?

I still recall a conversation I had with one of my best friends. She and I got onto the topic of immigration. Typically we don't discuss politics. I stray away from it with her because she and I have such different views on it. She has the strong mind set, like many people that I have talked to, that wealth is fairly and equally available for everyone. She truly believed that if anyone works hard enough they can make i.
She comes from a wealthier family than I do. The idea of "wealth" for me has been one that as I talk to people about I realize comes from where we stand in our social class. People that I consider wealthy, my friends in the past and present, did and do not see themselves as wealthy. To me wealthy meant that the parents could pay for colleges and they received new clothes every year before school started. They also bought almost any brand outside of Walmart or K mart and rarely if ever shopped at Goodwill. For the "wealthy" shopping at Goodwill was seen as a way to stand out and be unique with funky outdated clothes, not a way to save money. Wealthy meant that they ate certain foods and drove certain cars. For my friends they saw themselves as middle class but by no means rich.

When I stop to think about it every friend I have had has come from a "higher class" than I do. I have grown up with the idea that I was poor. It was something my mom talked about consistently and sometimes in subtle ways. Mostly she out rightly came out and stated it but sometimes it was implied. I recall very distinctly when I needed new shoes and I told my mom they were falling apart. She responded that she had needed new shoes for a long time and couldn't afford her own so how could I expect her to buy me some. My clothes had been hand-me-downs for my entire childhood. In middle school I fortunate to have an older sister who had moved away to college give me her old clothes. She, perhaps hoping to look like a higher class, bought what we considered nice clothes. Clothes from Gap, Express, The Limited, Delias, or other "brand name" clothes. If I did get new clothes it was from Walmart or Kmart. "Shopping for clothes" meant going to Goodwill or Salvation Army. That was not often. My lunch everyday was the same thing: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That was it and I didn't have a lunch box or even a paper bag so I would put it in the lunch basket with all the other kids lunch boxes. By the time lunch time came my sandwich was at the bottom of the basket smashed. I remember in Kindergarten my teacher would ask me everyday where my boots were. Everyday I lied and said I forgot them. She finally caught on and was kind enough to buy me a pair of snow boots. I didn't have my "own room" until I was a junior in high school. In fact for many years my mom was on public aid and we lived in government assistance housing. In middle school, I hated having friends come over because that meant they would see all the things that were so different about me. We didn't order pizza, like all the other cool wealthy kids, we ate left overs recooked for the second or third time. We didn't have soda or milk to offer them: we had water.
My siblings often joke now about how poor we grew up as kids. We can look back and laugh at our painful experiences with social settings and our class.
But where does this idea come from that  we all have equal opportunities to reach wealth? Though I don't believe it the idea comes from television. The idea seems to fit in line with the "American Dream." The idea "American Dream" is a one that supports equal opportunity for everyone. Everyone wants to believe that this country is truly "free." How could a country really be "free" if the opportunities are limited to only certain groups? It would seem if that was so then all of these years, all of the wars, all of the fighting, all of the giving of lives, deaths, and lost loved ones would be a waste. It seems that this is the very reason it is so difficult for so many people to accept the fact that there really is not equal opportunities across the board. Much like the American Dream capitalism has proved to be an unjust and corrupt system. Where capitalism once started as a system that claimed to allow everyone equal and fair opportunity to make money, it has become a twisted and biased system. Those that are given opportunities to flourish in it are very often those that already have wealth from passed down family.
According to Richard Butsch in his article Ralph, Fred, Archie, and Homer there are a few reasons why the idea that wealth is attainable by everyone is a strong ideology in television. Butsch article discusses the Buffoon or the blue collar worker who is played out to be an unworthy, lazy, and stupid person who could get  more out of life financially but appears to have "chosen" to be from the working class. This is the typical character seen in almost every sitcom on television that represents the working class. Those watching can see that this character brings upon himself his financial woes. He is unworthy of any better kind of lifestyle because he is constantly making dumb choices. His stupidity even would seem to be a choice.
This character is shown in sitcoms for a few reasons. First it works. This program has worked and television broadcasting receives the ratings and money its searching for. There is too much risk involved in trying to find new entertainment. Secondly networks work in conjunction with advertising companies. They use product placement to allude to wealthy by ownership of certain products. This ideology seems to suggest that owning a product will convince others of wealth that actually is not there. Even more so that owning a product may actually change a person's status. The third reason is that programmers hope to appeal to the audience that is watching the show. Producers hope to create character's occupations based on the setting and situation of the show. They hoped that the audience would relate well too. In other words they wanted to whole show to appear as natural and real life like as possible. This says something about the producers as well though. They are maybe in some ways internalized the same ideology that they are enforcing as truth.
I'm still back at the same point I seem to be at the end of every blog. As consumers in the most literal sense, we need to be careful what we are consuming and that that we do "consume" needs evaluation and awareness in the highest regard.