By Celeste Aguilar - Student Author
Imagine meeting someone new at a party. One of the first questions raised is: What do you do? In our society this doesn't mean what do you do for fun; it means how do you earn a living? It's not a question to get to know that person intimately but a way to gather stereotypes of that person in order to make a judgment about their life. We then use these judgments as a tool as to how to figure out which class we belong to and how to climb to the top of the class system, thus becoming successful; sometimes called The American Dream.
This idea of success is based on a belief that an individual is in charge of her own destiny. That individual must only work hard, get educated, and want it (success) bad enough to obtain that goal. Taken further is the belief that an individual is able to rise from lower class to upper class to obtain that American Dream. We are constantly comparing ourselves to The Jones's to see how much farther we have to go to "make it" and surpass those comparisons. One example of a goal to reach for could be Donald Trump, real estate mogul. According to Wikipedia his net worth for 2012 is $2.9 billion from such things as investments, his trademarked name, and the Miss Universe Organization. ("Donald Trump," 2012) It may appear that Mr. Trump worked hard for what he has today but really he was born into the upper class; he received an Ivy League education and took over his wealthy fathers' real estate business 3 years after graduation. There is no "rags to riches" story just the upper class maintaining their position taking full advantage of resources readily available to the upper class. But the media doesn't tend to focus on how the rich became that way, rather it's a focus on the material goods obtained in a positive and almost envious light. We are enticed by these glamorous lifestyles seemingly rewarded for striving and obtaining the American Dream.
The wealthy are also portrayed as individuals rather than as a class with their own interests as priority. Recently a CEO of Facebook renounced his U.S. Citizenship among great speculation that it was a move to avoid paying huge taxes once Facebook shares go public (Goldman, 2012). How can such actions be considered 'hard work'? Instead it is the upper class taking advantage of the poor and middle classes whom pay taxes on their income and don't have the resources to escape these laws. Although, our society has been socialized to think these are just shrewd business men whom have earned the use of such superior tactics. To further this involvement, information directly affecting the wealthy overwhelms the mainstream media, thus making it "important" to the majority of media watchers/readers, the non-wealthy. We have become followers of the wealthy on social media, we tune in to the results of winners on celebrity reality shows, and we are invested in their lives because we believe they are regular people just like us.
Another belief is that the poor are not like us; that they are ignorant, lazy and lack the desire to succeed. The media portrays and reinforces the idea of people being poor as a result of their own actions. Also perpetuated is a persona of poor black families that repeat a cycle of poverty between the generations they can never end. It is though the thought about such families is that they're not worth the effort of education or assistance so why bother, they are a burden. Often we are asked to donate money to the poor of other countries, but rarely are we asked to help our own poor. The media doesn't report on the poor people in this country, it seems they really don't exist here. Most celebrities whom adopt "unfortunate" children that have come from other countries are praised for these "humanitarian efforts". Thus American orphans are depicted as having too many behavioral problems, the wait is too long, or adoption in the states is too expensive. It appears the American poor children are not worth the investment of parenthood because they will just repeat the cycle, right? The media portrays and reinforces the idea of people being poor as a result of their own actions. For example they are described as making bad decisions with money or they don't have the drive to become successful. More than likely lost jobs, foreclosures, and bankruptcy were some causes. Media has created an "us vs. them" reporting by further out-casting the poor as 'them', the undesirable. By doing these things the media has changed the majority (middle class) into forgetting the poor and thinking we Americans are all in the same boat with the same priorities and interests.
A fear has been created that those "unfortunates" victimize the middle class with higher taxes, crimes, and losing jobs; while ignoring the crimes of corporate America and the rich. The upper class are the owners of the media thus control what is aired, reported, and which way the information is skewed towards. The upper class owns the corporations that have taken their factories and middle classes jobs to other countries to avoid taxations and regulations in the U.S. This results in the middle class taking lower wage jobs or applying for unemployment thus crossing into the lower class. The upper class have the resources to pay lobbyists to influence policies enacted to favor the interests of the upper class while ignoring the needs of lower and middle classes. They also have the resources to be elected to public office to further enact laws and control government in favor of the upper class. The media has skewed our thinking that class does not exist in America while the upper class has become the governing body in our politics and economy. Currently the two major parties in our country are dividing the middle class by blaming the other party for the above victimizations. It seems the middle class gets too caught up in that tactic to realize what is really happening: we are not equal in the U.S. The belief of reaching the American Dream, having our 15 minutes of fame, or striking it rich has blinded the middle class from reality. These ideas are characterized well in our media, especially on T.V. There is an optimism that "things will get better" without any real proposal on how to reach that state. Instead life goes on as usual with expectations of better paying jobs around the corner to pay off this debt we are continuing to incur without regard to our future. With our head in the sand more power is taken away. The recent Occupy Movements (in the U.S.) have brought to the forefront the inequality in our country, with the richest 1% in power over the 99% (www.occupytogether.org). Unfortunately the media coverage of these protests was mostly biased and depicted the protestors as anarchists and rapists without organization or a clear goal (Wyant, 2012). This made it easier for Middle America to dismiss those "hippies" and get back to work at their low paying job. I believe the middle class need to utilize their consumer dollars by spending money on American made products as much as possible and choosing to frequent small businesses instead of large corporations for goods and entertainment. If we would "vote with our dollar" the impact on our country could truly reestablish the belief in the American Dream.
Bibliography
Goldman, D. (2012, May 11). Facebook co-founder renounces US citizenship. CNNMoney Tech. Retrieved May 12, 2012 from HYPERLINK http://www.occupytogether.org
'Donald Trump'. Updated May 7, 2012 in Wikipedia. Retrieved May 12, 2012
Wyant, C. (2012, February 23). Covering The Coverage: What's Behind The Media's Depiction Of Occupy Protestors?. Mint Press Net. Retrieved May 12, 2012 from HYPERLINK http://www.mintpress.net/covering-the-coverage-whats-behind-the-medias-depiction-of-occupy-protestors/
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Evidence now implicates top BP executives as well as its partners Chevron and Exxon and the Bush Administration in the deadly cover-up -- which included falsifying a report to the Securities Exchange Commission.
"Schrader said that the September 17th shutdown of the Central Azeri (CA) platform... was the largest such emergency evacuation in BP's history. Given the explosive potential, BP was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and to prevent any gas ignition. ... Due to the blowout of a gas-injection well there was 'a lot of mud' on the platform."





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