Class in America

Oprah's show today was about class in America. No, she wasn't talking about the avalanche decline in public behavior with Paris Hilton as the resident expert. It was an eye opening, frank discussion about the rich, the poor and the rest of us, who apparently are quickly being absorbed into one of the two extremes.

I caught only half of it, but the most interesting guest was the granddaughter of Warren Buffett. You know, the second richest man in the world? Worth $40-something billion? After college, his heirs are cut off. They get no money. She works for a family less wealthy than hers "organizing things" for them (whatever that means) and painting. She seemed very well spoken, smart and maybe a little embarrassed at her situation. Juxtapose that with Jamie Johnson, of the Johnson and Johnson family, who is rebelling by making documentaries such as The One Percent and Born Rich, exposing his tight-lipped world of the wealthiest one percent in society (using his father's money of course). Daddy Johnson is none to happy with him about that, but apparently not upset enough to go all Buffett on his, uh, butt.

A few things about the show disturbed me. One was this hint that the very wealthy are to blame for the very poor being poor. The expert made a good point, that the old money continues to pass down to the heirs and continue to make money, so it doesn't exactly trickle down to the middle or lower class. But if you are hinting that our country should MAKE people give their money to the poor...well that's just unthinkable. I'm going to work my butt off and no one should be allowed to tell me what to do with it. I believe in philanthropy, but I'm not going to legally punish those who don't. Make sense?

The other was a black man who when asked if he thought there was a chance for his son to be rich in America, he looked at his son and said, "He got no chance to be a rapper. He got no chance to be rich." So sad and so GOOD that Oprah pointed out that his view of wealth was limited to 50 Cent. Why couldn't his son be an entrepreneur, a biologist, an architect, a cop, a soldier, a businessman, an artist, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, etc? I disagree with any notion that you can't get to where you want in America. Sure, we all have challenges, but we also have choices. I had the same opportunity as my sister and brother (the two right below me in our family of six kids, ages 24 and 18, respectfully) yet they made choices that lead them to be sans high school diploma and I made the choice to go to grad school.

That leads me to my last point. I was actually scared by the expert's statement that the biggest determination for what class you'll end up in - are your parents. It seems obvious. They determine where you go to school as a child and that leads you to a certain quality of education and the odds that you'll go to college (or the value you see in college). But it's so scary that millions of kids will fall into the cycle of their parents lives. Not so bad if you're born rich, but daunting if you're born poor. And that's not just about money. It's about quality of life.

For reasons I don't know, I wanted more than six kids and a trailer. I wanted more than making ends meet and my siblings so far, haven't. I don't get it. That's why I think poverty is really a state of mind. I don't think of myself as poor. I want more out of life for myself and my kids.