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Instruction: Reply two discussion and each one need about 150 words!

Discussion1:

Moving to a higher social class takes a lot of time, hope, and ambition. People who are in the working class probably wish they were middle class while those who are middle class wish they were upper class. Unfortunately no matter how much you wish social mobility will not happen over time, you have to work for it. I believe being ambitious is a major key factor to moving to a higher social class. In the video Glenn lost his job and was being threatened to have his home taken away from him. He however remained hopeful and did not let that discourage him. He soon got a new job which caused him to make some sacrifices such as hour drives and less time with his daughter, but that plays a role in time. By the end of the video thanks to his ambition Glenn got a new shift that allowed him to spend more time with his daughter and he even planned on moving to a different neighborhood.

Your social class is not only about your income but also about your family, neighborhood, education, and health. Therefore to move to a higher social class you must improve all of these things. In fact improving in one can help improve the other. For example in the video the woman got a new job. Without a job she would have to pay $50 a month for her two sons to go to school. Since she does have a job she only pays $5 a month. The video “faces of poverty” took place in Reading Pennsylvania which was described as a poor city. In the video Reading was described as having lots of crime, job closings, and low graduation rates. Improving your neighborhood by moving to a different one could improve your health, family, and education as well.

Discussion 2:

One key factor that can advance a person into a higher social class would be the environment in which they were raised in. A common saying is that people are “a product of their environment” and sometimes that is true. Many people strive to do better for themselves and their family, but if they do not have the means to do it, they can get stuck in the cycle. This cycle is an example of residual poverty which is explained in the textbook as “chronic and multigenerational.” If a person is raised in a nicer neighborhood, they have greater opportunities available to them and have a better chance of not falling below the poverty line because of these opportunities that are more accessible.

Another key factor that can advance a person into a higher social class would be education. The job market is not what it used to be when our grandparents or even parents were our age. They were able to get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. Now it is almost necessary to have a college degree in order to have a well - paying job. If a person does not have at least a high school diploma, it is very difficult for them to live a decent life. The video explained that the Reading school district has a 68% graduation rate. That is a very low graduation rate for a high school to have.

The woman, Adrielys, that was interviewed in the video shows what her life is like because she dropped out of school and never had the chance to go to college because she had children. She shows what it is like to have to take care of two children on a minimum wage job. She struggles with it every day.