In America, social class is not something that people talk about on daily basis. Mass media does not consider this as social nor political issues.  However, in the current election cycle, the working class is becoming political active. This is the beginning of a new trend. In my view, the working class in America has believed in individual achievement. Individualism has been the slogan all along. This is the reason there is no major labor union in America. Without a strong labor union. It is hard to oppose any government policies touching on workers. When only a small portion of the workers opposes such policies, there is a slight chance of their grievances being handled.

The working class is now realizing the mistake and embracing a model of self-sufficiency., they are beginning to value belonging as opposed to individual achievement. They want to belong to something that can make a change in their lives. Issues such as economic failures affect the working class much. Consider the great recession of 2008, there was a failure in the financial market due to the debt crisis. The working class in trying to secure the future usually invests in financial markets. Thus, the great recession greatly affected them. They now believe in solidarity in determining the type of policies they want by being politically active.

Ion the issue of class-consciousness, Karl Max argued that the working class had to stop seeing themselves as I and We rather they should see themselves as we. They working class in America has not been a unit rather individuals have been worried about themselves. As I said earlier, this is the reason there is no major labor union in America. I think it is reasonable to have class-consciousness in America because most of the people are in the working class. If these people can work as one, they have the power to change the societies by determining the policies and government actions through voting for the right candidate as one unit.

If the people in the working class had one voice, they can make a change in the society. Issues such as health insurance and social security affect the working class. As one unit, the working class can be able to oppose some of the government policies that touch on their social or work life. Again, it is common to find that the employers are collaborating with the politicians to make policies that intimidate the workers. The workers in this case are left to fight for themselves.

The middle class is defined as those people who are educated and working in white thus earning income. The upper class is those who are rich or have a political or social influence. Consider the business executives and CEOs who have influence. They will be considered to belong in the upper class though they are working and earning an income. Thus, the working class comprises both members of the middle class and the upper class.

In implementing a class-based affirmative action, I would use homeowner ship, parental education and socioeconomic status to measure the student’s social class. First, those who own a home are considered to be at a certain class in the society. In addition, education greatly influences ones social class. The well educated are likely to get good jobs and earn better incomes.  This will determine their social economic status. By combining the three measurers, one can know the students social status.

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