Class

In high school History class, we used to learn about the different classes that were once put in place in Europe years ago. I was never a fan of History class, so at the moment the only type of class I can remember is peasants. I don't think America's class system is to the extreme of how Europes' was but we definitely do have a system. After reading about our class system, the only thing that really surprised me was the in between class that doesn't receive recognition. I was aware of the lower, middle and upper class but I guess I never realized there was an inbetween one. I was also shocked to read about poverty line.I believe that it needs to be reevaluated. I don't think $19,000 a year for a family of four is reasonable. My rent for next year will be a total of about $5,000 for eleven months, for a three bedroom apartment. If you multiply that by three, there is only $4,000 left over to pay for groceries, medical care, dental care, transportation and other bills. I don't see how the government expects anyone to live on that type of budget, especially with the price of living continuing to increase. To be considered "lower class" makes life hard enough but I think at times it might be even harder to live in the inbetween class. If someone is below the poverty line, they should atleast have access to welfare and food stamps. But for those who are above the poverty line but below "middle class," they do not have these options. Most communities are lacking certain needs, such as these options available to their members but because  of their "invisible" appearance, they may be easily forgotten. It is probably fairly easy to drive through a community, see that it has a school, a park, and a community center and to not think anything else of it. But if you go inside some of those locations, I bet the experience would be similar to the tour of the East St. Louis High School. These hidden needs are similar to society. If you walk across the oval, you'll pass by plenty of students who look like they're happy and have a great life. But in reality, we all have problems, some people are just better at hiding it at others. This concept also applies to our communities. Even communities that have nice facilities probably still have problems. There problems might not be run down schools but maybe it is a lack of involvement from their citizens. Look at Desperate Housewives, that community seems perfect, but every Sunday someone is being killed, cheated on or robbed. The point of this random rant is that every community has problems, whether we are able to notice them or not. And I think the only way to assess these needs is to break down the invisible wall, explore and take inventory of a community.