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Kyle Colucci
English 1050
Dr. Ramsby
11/25/16
Class Diversity in America
Have you ever thought about or wondered why your superiors get more compensation for
what they do at work; while you are stuck doing things no one wants to do and getting paid less
for it? Well you arent the only one who has thought about this. The subject of who should have
the higher salary has always been a topic of debate. While we would like to think that a subject
of this sort wouldnt affect our country, it has become a major point of contention among us
lately. The main contenders of this contention are those that are part of the so-called one percent
and those that are part of the working class.
We have two sides to this debate and both want compensation for the jobs that they
complete, but how should the pie be divided? The matter isnt as simple as this question might
make it seem. While both sides may do an equal amount of work the profit pie doesnt get shared
equally between them. Those at the top of the ladder get bigger slices then those at the bottom or
even the middle of the ladder and it is only getting worse as time goes on. Steven Greenhouse
sums this up nicely in his article Worked Over and Overworked with this sentence, Very
simply corporations, along with their CEOs, are seizing a bigger piece of the nations economic
pie for themselves, leaving the nations workers and their families diminished (408).

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Steven Greenhouse also talks about how those in the working class are being denied the
wages that they should be getting because of the economic growth, but arent because the
corporate higher ups are siphoning that money to their wages (407). Greenhouse gives us this
quote from Paul Krugman about the economic growth, Its a great economy if youre a highlevel corporate executive or someone who owns a lot of stock. For most other Americans,
economic growth is a spectator sport (407). This isnt the only problem, those at the bottom can
hit pay walls where their wages dont increase or sometimes they must work without pay for the
labor completed (Greenhouse 405). This arrangement isnt satisfactory to those of the working
class so they find ways to band together to get what they want from their higher ups, which
doesnt always work in their favor.
Just because you ask for something doesnt always mean youre going to get it. In fact, in
todays corporations its best to not to complain about work conditions or that you arent getting
a good enough wage. While the lower class have grouped up before to fight this, it is much
harder for them to do so now. The modern working America is too afraid to talk about these
things for fear of punishment from the management (Greenhouse 409). It is this environment that
has led to many Americans losing their jobs because they thought their efforts were worth more
than what they were receiving. Amanda Hamilton talked about this herself in her week 11
response, I work in a low-paying job (with low hours because they dont want to provide
mandated benefits) and work more hours than I get paid for because Im grateful for the job and
dont want to lose it.
This change to a more accepting or docile working class may have come from the
Millennial generation, which is more accepting of change and how the world works without
fighting against it. In a study done by the Pew Research Center they found that most Millennials

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dont claim work ethic as one of their defining traits (60). This trait was given to the older
generation who at this point hold a lot of the executive corporate jobs. This doesnt mean that
Millennials dont have a work ethic at all, it just means that most of them dont see that as an
important trait of theirs (Pew 60).
This generation jump has caused the workplace to change because of the change in
demeanor of the workers. This evolution of the workplace has given new meaning to the social
structure of the workplace as well. This social structure can be used to determine the class of not
only the employee but that of the customer as well (Mann and Spadley 419). Mann and Spadley
give us a great example in their article The Cocktail Waitress where we see a new waitress learn
the ropes of her job (Mann and Spadley 418). Through this example, we see that how much
money you make does not always determine someones class, but can also be determined by your
position in the social structure of an organization (Mann and Spadley 420).
Have we learned everything there is that goes into determining your class? I think that we
havent, but the rest is something I will leave up to you to find out. This way you can learn just
like I did about how our class can be used to reward us or to discriminate against us. I know I
always enjoy a reward but to be discriminated against isnt enjoyable. An interesting example of
this deals with a mural and the controversy of having it removed.
In Maine, there was a mural that was part of the Department of Labor. It was removed by
the governor of the state after some businesses complained about it. The reason they complained
about the mural was that they said it wasnt correct in the way that it portrayed the workers that
were displayed. This complaining brought about its removal and the protesting of those that were

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against the idea (Taylor 436). Even though they protested the removal, these groups didnt get
their way and the mural now stays in storage awaiting its fate (George and Trimbur, 2011).
While this is sad fate for a piece of history, it is also an example of how those that are on
top of the corporate ladder are more likely to get their way. This along with many other examples
dot the history of our country. While they arent good, they can teach us the things we need to
know so we dont fall into the trap of using someones class to judge a person. While we may not
make as much as our bosses we are just as or more important than those that are at the top of the
corporate ladder. Without us working class or bottom of the ladder workers there wouldnt even
be a ladder for us to climb.
This all leads us back to how class is used in our country to separate its citizens into
groups that in my opinion dont even matter. Greenhouse and Taylor, while showing different
environments and means of class discrimination, show us that at the end of the day we are all
affected by it in different ways. Wages or pay rate only being one of these ways, so we come
back to the question of who should have the higher wage? This question may never have an
answer, but when it comes to wages the more experience and knowledge you have about a
certain job should become more money for doing that job.

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Works Cited
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing.
8th ed., New York, Pearson, 1 Nov. 2011. Print.

Greenhouse, Steven. Worked Over and Overworked. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical
Reading and Writing. 8th ed., New York, Pearson, 1 Nov. 2011. Pages 404-416 Print.

Mann, Brenda J. and Spadley, James P. The Cocktail Waitress. Reading Culture: Contexts for
Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed., New York, Pearson, 1 Nov. 2011. Pages 417-422.
Print.

Pew Research Center. Millennials: Confident. Connected, Open to change. Reading Culture:
Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed., New York, Pearson, 1 Nov. 2011. Pages
55-62. Print.

Taylor, Judy. The History of Labor in the State of Maine. Reading Culture: Contexts for
Critical Reading and Writing. 8th ed., New York, Pearson, 1 Nov. 2011. Pages 435-438.
Print.

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Revisions Made:

I added five sources into my paper to make it stronger.

I fixed my MLA formatting by adding my name and page number to the top of each page.
I added a works cited page at the end of my paper.
I edited my thesis to correlate better with the rest of my paper.
I added more information to meet the page requirement.
I rewrote the majority of my paper to make the transitions smoother and connect all my
ideas together.