Cohen On Poverty Summary

Last week I read the article “Cohen on Poverty.” That article is about differences in social class between the upper class and the lower class family. This article is indeed compelling to read. I learned that social class is not the way that I think it should be. There is a misconception about it. Many people think that in order to be considered as upper class, they must work their way up. I remember in my Humanities class we talked about this as “rising from rags to riches.” However, as I read this article it is not that way. Many sociologists think of the classes as individuals who are inside the boxes instead of working their way up on a ladder to a higher class; for example, the lower class individual stays with the lower class group, and
the upper class individual stays with the upper class group because they are comfortable in their own groups. Therefore, it cause difficulty for the upper class individuals to connect with the lower individuals because they do not have their subcultures in common. However, according to the article, there is still a possibility for connections between two classes.
I like the idea that if people between classes can connect with each other more easily, then their self-identification of being upper or lower class grow weaker. I like this idea because it is true for many people, especially students on college where the diversity between these two classes abounds. After all, we are humans that always need each other. I think this is a better picture of differences between the upper class and lower class family.