Week 2: Class about class

1. Deep questions, diverse actions

2. Deep questions, diverse actions
— My child has a septic foot.
— But why?
— Because she stepped on a thorn.
— But why?
— Because she was barefoot.
— But why?
— Because she does not wear shoes.
— But why?
— Because they broke and her father was too poor to buy new ones.
— Buy why is her father so poor?
— Because her father is a farmworker.
— But why does that make him poor?
— Because he is paid very little as a farmworker and must give half his harvest to the
landowner.
— But why? . . .
~ From David Werner and Bill Bower,
Helping Health Workers Learn: A Book of
Methods, Aids, and Ideas for Instructors at the
Village Level.

3. Deep questions, diverse actions
How does Mantsios’s “Class in America”
help to explain why Janette Navarro is in
the position that she’s in?

4. Deep questions, diverse actions
Myth 1: America is a classless society. Some are wealthy, some poor, most are in
the middle, but we’re all equal before the law and the basics are provided for us.
Myth 2: We’re essentially middle class, all partaking in the general affluence.
Myth 3: We’re all getting richer.
Myth 4: Everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
Reality 1: 60% hold less than 4 percent of the wealth. The top 1% wealth is growing
exponentially faster than the middle percentiles, not to mention those at the bottom.
Reality 2: The middles class holds a very small share of the nation’s wealth, and it’s
shrinking.
Reality 3: Class differences have a significant impact on physical and mental
wellbeing.
Reality 4: Class standing has a significant impact on survival, on how we spend our
time and money on, and the chances of becoming victims of crime.
Reality 5: Class standing correlates with educational achievement.
Reality 6: Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed. Inherited
wealth (plus education) give the upper class a greater likelihood of success.

5. Deep questions, diverse actions
Is capitalism consistent with democracy?

6. Deep questions, diverse actions

7. Economic Justice: The Scramble for Wealth and Power
A. The scramble
– No touching.
– Great wealth and power = ; some wealth and power = ;
little wealth and power =
– Donations?
B. Creating economic “fairness”
– Appoint a spokesperson.
– Create a plan.
– Share.
– Vote.
C. Debrief