On Social Status
“Man must use what he has, not hope for what is not.”
We have the uncanny ability of forming into groups and with all groups hierarchy is par for the course. Within this natural order you will find the divine 3 (those at the top, those in the middle, those at the bottom) the numbers in these three groups will vary of course but the structure remains the same wealthy, middle class, poor or tall, average, short. With all things in life styles make fights so we will continuously encounter the inevitable outliers although they are the exception and not the rule our need to view those people as such will always run strong as it gives us hope to possibly change our “lot in life”.
For the most part people are pretty much static in their place on the totem pole of social status from dining in expensive restaurants to wearing luxury brands or driving sports cars completing these tasks will not change ones position. The social order of our society has pretty much been set and we all accept it as such whether consciously or subconsciously. A perfect example is the person of high status who “stumbles” upon a whole in the wall eatery with great treats or the average joe who saves his coins to take his special someone to one of the top tier restaurants in the city. To most that would seem normal but no different than Eddie Murphy’s role in trading places both men are occupying the spaces of each other being that this pecking order is well established throughout time most people of high-status by in large come from a lineage of high-status and the same for the average joe and their lineage of averageness.
Why do we find the need to change our social status?
A persons social status allows for the greater possibilities the higher you are through birth, will, or guile. The internet affords one the opportunity to change their social status via perception coupled with a quick wit the possibility of “faking it till you make it” is much easier to access. The commonality of the western social totem pole and eastern varna system of Hinduism makes these points clear. The stark contrast in life between Brahmin and the Shudra is no different from our western rich and poor. Many people chase status as a means of being in the “in” crowd while most see it as a means to recreate the reality they were born into. If we look at Silicon Valley we can peak into the ameba like nature of social status as it evolves through stimulus. We find those who want to do away with social status due to the implications of unfairness, I don’t believe we will come to a point as a society in which fairness will be the order of the day. As humans are flawed the things we create and the execution of said things are flawed, ones social status is a by product of this and if you don’t believe me I ask are you nouveau riche?
SweatPant out…