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After watching all of these videos on social class in America, I don't think that the American Dream is reachable. In our divided society, hard work is not enough. We've seen that in the videos, one of the women in the videos had even said that just because you have money, doesn't mean you'll be accepted in a higher social class.

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A·mer·i·can dream

əˈmerəkən drēm/

noun

1. the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.

2. "he could achieve the American dream only by hard work"

From the start of “people like us” they open with the implied idea that the construct of social class isn't a factor in the american dream. To a person who doesn't know what the american dream is, this might sound correct, but it isn't. The economy is based on a divided social spectrum. the american dream is the ideal that no matter what class you're born into you have the capability to change your class with hard work or with the lack thereof. Not only can the lower and middle class advance to a higher class with dedication to education and a strong work ethic, but the higher class are also subject to the possibility of losing their title as that. You can be born into money but if you have a spit poor attitide and you're lazy you won't exel. Social class can be altered, for the better being the american dream, for the worse being an american nightmare. People of all classes are equal, we are all americans. We have the equal right to go to school and get an education, how hard you chose to work in school and if you decide to continue after high school is your choice and the options are everyone's right as an american; money can only improve the settings under which your education undergoes.  we are all kept under the same constitution, we have the same laws. That being said, there are cases in which the upper class with money and bribery can evade the law. honest people can prevent this, but not everyone is honest, and that isn't right but every ideology has flaws. a perfect one has yet to be introduced. No matter where you're from and no matter what your last name, you have the equal right to pursue an education and to make something of yourself. John D. Rockefeller was the son of a traveling sales agent and moved many times throughout his life. He worked hard at his education and he borrowed money to take control of a refinery and later became widely known as the wealthiest american of all time. The american dream is perfectly probable with hard work, and social class cannot be eliminated without the complete downfall of our nation's entire economy. The only way to eliminate class is to eliminate our former proud title as a capitalist country. But, if not capitalism, then what?

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I think it's stupid that he didn't get sentenced to any time in jail. He only got 10 years of probation even though he killed 4 people, paralyzed the other guy, and injured the other person. If a middle class person did the same thing as he did, they would have had to go to jail and serve jail time because they wouldn't have had the money to pay for the treatment and the defense. I also think it is not fair that they didn't even help pay for the paralyzed guy to get the medical help he needed because of Ethan's driving, so he can only communicate by blinking his eyes.

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I think it's kinda ridiculous that someones social status kept them out of jail. Homeboy goofed. Money or no money, he killed 4 people and should go to jail for it.

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I believe that the idea of social class is childish and as a nation we need to work to beat these stereotypes and accept people in society no matter where they started. For the Couch case I do understand that the family was very wealthy, but I do believe that the case was dealt with as it should've been, regarding the initial case. He was a 16 year old kid.

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I find it wrong that it's okay for Couch it get away with what he did because of him having "affluenza." That him being more privileged he has a different out come

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Just because a family has money, doesn't exempt them from punishment of crimes.

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The "Affluenza" case was absolutely ridiculous. Being raised without learning proper morals shouldn't be an excuse for killing, and destroying the life of a family. In fact, people with this affluenza, should be punished as harshly as everybody else. Money should not be an escape from the law.

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I think it's disgusting that Ethan barely served any time, and dodged what should have been at least twenty years in jail simply by saying that he never learned any rules.  As if it's not common knowledge that drunk driving and killing four people and significantly changing others is wrong, and something to avoid.  Being rich shouldn't equate to being above the law, in any way.

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I think it is pathetic how richness is only determined by materialism and that how those that don't have everything, they are immediately less than those who do. You can be rich without having all of the "stuff." However, of course, those of higher materialism classes refuse to accept that idea and they look down upon every one else, even those of the same class as them I'm sure.

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I found it strange how there are so many different rules for the different social classes.

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It's rather frustrating to see that someone can make stupid, irresponsible decisions, and then to be able to pay their way out of murder because, y'know, murder is only okay if you have money. The biggest issue though is that the rich family had refused to pay for the hospital bill of ye who had been injured in the incident. They (Sergio's family) could not pay the bills and had asked for the Couch family to pay or help with the bills. They refused. That is ignorance at it's finest.

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I think that the idea that we should be separated by social class is absurd. I think it is disgusting that many people judge others completely based off of wealth.

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I understand that when you are born, you may belong to a different social class, However I was not aware off the rules and regulations of how one must act in each specific class. I know life is not fair, but in the same figure, I believe it is wrong that someone who puts in all the time and effort into lets say...getting in to college...vs having it just handed to you because you are wealthy.

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I find extremely ridiculous and pathetic that Couch's side of the case was trying to fight the case by saying he has affluenza. He made a stupid decision and killed 4 people and injured others, his normally privileged life should not be an excuse. That would be like saying a drug addict that was raised in the ghetto shouldn't get full punishment because he "doesn't know any better" but we don't see that happening.

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I find it hard to believe that this is what our great country has come  to today. In the second article it tells us that the family of the "killer" would not help the family of Sergio Molina with the hospital bills even though they received a 2 million dollar settlement after the case was closed. Sergio Molina was crippled and wasn't able to talk and suffered serious brain damage and Couch got off Scott-free because of "Affluenza."

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I find it sad that our society is divided by social class but thinking back on society thats the way that it has always been. I think that because society has always been divided by social class people feel the need to continue to follow trdition. Also I feel that the gap between the classes continues to become bigger and bigger.
In the case of the "affluenza teen" I believe that what happened is wrong. You should not be able to get out of drunk driving just because you are rich. For the people that were riding in the bed of the truck I don't feel bad. I understand that that probly sounds bad but we all make our decisions in life. They chose to get in the back of a truck that was driven by a drunk driver. The people that he killed that were standing on the road deserve to get justice though.

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I don't understand why we let social class and social standards dictate where we can "fit in" as individuals.  If you work hard and aim high and reach your goals someday, you should be proud of yourself and the people you are surrounded with should be proud of you too.  We believe in the "American Dream," but many people act as if climbing higher on the "social scale" is unnatural and you belong where you start.

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I do not believe that "Affluenza" is a real condition.  I believe Ethan Crouch was responsible for his actions and should've been sentenced to jail time, not probation. He killed four people and injured two. I think he wasn't put in jail because of his social class and his parent's money.

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The social order we maintain today was created by Americans and not the government. So we can change the social class to our will and we do depending on where we live and perhaps the social class even changes daily.

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Its sad to see that we are labeling people by classes just because of how much money they make. It's disappointing that we still use these words today. Lower class, Middle class and Higher class. I think that we should just learn how to be equal. OK so someone has more money we should not let money define us. We should not let money choose the class we are in.

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It's amazing to see what someone will do to climb to the top of the class ladder, which, in this case, seems sort of impossible to be from the total bottom and somehow become accepted by the elite. There's a difference between hard work and being born into money, but in no way is it right to kick the poor for being where they are. No single person is better than another. It really is not surprising to me, the inequality is right before our eyes all the time.

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I find it so sad that we just accept this reality that our nation is completely divided by class, when our ideals were founded as our country working together as a whole. As equals. People try s hard to climb this social ladder, and after seeing "How To Marry Rich" small thing really become more apparent to me in the fact that that woman was teaching her how to act, and we literally had and "etiquette class" in student council that taught us how to behave.