Avetisian 1

David Avetisian
English 113B
Professor Koning
7 May 2014
The Importance of Solidarity
As the years pass by, I mature, learn, and gain wisdom, I've seen and experienced how
social classes work around me and it makes me wonder what social class I am in. My parents
came from Armenia and started out in America with essentially nothing. Life was really hard for
them as they had many struggles, both of my parents together, were a part of the fight for the
American dream. My parents went from nothing to owning their own house, cars, their own two
kids, and a golden retriever; the American dream was fulfilled. As I grew up I faced some of the
struggles with them but we did not thrive to success alone, we had help, there was solidarity
between a rich family and us. The rich family were long-distant relatives that helped my family
by giving us a place to stay for a very affordable price until we were able to stand on our feet. I
place my family in the middle class now, and my goal is to climb that ladder up to the rich class
and start to help those in need, because I know how much that help could impact a family's
future, even if that help is really minor. Standing in solidarity with those in need could really
change the lives of most people for the better; sharing is caring and that will significantly impact
our world and societies for the best. bell hooks also talks about sharing and caring, how essential
it is when it comes to social class.(hooks)
While most people think that talking about social class or even considering it as being
important is not the right thing to do, they're wrong. Social class is one of the most substantial
and valuable aspects of our society, and we need to figure out a way to save it. Social class has
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been a real issue and bell hooks talks about this in her book called Class Matters. bell hooks
talks about how class segregation is slowly occurring and what we should do to stop it.(hooks 1)
We all should try to stand in solidarity with each and every class; the lower working, middle, and
upper class. We need to build and have unity with each other to become a better and stronger
society. Before our very eyes class-segregation is coming closer and closer to reality, and we
need to do everything in our power to sustain and cease it.
Solidarity and charity to most people mean the same thing, but they have two different
meanings. Solidarity is when people come together and unite as one equally, whereas charity is
when someone donates to the ones in need but they do not unite as one equally, they are still
separate and different. Bell hooks' book Class Matters was written for one main purpose, it was
to try and help make a difference when it came to social class, for example class segregation.
Class segregation has been slowing occurring in our country and everywhere else around the
world but the key way of stopping it is standing in solidarity. We need to stop being selfish and
greedy and stop sharing and caring more for the poor and those who are in need. To stand in
solidarity with the poor, people must be willing to give up a lot of the pleasures and also change
they entire lifestyles to live equally and simple just as most of the poor people do. Therefore
standing in solidarity with all classes is really important to do.(hooks 46)
"To stand in solidarity with the poor is no easy gesture at a time when individuals of all
classes are encouraged to fear for their economic well-being. Certainly the fear of being
taken advantage of by those in need has led many people with class privilege to turn their
backs on the poor. As the gap between rich and poor intensifies in this society, those
voices that urge solidarity with the poor are often drowned out by mainstream
conservative voices that deride, degrade, and devalue the poor . . . we need a concerned
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left politics that continues to launch powerful critique of the ruling class groups even as it
also addresses and attends to the issues of strategic assault and demoralization of the
poor, a politics that can effectively intervene on class warfare" (hooks 46).
Standing in solidarity is certainly not an easy task or an easy decision to make, especially for the
rich. The rich have a lot of wealth and are standing on the top of the mountain, and for them to
just come down from that mountain and be standing in unity equally with the poor is just hard for
them to do. Most of the richer class believe that they don't have to worry or care for the poor
because everyone is on their own, especially in America. Class warfare is occurring and it will
only get worse by the second if we don't put a stop to this, but there are many reasons why
putting a stop to this isn't the easiest thing to do. There is also a lot of fear for standing in
solidarity with the poor for both the rich and the poor. They are scared and concerned that the
poor will only use them since they are wealthy and they won't care for who they are as people
but for what they have. The poor on the other hand, are scared that the rich will take advantage
of them because they are poor and have no power and no voice. Therefore this all creates even
more problems that need to be solved before we can even agree to the fact that standing in
solidarity is the right thing to do, it's the way to solve and stop class segregation.(hooks 46)
Hooks talks about how the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer, by
this hooks is trying to say there needs to be more equality in the way people are treated, also that
there needs to be solidarity with the poor and the rich, and this could look like racism or just
classism, both of these have been and are major issues, especially classism nowadays. In order
for solidarity to happen there needs to be trust and respect between the lower and upper class. To
stand in solidarity for both the poor and the rich there needs to be unity within both the social
classes. The rich should not be scared to be taken advantage of by the poor, and the poor should
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not criticize the rich just because they have the wealth, there certainly is a solution and it has to
be solved. As much as racism hurts America, the real problem is classism because there are a lot
more disagreements, arguments, hatreds, and separations between people nowadays because of
classism rather than racism.
Living simply is another way to stop class segregation because it takes commitment and
determination to do so. Living simply has a lot to do with social class and it also has an effect on
changing and making the world a better place. Living simply has a lot to do with social classes
because in order to live simply you must be committed and determined to give up a lot and be
willing to live with the things the lower class does on a everyday basis. Living simply for the
rich is one of the hardest things to do because of the greediness, selfishness, hedonistic
consumerism, and material longing. There is also fear of being taken advantage of for both the
rich and the poor. The rich think that they are chosen to be wealthy so they must stay that way.
They work hard so they have what they have, why share its unfair for the rich to share just
because they have a lot. The rich think that being with the poor makes them look poor and
devalues their well-being, the rich want to be richer and richer while the poor keep getting
poorer. All of these issues need to be taken seriously and we need to make a change as soon as
we possibly can. Classism has been one of the more substantial issues of our society and it is
important that we take a stand make a difference.
Significantly, while the uncaring rich and powerful, especially those in control of
government, big business, and mass media, were and are at the forefront of campaigns to
place all accountability for poverty on the poor and to equate being poor with being
worthless, lots of other non-wealthy citizens have allied themselves with these groups . . .
It has served their class interests to perpetuate the notion that the poor are mere parasites
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and predators. And, of course, their greed has set up a situation where many people must
act in a parasitic manner in order to meet basic needs the need for food, clothing, and
shelter (hooks 45)
The greediness and selfishness of the rich being uncaring should come to a stop. The poor are
being viewed at worthless and there are lots of non-wealthy citizens who categorize themselves
with these groups of rich and uncaring people. The rich class views the poor as mere parasites
and predators, and their greed has created a situation for the poor where they sometimes have to
be parasites or predators to survive and meet the basic needs, for example to get food, clothing
and shelter, to just live simply they have to do what they do because of the rich being greedy
In conclusion, we must take a stand and we must stand in solidarity because it is the key
to fix this mess that we're in. The rich and the poor are both equal and human at the end of the
day, so why shouldn't there be solidarity between them both? We need to fight and stop class
segregation once and for all before it takes over and splits this world up for good. There needs to
be peace and unity between the people of this world because together we are stronger and wiser
and together we can reach greater heights. Social class has been on its downfall lately and the
real problem now has been classism, we need to take a stand now if we want to save our society.
Standing in solidarity is a must and it is extraordinarily mandatory to do so, we can fight and
stop this class segregation together for the best of our society. There may be problems that keep
us from doing that, such as the fear of being taken advantage of for both the poor and the rich.
The poor are scared that the rich will only use them as devalued predators because they have no
voice or power, and the rich are fearful that the poor will only take advantage of the fact that the
rich have wealth and power which will only benefit the poor. All of these problems need to be
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solved because with a solution to these issues we can never agree as a whole to the fact that we
need to take a stand and stand in solidarity to save our society to stop class segregation.
















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Works Cited
"Change From Within." Change From Within. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

"Solidarity." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

Valdata Patricia. Hooks, Bell. Where We Stand: Class Matters. Diverse Issues in Education.
New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. (2005).

Anonymous. Hooks, Bell. "Classism." Dictionary.com. Class in America. Dictionary.com, n.d.
Web. 17 Mar. 2014. (2007).