You may have head the story about the young college girl named Rachael Sacks that wrote an essay online about being "rich" or maybe a better interpretation would be about "not apologizing" for being rich. I've included the link below to the original essay and a link to the article that appeared in the New York Post. Ms. Sacks essay has created a media firestorm, with people becoming furious about her essay, labeling her as a "spoiled rich kid" (something she actually doesn't deny) and other things I can't repeat here. As a matter of fact, Ms. Sacks makes the cover of Saturday's New York Post (printed version pictured above), with the headline being "Mean Little Rich Girl."
Here's the original essay written by Ms. Sacks: I’m Not Going To Pretend That I’m Poor To Be Accepted By You
Here's the link to the New York Post article: "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Rich"
This week's Blog Topic is two-fold:
1. Is the media (and everyone that is upset over this) making something out of absolutely nothing? Is Ms. Sacks original essay properly depicted in the media?
2. Has our society became overly sensitive over economic differences - upperclass, middle class, and lower-class? Why or why not?
The media definitely altered Ms. Sacks blog post to make it more extreme in a negative way. After reading her second post in response to the media’s comments (I’m The ‘Rich’ Girl You Love To Hate And You’re All Idiots For It) I did get a better understanding of her argument. She basically is stating that people should not be judged based on their financial circumstances (rich or poor). In my opinion, Sacks is not entirely wrong but her argument is very single minded. While, I agree that the rich should not have to hide their wealth in order to “fit in”, maybe it’s not only physical appearance that is unlikable to the lower and middle class?
ReplyDeleteSacks feels entitled to have the cashier’s full attention, and when she doesn’t give it Sacks goes on a huge tirade. She expects the cashier to repay the “hello”, and when she doesn’t Sacks’ blames all of this on physical judgments. The hypocrisy I find in Ms. Sacks’ argument is that she only considers her affluent physical appearance to be the reason why the cashier plights her. It’s not appearance that causes the lower class to be bitter towards the rich but it can be the snobby attitude of the wealthy. While the cashier may have been cold, maybe it had more to do with the realization that despite working she may never rise in economic status. There are rich people who get along great with the various strata of wealth because of human interests that different incomes can share. If Sacks always feels secluded by the lower and middle class maybe it’s not what she’s wearing that is isolating her. Maybe it’s her attitude.
This is the perfect example of our society becoming overly sensitive over economic differences - upperclass, middle class, and lower-class. Sacks is the one who displays his. The cashier could’ve been having a bad day… Why does Sacks have to automatically assume that the cashier is not making small-talk is because of wealth intimidation?
"The snobby attitude of the wealthy." This is exactly the problem why their is finiancial tension between people. We automatically assume that every rich person is snobby and someone we can not talk to. That is what I believe part of Sacks argument was. We make general assumptions about the rich.
DeleteAlso you said that "Why does Sacks have to automatically assume that the cashier is not making small-talk is because of wealth intimidation?" She is assuming this because the cashier was talking about money before Sacks approached her. I do can not think of any other reason that the Cashier would not talk with Sacks, yet talk with the previous customer.
"You state: It’s not appearance that causes the lower class to be bitter towards the rich but it can be the snobby attitude of the wealthy."
Delete-That is definitely an unfair argument. There are poor snobs, middle class snobs, and rich snobs. Snobby attitudes and wealth aren't always a package deal. For example, my cousin's best friend is much richer than her but she is super generous with her money and is extremely low key. So obviously the reason why a poor person feels hostile towards one of the upper class is much more complex than rich attitude or outfits.
I completely agree with what you said. The newspaper completely changed what Ms. Sacks argues. She presents both positive and negative aspects in her essay and I agree with you when you say that it is wrong that she has to assume that the cashier assumed she was rich.
DeleteI agree with you that the media has defintely manipulated what Sack's had orginally argues, and also as well I agree with abu on how it was wrong of the cashier to just simply assume Sacks was rich. Like has she not ever heard of "Don't judge a book by its cover."
DeleteI see the point you are trying to make Bishoy, but I just don’t see it as being realistic. Call me a stereotype but I find that most wealthy people are snobby. But I wasn’t calling Sacks a snob, I don’t know her personally. I was saying that MAYBE its not only physical appearance that is causing attitude towards her, and that it could be directed more towards her personality. I mean she’s acting like this is a frequent occurrence in the essay and her whole argument is based of how people judge based of physical appearance. She should look deeper than that and see if there’s anything else contributing to this.
DeleteHow do you just assume the Rich are snobby. I think you watch to much TV. I really doubt the majority of the rich hate the rest of their fellow human beings just because they are poor. Besides look at the rich companies who donate a lot of money to charity.
DeleteHaving a bad day doesn't make up for nasty behavior. The cashier totally brushed her off. She was talking to the other girl, and then they both looked at her, glaring. She tried to make the situation light by being friendly. but no!
DeleteYou cannot just make the assumption that if a person is rich, they are snobby. There are a lot of wealthy people that give back to their community and give half of their money away to charities. That proves good character, and that they are all not snobby.
DeleteIt doesn't matter if perhaps the cashier was having a bad day. He automatically assumed Sacks was wealthy. For all he knew, Sacks could have been sporty knock offs and using money from savings accounts. As soon as the cashier waited on Sacks, he stopped being so friendly.
DeleteFirst off, the media completely manipulated the girls essay. In the article they made her seem as her statement was "I'm rich and a person that you should hate shut up and deal with it," but in her essay her statement is "I'm rich shut up and stop judging people because of their financial problems or their income." The Article written about her actually does not mention at all that her original essay is basically about stop judging people because they are rich or poor. Now the concept of "Is this absolutely nothing" is tricky. First off the media is making a big deal about the wrong thing. They are making a big deal about the person, and we can all tell that the Ms. Sacks here is smart enough to use this publicity to gain fame. What we need to make a big deal about is this idea of not discriminating people do to their economical status. And the only reason people are making a big deal is because of the way the essay was written. Imagine the essay just saying "Stop judging people due to their financial status." No one would care at all. Instead her essay has all this extra stuff of her making herself spoiled and then a story about a cashier and all this nonsense.
ReplyDeleteNow the question "Has society become sensitive over economic differences?" Ya they have. First off I want you to take a look at our school. You know what our public school has? UNIFORMS. Why? Because we don't want financial discrimination. Look at Television. What do we portray the rich as? Snobby, unkind, stupid, people who do not eat junk food, spoiled brats. They are also portrayed as people who have no problems to life, or their problems are something along the lines as " Oh no its raining now I can't go horseback riding." Economic differences will always be a problem that will never be solved.
At first I didn't think Sacks was out to get attention, but after reading the beginning of your post and various media outlets, I can tell she is embracing the fame acquired from her article. It just continues to set a false impression of the average upper class citizen. When formulating stereotypes, we often choose the extremes for representations, which ultimately isn't fair.
DeleteI completely agree with you when you argue that the media completely changed what Ms.Sacks was arguing. In fact she was arguing that one should not be judged based off of their financial situation. However the newspaper made this sound like that she is rich and everyone should deal with her.
DeleteI completely agree that the rich are portrayed as absolutely snobby and rude. Sacks has a point to her essay; she's not just whining about how rich she is and telling people to deal with. She's making an argument about discrimination.
DeleteAlthough Rachel Sacks's essay may sound pompous and childish, she does have a point. She says, "People shouldn't make others feel bad about their own personal finances." People usually have this mindset when talking about being judged for their poverty, but it goes both ways. Wealth can easily make people feel different around you: intimidated, jealous, judgmental. Sacks could have phrased her ideas in a less abrasive way, but her message was clear. The poor are looked down upon, while being overly wealthy is frowned upon. The media and every reader who is offended by her essay is taking this way too seriously.
ReplyDeleteThe wealthy, like Sacks, have the right to spend their money however they want. It's not like they are restricting or oppressing poorer people from making money. Lower classes think such wealth is unfair; the wealthy class should be taxed until the lower class is satisfied. This is reason enough for the over sensitivity of the middle and lower classes. Sacks attempted to be courteous and kind to the store cashier even though she was being judged.
The very fact that Sacks says it's not her fault for being rich; that there is something wrong with having wealth shows how lower classes make the upper class feel guilty for prosperity. Rachel Sacks grew up like any normal child, eating McDonalds and buying clothing from Old Navy. In her neighborhood, she was the odd one out, being less rich than other families around her. No matter how much you make, someone will always make more. It is the same situation; Rachel was technically the poor kid on the block while the other families were wealthy (even though all had all the advantages of wealth). This reminds me of how teachers are now not supposed to use red pen when grading; it doesn't matter which color pen they use, because that color will eventually become offensive and frowned upon.
It's ironic that people often claim that they want to tax the rich more then proceed to knock them about being snobby or flashy about their money. I wouldn't want to help anyone out who perceived that about me!!!
DeleteI mostly agree with you, except for the part where you explained why the lower class hates the upper class. I think its because of the Social media. Since the medias biggest amount of viewers are the middle class, they could care less about the upper class. Because of this, they are allowed to bash on everything the upper class does. We learn that the rich are bad because of the media.
Delete"It should not be made to define who people are, even though we do it all the time. And if we do judge people for displaying wealth or not we should attempt to show tact because fortune can change."
ReplyDeleteWhenever we hear about class discrimination, we often assume it is because of one's lack of money or job status. However, Rachel Sacks, sparked controversy when she presented the flip side of the argument in a rather aggressive tone. Sacks was born into great wealth, and shares her experience of getting nasty glares from cashier workers and shoppers based on her luxury goods.
Ultimately, the news most definitely exaggerates her essay and claims. I don't think that she meant much harm through her essay, although it contained derogatory terms. She generalizes many situations, and writes it out of spite of an irritating situation. The news and media continue to depict her as racist, discriminatory, and spoiled.
I think our nation definitely stereotypes certain classes and groups of people. Not every rich person is snobby, and not every poor person is not content with their status. If people learned to be grateful for what they personally have, and not care about others' possessions and opinions so frequently, then life could go on much smoother. I do appreciate Sacks' point, but to avoid all of this media attention, she could've toned down her language in the essay.
I agree with you when you say that our nation stereotypes certain people. This is a completely incorrect thing to do because the economic situation of a person does not define the toe of person they are. Also, I believe that some people in this country actually become jealous based off of hoe much money someone has.
DeleteCall me heartless but until I actually witness this reverse discrimination plaguing the rich than I could care less. So what the cashier gives her a hard time? It’s really not a big deal, just pay for your stuff and continue on with your day. Financially wise, people who are poor are faced with more hardships than receiving attitude from a cashier. Sacks clearly states “I’m not going to pretend I’m poor for you to like me” not “equality for all” or something less offensive. Theres no surprise shes been given a stereotype. Look at what she named her essay for crying out loud…..
DeleteMaya how can you say this. You know if the cashier was rich and Sacks was poor there would be tons of news articles saying how the rich hate the poor, yet you put one article about the poor hating the rich and then people sill hate on the rich guys. Besides you can see discrimination everywhere, such as TV, and Justin mentioned below music.
DeleteJen, I completely agree with you. I believe that people are just making a big deal out of her essay and her point is actually one that society should pay attention to. True, she could have written her essay in a more refined way, but the point is still there. And Maya, she titled her essay ' I'm not going to pretend I'm poor for you to like me' because she is primarily saying, I'm not going to be something I'm not just to be accepted and liked. It's like pretending that you are somebody else just to fit in. If people just avoid jumping into conclusions, and actually give them the benefit of the doubt, they might learn something valuable. She is being herself, she was doing nothing wrong other than using a provoking tone in her essay.
DeleteI agree with you that sterotypes are wrong because a finanical sititution does not make up who you are really are. In this world, wealth can make one feel those benath jelaous and intimdated.
DeleteI agree, Sacks is not trying to offend readers or lower classes. A person feels they have an adequate amount of wealth when it is adequate according to others. Everyone should worry about their own circumstances, because some are just born rich while others are not.
DeleteI believe that Ms. Sacks presents both valid and invalid points. I believe that she is right when she argues that she is wrongly judged based off of her financial situation. I believe that it is wrong for people to judge other based off of what financial situation they come from. It isn’t really her fault that she was born into a good financial situation. However, I believe that she exaggerates the situation when she argues that cashier ignored her. The cashier could have reacted that way for a variety of reasons, not just her financial surplus. Personally, I believe that if you are rich you should capitalize on everything you have, however Ms. Sacks makes the situation sound worse than it all ready is. Also, the newspapers completely twisted her words. They only presented the negative side of her argument and did not even mention the positive.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why people think she "exaggerated" the situation with the cashier. I've seen people not talk to others because they simply look like "rich white people." I do think that the cashier, who works at a job with low income and was already talking about money with another customer, would ignore Sacks. I do agree that the newspaper didn't put the full story. In fact they did not mention her ideology of don't judge others because of their income.
DeleteBishoy, yes I agree with you that a cashier, who works at a job with low income would simply assume Sacks to be rich and snobby, but there is no proof of that, there could be other reasons is to why the cashier may have ignored her. Like I said before "Don't judge a book by its cover!"
DeleteYou say people ignore a rich white person and you have seen this happen before. I don’t know how we can capitalize on reverse discrimination when we as a country haven’t even overcame regular discrimination yet. Honestly WHO CARES if a rich person gets ignored by a cashier. What about minorities who are frisked for unjustified reasons or given unequal job opportunities, but now instead we’re focusing on a rich girl who gets ignored by a cashier? Boohoo. I don’t care f she exaggerated the situation. If its that heart breaking for Ms. Sacks why doesn’t she go back to the store and explain to the cashier why shes so distraught.
DeleteI don't understand your concept of "reverse discrimination." Discrimination is discrimination no matter what. We can't just make it acceptable against one social class. It doesn't work. It's like saying you can be racist against a white man, but not against a black man. It doesn't make sense. You need to stop discrimination against everyone.
DeleteMaya, I am surprised you buy into the media interpretation of her. The girl is just trying to get her opinion, which she is entitled to across, and describe how people should be themselves. What is so bad about that? The Liberal media is just out to get her in order to add another strike in their long list of attacks on the rich. Im not rich, but the media too commonly goes after them. This bias hurts their credibility.
DeleteThe only reason she exaggerates her stories is to get the attention. Everything she wrote is being completly blown out of proportion! Its absurd how noone can say anything now without it being turned on the person, or taken the wrong way.
DeleteYes Jen I completely understand what your saying. The media is really augmenting the situation for no apparent reason and Sacks is just trying to get her point across.
DeleteThe media is definitely making something out of nothing. The girl is just trying to get attention. Her idea is good, and we should focus on that. The essay is definitely not depicted well in the media. In her essay she just wanted to say don't judge people because of their money. The newspaper doesn't even mention get argument, and they just name fun of the Sacks. Like Bishoy mentioned above Sacks will probably use this as a publicity stunt. Now obviously people are becoming way too sensitive about this issue. Humans need to lighten up more and stop judging people on what they make. Who cares what they have in their pockets, it's the person that counts. We can see this economic difference in television and music, mostly rap.
ReplyDeleteI for one think that media has changed and exaggerated Sack’s essay a little too much. As I continued to read the two posts of hers, I began to view Sacks to a certain extent as correct. Her argument is that people should not be judged on her status (poor or rich). I agree with her because it is not her fault that she was born into a wealthy family. She shouldn’t have to hide who she is because she is rich. Also, I think she could have handled that situation a lot better with the cashier. I think Sacks just made matters worse when she questioned the cashier why she was ignoring her. And yes, society has become sensitive over economic differences, because if it hasn’t then we would not have uniforms. As Bish, also talk about, we have uniforms in order to make everyone feel equal, so that no one is above or beneath anyone. So that there is, no way one can make another feel jealous or intimidated.
ReplyDeleteKarish, Ms. Sacks didn't ask the cashier why she was ignoring her and she did not make matters worse. She was trying to be friendly, trying to start a small talk, but the cashier ignored her when she ask her how her day was. In that situation, I believe that Ms. Sacks was a victim of stereotyping. She didn't do nothing wrong.
DeleteOn another point, I agree with you when said that it isn't her fault that she is rich. She was also trying to put herself on the ground when she said that there is always richer than her. The rich work hard for what they have, they are smart enough to figure out how to be rich and maintain that wealth. It is just sad that people are making a big deal out of it.
The media's interpretation of Ms. Sack's point in her essay was not on point. The media basically made her essay into a dramatic controversy but the truth is, all she was saying, is that people should stop being judgmental. The way the media delineated her was way off to what she really is, yes she is spoiled, she admitted that, but she is not "I-am-rich-look-at-me" "I-am-too-good-for-you' type of person. In fact, even after the cashier gave her a 'brush off' look, she still acted politely and in a friendly manner. Personally, while reading her essay, I kind of felt sympathy for her. She was the one who got judged, she was the 'victim', but here comes the media, making her look like the bad guy. It's just ridiculous how people are making a big deal out of it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that today's society has become excessively sensitive over economic differences. I believe it's due to the hint of insecurities that people tend to judge and put labels on others.Like, why would you judge someone if you don't feel insecure about yourself? It is just sad to think that today's society would just jump to a conclusion without even reading the book.. like 'don't judge the book by it's cover'
I didn't even consider that she actually did handle the situation in a way you wouldn't expect someone with the personality the media gives her to do. She was very kind about it, taking the sneer in step. This further establishes the misrepresentation of the girl. The only thing I don't totally agree with is that she is the definite victim. She is likely loving all this attention, and may have even done it on purpose. If that is the case, she deserves this grilling she is getting.
DeleteThe Media is definitely making something out of nothing with this story. One, this girl is entitled to her opinion, so her saying this shouldn't be so controversial. Two, you are only giving her more attention and feeding in to exactly what she was after with this essay, which is controversy. Thirdly, she isn't one hundred percent wrong. Sure, she may be overaggressive or too front and blatant with her points, but that doesn't mean she is wrong. If this was a poor girl saying she wouldnt pretend to be rich to fit in, people would be praising her. But NOW, just because it is on the opposite side of the class structure, she is a bad guy. This goes into the answer to the second question. YES, America as a nation has gone astronomically too soft on class issues. We aren't looking at things realistically. Whenever someone sees someone rich, they automatically think Lucky. The real reason, in a majority of cases, is skill. Social Darwinism everybody, The Strong will prosper. Success isn't a crime. But, on the opposite end of the spectrum, neither is not having a huge surplus of money, or even being impoverished. The simple truth is, as harsh as it may sound, that not everyone can win. Some will be rich, others will have to scrounge for food. It's a basic rule of society, an inevitability. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can work to somehow help those at the bottom. But right now, with everyone feeling bad for themselves, nothing is going to get done.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting when you mentioned how America has become soft. I feel as if this has always been an issue, but now that the media is such an important concept in society, the issues have increased. The media has instigated society to become what they portray.
DeleteThe media completely changed the view of her essay. She was not saying it to be malicious, she was simply trying to get a point across. They also manipulated it into being something negative, causing her to get a negative reaction from society. The essay was primarily written to address the people, telling them to stop judging. She was probably tired of being made fun of for being rich. And she was also stating that she was rich and that they should get over it. Its not her fault, she was born into it. She was also trying to make an impacting sentence. If she were to only write something sweet and simple then no one would care, nor pay attention to the point she was trying to make.
ReplyDeleteOur society has become too sensitive with the financial statuses. Kids are not allowed to wear what they want because the School boards are trying to avoid discrimination. I agree with the aspect of making every child feel equal, but by stating that uniforms are a financial issue is making the problem bigger. There are always going to be rich people in the world, and those who are not have to stop being jealous. It is causing a bigger gap between all the classes, butchering the unity of the nation.
I agree with you when you talked about uniforms. Uniforms still don't entirely erase financial issues in the student body, since students now turn to things such as footwear, technology, and bags to flaunt their economic assets.
DeleteI feel as though the media twisted the words Ms. Sacks used in order to make her sound more spoiled, more "look-at-me" than she really was. In fact, the whole point behind her essay was that such a big deal should not be made over the differences between those of different economic statuses, and that people shouldn't discriminate, regardless of whether they are poor or rich.
ReplyDeleteAs per the second question, our society has MOST DEFINITELY become overly sensitive over economic differences, simply because the poor don't want to be looked down upon, the middle class don't want to be overlooked, and the rich don't want to be viewed as snobby and corrupt.
ReplyDeleteCompared to other nations, America is unique in this regard. For instance, in Asian countries, it is viewed as polite and common etiquette to inquire about ones finances when meeting someone new, or when visiting a friend or relative. And many give replies just as easily, and with no offense, as if someone had asked their birthday or favorite color.