In the past couple of years, there has been a rise in the number of people quitting their day jobs and traveling in a van. Just a simple youtube search of the words "van life" and millions of videos relating this ideal, appears. These videos typically consisting of a glorified view of living in a van. Creating a false ideal of the so-called "van life" without crediting any hardships. Many videos even explaining how easy it is to become a "van lifer". Of course, living in a van is way cheaper than buying a house. According to CBS News to the cost of housing has basically doubled in the past decade. Therefore, the new alternative to buying a house is a van! Choosing to live in a van is not at all an issue but promoting and glorifying this lifestyle can be damaging to the working class.
In Ch. 26 the working class is described as those who are less fortunate than others. It is a vicious cycle of being raised in the working class and never having the means to go to college. In some cases, this may even result in living in your car, as seen in the video (left). The author of this chapter goes into detail about the daily struggles that the working class faces. This consists of homelessness, financial, and future uncertainties. By creating a glorified norm for van life it completely disregards the struggles faced in the working class. This has long term effects that increase the divide between the middle class and working class. Concept Reference: Silva, J. M. (2020). "Working Class Growing Pains". In M. L. Andersen & P. H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class, & gender: Intersections and inequalities (pp. 249-256). Boston, MA: Cengage.
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