It has been quite awhile since I did a Sociology centric post but I think these is a real need to cover this topic because the recent crisis has made many people cry out loud about their Socioeconomic Status (SES) and progression in life. In particular, people are beginning to realize that they are unable to get their well deserved increments in their jobs or a good job after getting retrenched. This whole idea of meritocracy and a fair society is starting to reveal nuances between the ideal state and reality itself, as we are often only sold the best case scenario. The fact of the matter is social mobility works both ways and that means everyone has the opportunities to climb up the social ladder as well as being thrown off or shifted downwards without prior warnings. In today’s post, I hope to reach out to you guys to inform you that we should be aware that despite our best efforts and obedience, it does not guarantee us a seat in the upper strata of society. Also, I would also like to paint a picture of the situation in Singapore so that we will “Stay Woke” and not be blindsided by the illusion of endless progression.
What is social mobility like in a wealthy nation like Singapore?
In Singapore, we are trained to think that if we study and work hard, we will achieve great success in life. This is not a lie and in fact Singapore has a huge proportion of successful and wealthy individuals. Just look around you when you are on the MRT or Bus and you will realize that there are many people living in condominiums and landed property which costs anything from a million Singapore Dollars or more, which is really hard to accumulate with a regular job. Despite those difficulties, people in Singapore seem to proof that social mobility is achievable and rewarding. On the other side of things, we also notice that there is a substantial group of Singaporeans who are unable to climb the ladder despite their best efforts. This divide between sentiments of the population is causing fatigue in the lower strata of society as it inevitably leads to self-doubt and blaming oneself of their inability and competence compared to the rest. The truth is that wealthy nations like Singapore only have more seats at the upper strata but still there is a limited number. What we are likely to observe or imagine in our minds is something as shown above.
How does it really feel like to climb the social ladder?
During the course of our lives, we might occasionally take a step back and review our position in life. Truth be told is that we normally see minute changes despite our best efforts to work hard and climb the ladder. However, due to our lifestyle and circumstances, we might not realize it but it is actually causing the ladder to descend as we climb. That results in a status quo or even in some cases, a few steps lower down the ladder. In other words, your stagnation might not always be due to the lack of effort put into your career and finances. Instead, life itself is always trying to keep us where we are to keep the society stable and running smoothly.
Should we just abandon everything else and climb the social ladder?
There is also another argument to abandon all “non-essential” aspects of live like family, marriage and leisure and just climb up the ladder relentlessly. What most of us would feel at the end of the day would just be fatigue and probably even regret. We are growing older and more weary with each passing day. If all we care about is our social standing in the world we live in, then perhaps you will reach a point where you have lost everything else. If you haven already read the post on the relationship between net worth and happiness, I suggest you can take a look at it. I am not sure what each of us really want in life but I am very sure we all do not want to reach a point in life where you are so poor that all you have is money.
Closing Thoughts
Social mobility is romanticized in most progressive nations but what they did not tell us is that there is more in life than climbing the social ladder. At some point in our life, we do have to accept the fact that we are not going to reach the level we want to be. That does not mean that we should give up from the onset, instead, we should start our planning earlier by investing adequately and regularly and let companies work for us so that we can spend more time caring about things that matter. In conclusion, do not become a rich poor person.
