I certainly love upper middle class over scraping by, working poor. On the other hand, I have much respect for common hard workers, such as my parents. Despite my best efforts, I consider myself very fortunate to be educated. My mom wanted it with all her heart but her Witness mother made certain she was expelled for flag salute. I had to prove not just by myself but, even more importantly, my mom. She lived vicariously through me.
I would say people walking around Lincoln Center or going up to the nonbudget floors in stores and wonder why I was such a paysan. My mom deserved a diamond ring, fur coat, and flowers. My break was that my teachers were on a mission to send the smartest kids to college. LBJ started the War Against Poverty which exposed all of us to worlds we never would have experienced without the free trips and massive teacher encouragement. A ballet performed in school, we travelled to Manhattan frequently for opera and things such as the Cloisters and Stravinsky Festival. It is impossible to overestimate the importance. We were not hanging on the corner as generations of our families did. I saw the world up close and personal through my own eyes.
I only knew I wanted out of the KH and neighborhood. Post-college, I would do anything to ensure my children's education. They only experience what the Witnesses tell lthem. This is not stupid if no one has ever taught you to think for yourself. Sharecroppers aren't blamed for not being grads of Harvard or Yale. Circumstances placed me with undereducated GED applicants. I tried to encourage them but we lived in two different worlds. It is all too obvious that the Society fears the truth. Education is not bad or good. As people report, the Witnesses adored JW lawyers and doctors! I suppose they could always hire an expert from outside on the quiet. Certainly, all the major doctrines could exist with an educated membership. Born-again Christians with education exist. Listen to some of those Senators and Congresspersons. It proves to me that JW is not a religion but a mind control group.
Fine arts and music, literary works are not opposite JWs. The WT illustrations are so bad. Music is even worse. KHs could have good architecture and design, even for a short time left. My public school education was a nightmare. I had to teach myself percentages after college. During freshman orientation, there was a striking difference between elite private schools and public school grads. They could think already! My school gave me A+s for naming the major characters in novels. If you are already education, you know what a bizarre, sad, and even comical cliam the WTs makes.