Social Mobility and the American Dream

Most of us, since we were young, have heard the catchphrase of the American Dream, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps." It is often said that America is the land of freedom and opportunity, where those with next to nothing can build themselves up to be millionaires, and even billionaires. A few examples that are often given are Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, J.K. Rowling, and more. It is certainly possible for someone born into poverty to beat the odds and rise up on the economic ladder. However, these individuals tend to be the exceptions. Most people in the "land of the free" remain stuck in the social class they were born into for their entire lives.

Source D is a prime example of a person who believes in the American Dream without much evidence to back it up. The author, Yasmina Shaush, is a Ukrainian immigrant who claims that America is "a land where the self-made man is found on every corner... a land where wealth and social status do not inhibit one's potential." While I admire her optimism throughout her story, I do not find it very realistic. She seems to have a very limited perspective on the social class problems in the United States. Because Oprah Winfrey made it to the top, why can't everyone? The problem is, according to Source G, America is both highly unequal, and has especially low social mobility. What Shaush does not consider is that while "hard work and determination are vehicles for success," not everyone who works hard and has determination is successful. And this is not their fault, it is the fault of America's economy.

Source A gives more realistic approach to the debate about class issues and social mobility. The article begins by stating, "the children of the rich perform better in school, on average, than children from middle-class or poor families." There is an immense rich-poor gap in education and test scores, and it is about 40% higher than it was 30 years ago. Why is this? Most likely it is because families with more money can afford better education for their children. As stated in Source B, "clever children were siphoned into special schools and showered with resources." This fact offers an explanation for the low social mobility in America. The rich are given, through education, the opportunities they need to be successful. People living in poverty and lower social classes have less access to a good, solid education. They are then kept in lower-paying jobs, where they have little to no chance to rise up. For many of them, there is a good chance that they will be stuck with this for their entire lives, and the cycle will repeat for future generations.

It would be nice to say that America is a place where everyone who wants to succeed has the same opportunity to, but that is just not the reality of our country. Some people are given a better chance through their social class than others, and that is not something that can be ignored or overlooked.

Social Class

The Christian Science Monitor quiz gave me the result: Middling. The description is as follows: "Your habits and perspectives most resemble those of middle-class Americans. Members of this group tend to be gentle and engaging parents, and if they're native English speakers they probably use some regional idioms and inflections. Your people are mostly college-educated, and you're about equally likely to beg children not to shout "so loudly" as you are to ask them to "read slow" during story time. You're probably a decent judge of others' emotions, and either a non-evangelical Christian, an atheist, or an agnostic. A typical member of this group breastfeeds for three months or less, drinks diet soda, and visits the dentist regularly. If you're a member of this group, there's a good chance that you roll with the flow of technological progress and hate heavy metal music."
I agree with the results of this quiz. Almost all of the points that the quiz brought up about me were accurate. I have always considered my family to be middle class. Both of my parents make an average income and all of my family has been or will be college-educated. My brothers and I have also had access to a very good high school education. 
My experiences with class seem to be very different from the different texts that we've studied in class. My life is not filled with the glamour and swank of the characters in The Great Gatsby, but I do have privileges that many people, like the lower class family in People Like Us, don't have. I have never had to walk 10 and a half miles to get to work or school, and I have never felt embarrassment at my family's social class. This part of the documentary really opened my eyes to the problems facing people in the lower class in America. In reading the different texts, I have also learned how difficult it is to move up the economic ladder. Shadowy Lines That Still Divide shows how bad it really is. Mobility is incredibly low in America for the lower class, which means that the poor stay poor. And while this is true for the lower classes, in the upper classes, mobility is much easier. Ranks may open up in more elite positions, where only the well-connected members of the upper class know about them. This allows people with more money to move up the economic ladder further while people with less money are stuck at the bottom.