Jay MacLeod’s book Ain’t No Making’ It is a treatise on social reproduction theory, that is, the ways in which class inequality is reproduced across generations, and is equally relevant and informative to understanding the cycle of poverty today as it was in 1987 when it was first published. The explanations of the life trajectories of the men studied in this book are especially important in light of the inflamed rhetoric and intense debate that characterize the interactions between the two distinct ideologies that have bifurcated the theorists of educational reform: Economically deterministic theories and the theories emphising the autonomy of the cultural level. Though the attempt of the author is to provide a perspective which allows for the simultaneous existence of the two theories. We will see that neither perspective can be said to be entirely endorsed by the conclusions found in Ain’t No Makin’ It.
The American dream is a dream of a land in which one can prosper with ambition and hard work. This idea has created many illusions for some because in reality the American dream is proven to be something that is rarely achieved. No individual is guaranteed success or destined for failure, but it is apparent that women, people of color, and those born into poverty will face greater obstacles than others, despite being a greater part of the American population. An author that tackles the issue of class in the United States is Gregory Mantsios. In his essay, “Class in America-2009”, Mantsios aims to prove that class affects people’s lives in drastic ways.
Heidi De La Paz Professor Kaluzhski English 120 September 7, 2016 In the essay “ Show Me The Money”; Walter Mosley informs his readers about the uneven distribution of wealth in America and the discrimination that the working class has to face everyday. He states that it is wrong to look down on people and place judgment on them because of the amount of education and wealth they might have. Mosley goes on to tell us that we all deserve to live comfortable lives regardless of our social or economic class. In conclusion Mosley states that wealth should not define who we are and that we should all be treated equal that way we can all have equal opportunities to try to make it in this world.
Kaitlyn Johnson English, 008 September 29, 2015 Inequality Inequality has been a major problem all over the world. Not just with race or gender, but now ones' income puts them aside from others. and they are catorgarized. Gary S. Becker, a Noble laurete in economics, and Kevin M. Murphy, a professor at the University of Chicago and a recipient of a 2005 MacCrthur "genius" fellowship, believe that a higher education equals higher income. Paul Krugmam, a teacher of economics at Princeton and the city University of New York, uses people who have had an impact on America.
In James W. Loewen’s “The Land of Opportunity,” he states that social class affects the way children are raised. He discusses the inequality in today’s society and how the textbooks in high school do not give any social class information. The students in today’s time are not taught everything they should be taught. He states that your family’s wealth is what makes up your future. Loewen discusses that people with more money can study for the SATs more productively and get a better score than someone who has less money.
However, the most thought provoking concept introduced by Mantsios is his fifth reality. Mantsios asserts, “Class standing has a significant impact on chances for educational achievement.” (Mantsios, p 483). Throughout this portion of his article, Mantsios continues to reference studies that prove lower class citizens achieve significantly less (Mantsios, p 482). Although the media is filled with stories of how different celebrities, such as Oprah, went from rags to riches, these are a merely a select few that escape their predetermined end.
Nicholas Kristof once said, “ In effect, we have a class divide on top of a racial divide, creating a vastly uneven playing field, and one of its metrics is educational failure”. Human Rights Activist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof is a very profound writer. Nicholas Kristof is known for his powerful and emotional passages that really gets in the audience 's thoughts like, “Is a Hard Life Inherited”. The purpose of this passage is to inform the upper-class families and society of the struggles of the lower middle class and the hardships that they need to overcome in order for success. The strategies Nicholas Kristof used can be separated into three important segments which are pathos, logos, and cause and effect.
Being born into a particular family determines how well off you are. Class in America determines the people that influence you, and the better opportunities you are exposed to. In Gregory Mantsios writing of “Class in America” you can understand the many differences between class and how one might have better success. Mantsios shows three profiles of three different people born into different classes. One of the profiles shows how the lifestyle might be born into a wealthy family.
The largest if not only factor of class is wealth; how much income a family gets. To disprove the myths many more realities are listed. The first being, “There are enormous differences in economic status of American citizens. ”(334). Perhaps the most important reality states, “From cradle to grave, class standing has a significant impact on our chances of survival.
Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources.
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
Plato writes, “For the most part you will produce children like yourselves; but, because you are all related, a silver child will occasionally be born to a golden parent, a golden child to a silver parent, and so on.” We see exactly this in American society. A study done in 2015 titled “Economic Mobility in the United States,” shows us that children who are born into families of poverty, are more likely to remain in poverty or maintain a low income as an adult compared to a child who is not.
Singapore’s current political system is a democratic society. On paper, it ticks all the boxes of what makes a democratic system. It gives citizens the right to vote for the person they feel will best represent the voice of the people and address their needs. It also ensures that people have the freedom of speech and expression as stated in Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. However, things do not appear to be so straightforward, there definitely is more than meets the eye.
The myth of meritocracy does nothing to help the working class, while justifying the privileges of the higher classes, giving the perception that these classes excel through fairness and open methods. The myth of meritocracy is a way of making the working class accepts their role in society. (Kennedy and Power, 2010) The idea of that meritocracy exists is given to students through the hidden curriculum. This results in the working class accepting inequality, thus making it less likely to try to overthrow capitalism.
Therefore, in a stratified society, the individual’s opportunities are always determined by his or her social class. In this essay, I will be arguing that even though mobility exists in the social class system, the opportunity to change status is relatively open for everyone but the distribution of opportunities among the members of a social class is not relatively equal to all. I will demonstrate this point by showing how participation of an individual in a specific social class will decide the opportunities in terms of attaining education and achieving a well-paid job. Education has a significant role in promoting social mobility; it enables people to acquire knowledge and certain skills in order to promote their social status. Nowadays, people believe that societies are based on meritocratic
