Social Stratification In America

America, the land of equity, has the largest ratio of rich citizens to poor citizens at 12:1. Compared to Japan and Germany’s measly 4:1, this information is outrageous. America is shown to have the most skewed economic pyramid when denoting the amount of people on each side of the economic slide. The selection, Class in America - 2006, an academic paper by Gregory Mantsios, argues the existence and magnitude of class and economic standing in the United States; through the use of fact and opinion, he creates the visual of a society severely divided by economic standing. Gregory Mantsios effectively convinces the audience of the differences in class sanding that cause a significant impact in the lives of americans and economic spectrum with his use of logos, anticipation, and credible evidence.

There can be no wealthy without the poor. Wealth is measured in material goods; he who has more is wealthier man. Often times, this material wealth will come to the expense of others. The material goods used by the wealthy need to come from somewhere. Many times, it is up to the poor to provide for the wealthy. The poor sacrifice their wealth, happiness and even life for a chance to be like the wealthy. The wealthy will sacrifice the same in order to keep this wealth. Both classes will do almost anything in order to be the privileged of society. Both the wealthy and the poor sacrificed in the events of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout the events of The Great Gatsby, the indulgences of the wealthy lead to the downfall of

Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton, writes “Confronting Inequality” chapter 7 in his book. Equality in America is what makes America, what it stands for. Social and economic inequality still is a part of everyday life in America. Education is making parents struggle because they want to give them a good education; but also, health care for those who need it. Middle-class starts to scramble more every day while the high-class gets more prosperous. Inequality in America is creating trouble to the lives of Americans.

An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals. Then, we will see Daisy Buchanan’s moral corruption due to her wealthy upbringing. Lastly, Nick Carraway’s conversation with Tom will show how wealth has corrupted Tom’s morals in such a way that it leads him to rationalize his decisions and actions, believing that what he did was right. Wealth is the source of moral corruption within the characters in The Great Gatsby, wealth is the source of their actions and decisions, it is the reason for their warped sense of what is right and wrong.

In America after World War Two, citizens were split between classes based on their economic stability. Americans today still look at these classes and define these people as better off or worse off than the next person. Why do people judge others for having less money than them? Why do employers send lower class citizen away when they need the money the most? These are some question that citizens in the lower or middle class have when they are looking at their position in America’s economic system. Research shows that lower class citizens face more hardships to better their lives than those who are more stable.

People who are indigent are at a disadvantage on receiving healthcare and other benefits that high class people already receive. For example, in a nationwide study of American students, 36% of the parents with the lowest income read to their children on a daily basis compared to the 62% of parents with high income. In “Democracy for All” the author wrote, “...people have customarily viewed in other villages as at least strangers and at worst mortal enemies” (Wilson, 283). Almost every adult's level of wealth is close to the level on which they were raised. Most of those who gain significantly more wealth than they were born to are professional athletes, professional entertainers, lottery winners, and those awarded large sums from lawsuits. The higher class people have more advantages than middle class and poor class people. Special treatment is always given to those that are well known in society. In Democracy for All it states, “If one rich man has almost all the property and many poor men have none, a struggle will ensure between the landowner and the landless” (Wilson). Money can put one in a better or in a lower situation in the socioeconomic

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. They are not shut out from opportunities like the middle and lower class. The class that an individual is in affects their chance

The wealthy posses far more wealth than everyone else, and even in regards to the middle class there are major divisions. Gregory Mantosis, department director at Queens College of the City of New York, in his article Class in America, compares the lives of three people that all live within the defined zone of middle class. Harold Browning is an upper-middle class citizen who, due to his higher class at birth, was able to have tutors, go to summer camps focused on creative arts and natural sciences, and attended a prestigious preparatory school; Bob Farrell is a middle-middle class citizen that had no tutoring, attended YMCA summer camps, and attended a large regional high school in Queens with supplemental education for the SAT; Cheryl Mitchell is a black, lower-middle class citizen, who had no tutoring, went to no summer camps, and attended a large public high school. These people, who are all in the middle class, live drastically different lives, and their “difference[s] in class determin[e] … how well they are educated, what they do for a living, and what they come to expect from life” (Mantosis387). People, because of the level of wealth that they are born into, have varying degrees of education, as well as varying degrees of assistance with that education. Education, one of the best ways to move ahead in the world, is not equally distributed. Those in the upper class are given the best opportunities to succeed in

The novel, House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton, documents the struggles of beautiful Lily Barton as she attempts to both find suitable husband and be accepted into New York City’s elite class during the turn of the nineteenth century. Being a part of this class herself, Wharton uses this novel to comment on the true nature of the rigid social hierarchy that dictated one’s survival during this time period. Using her plethora of different characters as examples, Wharton states that one’s place in this social hierarchy is dictated by the amount of money one has and in order to be accepted into the elite class, one must bend morals to succeed; furthermore, Wharton reveals that despite its innocent and revered exterior, the upper class is made up of

The wealthy continue to grow as they get more of everything and the lower class continue to get less. The average wealth has increased over the last 50 years, but it has not grown equally for all. “ Families near the bottom of the wealth distribution (those at the 10th percentile) went from having no wealth on average to being

In order to tackle economic inequality in the United States, we must first establish that it is a problem that needs to be solved. American citizens currently live in one of the wealthiest nations in the history of the world, a feat only possible by the economic systems that are currently in place. But who benefits from this wealth? When the top one tenth of one percent owns almost as much as the bottom ninety percent, it is clear that our current economic systems are benefitting the prolifically wealthy. This wealth inequality extends beyond income, but includes; quality of health care, education, and political representation.

At what cost should someone achieve the status of rich and luxurious? Should they have to abandon their friend, family or their dreams? Money is the focal point of life, it always has been, and it will always be the focal point of life. People think that having money will make them look better and more appealing, but in reality it is repelling. People who treat others lowly based on their income are not people who are focused on what really matters in life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the value of money and social class dominates the value of personalities, friends, family and morals.

As outlined in chapter 10 of the course text, inequality in housing and wealth is a major problem. The United States is described to be the most unequal countries in the western hemisphere. But with the inequalities when it comes to wealth, the United States is one of the richest countries in the world. Wealth is the sum total of a person’s assets. These assets include, cash in the bank and value of all properties, not only land but houses, cars, stocks, and bonds, and retirements savings. Wealth is one of the factors why residential segregation is an increasing problem.

Obama’s argument opposes Suroweicki argument by explaining the inequality and mobility of this country. Obama makes an argument that states that it is dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility that has jeopardized middle class America’s basic bargain (Obama 338). This states that the economic stability and mobility have given the people that represent the middle class at least chance to make it to the next level. The economic stability and mobility has shown people how they’re finances will stand at in this country. He believed that the next years will determine how the children of this country will grow up and would help display their opportunity is real. He also stated that “while we don’t promise equal outcomes, we strived

Social classes are a form of social stratification that refers to the existence of structured inequalities between individuals and groups in society. A social class is a group of people of comparable status, power and wealth which are usually classified as upper class, middle class, and lower class. For each class, there are some specific opportunities available that influence their social life. We can understand about the particularity of the chances through unequal distribution of these opportunities between individuals in social classes. In here belonging to a social class seems to be an obstacle for some individuals to obtain equal opportunity, unlike upper class people. 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.