Class Distinctions in America

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The ideal concept of American society is one in which all of the citizens are treated equal in all every realm and situation. Class, race or gender does not divide the utopian America; everyone is afforded the same opportunities and chances for success. In this chimerical state Americans are able to go as far as their dreams allow and with hard work and perseverance any thing is possible. Many Americans subscribe to this pluralist view of the Country, believing that within our democratic system it is the majority who maintains control and sets policy. Unfortunately this idyllic country does not exist nor has it ever existed. America is made up of distinct social classes and the movement within those classes is for the most part, limited to the various classes in the middle where the lines of demarcation are blurred. Although the majority of the Country's population would attest to the myth that America is a classless society, the distinctions definitely exist and influence the entire life scope of most Americans. Housing, health care, education, career prospects and social status are all dependent on the amount of wealth one has and their class standing. Our system needs the built in inequities of the class system in order to perpetuate itself and the upper class needs to have their interests as the dominant determiner of corporate and governmental power and policy. There are eight classes in America consisting of the rich elite, very rich-upper class, lower-upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class, working poor and the underclass. The percentages of families in the various classes as established by Gilbert are thought to be 1.4 percent in the upper top class, 1.6 percent in the lower top class. 1... ... middle of paper ... ...e work all year at full time jobs and do not make enough to lift their families out of poverty." (270) America has the resources to change the system to a more equitable one. Karla points out that the United States ."..is the richest economy in the world with the resources to obtain an income distribution of its own choosing." (94) We chose to maintain and perpetuate the system of distribution that we now have. WORKS CITED Gilbert, Dennis. The American Class Structure In an Age of Growing Inequality. California: Wadsworth. 1998. Jackman, Mary R. and Robert W. Jackman. Class Awareness in the United States. California: University of California Press. 1983. Kalra, Paul. The American Class System Divide and Rule. California: Antenna. 1995. Marger, Martin N. Social Inequality Patterns and Processes. Boston: McGraw Hill. 2002.

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