Class in America

Mantsios Class in America In Mantsios article “Class in America” he states that Americans hold beliefs that blind them to social classes, citizens in America have four myths they use to ensure talk about the classes never take place. America has the largest gap between rich and poor in the world, and the lower class has no means to an end they can’t afford health care or quality education. The upper class avoids talk about social class the most; wealthy people don’t want to admit that they are better off than others. While the lower class sees how much better off others are than them, but they still don’t like to label themselves.

I agree with Mantsios that most Americans avoid talk about classes although I am not one of them. Also I would agree there are myths that this country was founded on that may have at one point been true, but not anymore. As for Mantsios’s opinion on health care and education I would have to disagree, although many lower class Americans do not get the education and health care they need to survive I was not one of them. Mantsios States Americans avoid talk about classes. Americans avoid phrases like upper class, middle class and lower class because it’s an ugly truth about American society.

Those terms are not in Americans vocabulary, unlike the rest of the world. Both the lower class and upper class avoid using class distinctions. When I was in high school I had a friend whose parents were very well off. I have tried to talk to my friend about the wealth of his parents. My friend won’t admit his parents are wealthy and he thinks that everyone is as well off as his family. His father owns a landscaping company where my friend works in the summers when he isn’t in college. I’ve worked for my friend’s father before for about six months and then I was laid off when the economy hit the peak of the recession.

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My friend, his brother and I were the only white people his father had working for him the rest were Mexican and barely spoke English. I felt like my friend’s mother looked down on me because her husband’s employee and instead of being in college I was working for him. This feeling I got from my friends mom wasn’t just from working for their company. The entire time I’ve been their son’s friend which has been since first grade, I’ve felt small in their eyes like I wasn’t good enough to be friends with him. In Mantsios’s article he says there are four myths that Americans believe to ake sure talks about class never take place. These myths are that our country is classless, that we are mostly middle class, America is slowly becoming better off and everyone has an equal chance to succeed. If someone pays attention they can see the classes all around them. Each state has a minimum wage that the country’s lower class usually is stuck barely making a living, and barely surviving because of the low wage. The upper class consists of business owners and huge company executives. These people are very well off and have everything they want and need while the lower class suffers.

With an economy like Americas, the poor is getting worse off every year. The fact is America has the largest gap between rich and poor in the world. This gap is the largest it’s ever been and shows no sign of improving its steadily getting worse. The lower class is the biggest contributor to the nation’s unemployment rate, because their jobs depend on the economy to keep working. The lower class has to work extremely hard to work up the class ladder. Working class citizens have nothing they need to succeed while the upper class has everything they want in life.

Another one of Mantsios’s main points is that the lower class has a high chance of health issues and a low chance of quality education. In this Article Mantsios sites Richard De Lone, He states that SAT scores strongly depend on the wealth of the students’ parents. The more wealthy the parents the better score the student got on the SATs. If the income of a family was over a hundred thousand then the students averaged a score of 1130 on their SAT. I would have to say I was not one of these Students my family was poor, but I got a good education and feel that I have a wealth of knowledge.

Growing up in a lower class family my mother was barely able to pay the bills. My father left my mother when I was fourteen. So she was forced to provide for my siblings and me on her school bus driver salary. My mother had the best health benefits a job provides, her children never went without healthcare. I will say the majority of lower class family’s do not have this luxury, it depends on the job. My siblings and I have also had a quality education because my mother researched the school districts in our area before deciding where to enroll her kids.

The lower class can get a quality education we just have to be determined to work hard. In order to get a college education as a lower class citizen I have to work a full time job while going to school full time. I have a wonderful role model my mother got her bachelor’s degree while working to full time jobs one graveyard and one during the day while going to school full time. If she can do that then I can’t disappoint her all she’s ever wanted for her children was a better life. The government provides financial aid, but it isn’t enough to live on while going to school.

I have to utilize every free moment I have to complete my assignments, because of that I don’t have any free time. College is my only shot at moving up the class ladder of America. Americans Don’t want to believe the US is a class based society because of the myths that this country was founded on. The upper class gets everything they need, top of the line health care and education. America is not a middle class country the gap between upper class and lower class is getting bigger with each year. With an economy in the toilet the poor are getting worse off and the rich are getting better off.

Success in America isn’t equal in America it’s not what you know it’s how much money you’ve got and who you know that matters. The gap between rich and poor in America is eleven to one the largest in the world, japans gap is only four to one. The reality is the poor have a higher chance of health issues and low chance of a quality education because they have no means to help themselves. Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America. ”  The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. 2nd ed. Ed. R. Bullock & M. D. Goggin. New York, NY:  Norton, 2010. 697-717. Print.

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