Power & Social Change Web Assessment essay
In the United States, there is the perception of social mobility, which is focused on the fact that even the representatives of the lower class can rise, provided they work hard. In other words the existing social mobility in American society leads to the belief in the open class system. Social mobility is connected with the myth of the American Dream (Leonhardt, 2005). A team of reporters who spent more than a year exploring class issues in American society, give the following definition to the term “class”: “a combination of income, education, wealth and occupation that influences destiny in a society” (Class Matters: An Overview, 2014). It is very important to understand the role of social mobility in American society, removing the existing barriers to upward mobility.
Mobility stands for the movement of families’ income up and down the economic ladder. The debate over a class-based versus classless society still continues. According to Janny Scott and David Leonhardt (2005), “today, the country has gone a long way toward an appearance of classlessness” (p. 1). Americans are based on solving various social diversity issues. Today it is not easy to identify people’s social status in “the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the votes they cast, the god they worship, the color of their skin” (Scott & Leonhardt, 2005, p. 2). Some people believe that the contours of class have disappeared, while others state that there are many features of class-based society. Actually, class can be viewed as a powerful force in American life. Today education provides massive opportunities for changing social status. This fact means that education is linked tightly to social class. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt (2005) state that the United States, as a racially integrate country, affects the class of the rich as they themselves become isolated more and more in today’s social context. At the same time, class differences become obvious in health care issues, affecting the lifespan of human beings. The four common criteria for gauging class include education, income, occupation and wealth.
Nevertheless, Americans are not upwardly mobile population. Based on the initial mobility studies conducted by economists, there are different examples of social mobility in the United States. Some studies are focused on the role of parents’ income, while others show the role of the advance in individuals’ careers, “like from young lawyer to senior partner, demonstrating social mobility” (Scott & Leonhardt, 2005, p. 3). Today it is very difficult to define the optimal range of mobility because of different economic levels. It is necessary to give people all the opportunities to achieve success, removing the existing barriers to upward mobility, such as racial inequality, immigration challenges, etc.
Intergenerational wealth stands for inherited wealth. As a rule, intergenerational wealth provides various circumstances for people of different social classes. Intergenerational wealth is connected with inequality and transmission of class. Intergenerational wealth is linked to intergenerational mobility, which identifies the degree of the economic success of children who are independent of their parents’ economic status. America lags behind in intergenerational mobility, because there is no 100% equality of opportunity in American society (Chavez, 2005).
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that Americans have faith in mobility, although there are many barriers to upward mobility. Social mobility has been woven into the national self-image. Class contradictions exist in American society, which are based on the assumptions about the American dream and equal opportunities. Americans want to understand the major reasons for their successes and failures.
Do you like this essay?
Our writers can write a paper like this for you!
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...