Essay about America A Class Divided - 2707 Words

On Christmas Eve in 2010, my grandmother received a gift from a hospice nurse who was assisting with my grandfather’s deteriorating health. Initially both surprised and embarrassed by the gesture, her emotions quickly changed once she removed the wrapping. A single package of Ramen Noodles was revealed. Embarrassment changed to confusion as she attempted to wrap her mind around what she had received. The hospice worker drove a 1997 Plymouth Voyager that she regularly complained about not being able to run properly for more than a week. She wore old worn out clothing and my grandmother claims she had never seen the woman wear jewelry before. It was evident that she was not wealthy. Although she could not afford a gift, the nurse in her†¦show more content†¦It is also forecast that the current generation of children will be â€Å"materially less well off in adulthood than their parents† (Boffey). The United Sates, whose national dogma emphasizes equity and stres ses that hard work leads to success, has one of the poorest social mobility ratings in the developed world (Deparle). This means that if you were born towards the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum, you would have a better chance of ascending to a higher class if you were born in several Western European countries as oppose to if you were born in the United States. As Richard Wilkonson bluntly put it in his TED Talk, â€Å"If Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark† (Wilkonson). How did we arrive at a point where the difference between being rich and poor is so drastic and where social mobility is so difficult? Educational inequalities, failure of government policy and a social separation between the classes has resulted in an unjust system that prevents the nation from maximizing its potential. In Ian McEwan’s Atonement class distinction and the strive to ascend the socioeconomic ladder is prevalent. Specifically, the difference between the Tallis’ and the Turners is evident from the start. While the Tallis’ are affluent and live in a mansion, the Turners are relatively poor and can’t afford many of the things that theirShow MoreRelatedAmerica s Income And Wealth Inequality987 Words   |  4 PagesToday in America, income and wealth inequality has continued to grow at an unsettling pace. The rich continue to get richer, while the number of people categorized as lower class grows exponentially. As Joseph Stiglitz has explained, many theories that are seen as strongly Republican, such as the trickle-down effect, has caused the rich to take money from the poor, and as a result the lower class grows and the middle class disintegrates. The top 1 percent of America’s households currently holds 30Read MoreEssay about Cultural Duality Among Irani ans1321 Words   |  6 Pagestrend both economically and politically. Iranians have a very strong sense of class structure. In the past they referred to their society as being divided into tiers, or tabagheh, which were identified by numbers: the first tier corresponded to the upper classes; the second, to the middle classes; and the third, to the lower classes. Under the influence of revolutionary ideology, society is now perceived as being divided into the wealthy; the middle classes; and the mostazafin, a term that literallyRead MoreSeven Year War Paper1109 Words   |  5 Pagesimmigration quickly increased the population and made the colonies more diverse. The diversity caused the colonies to be primarily divided along cultural lines. The colonist divided themselves according to their ethnic, regional, racial, and religious differences (Davidson, 2006). Because many of these immigrants had no money and no way to pay for their trip to America, they had arrived in the colonies already signed into indentured servitude (Davidson, 2006). The population increase had aRead MoreKarl Marx s Influence On Society962 Words   |  4 Pagesyears. Many concepts have come up in the reading but the ones that have stood out to me are alienation, exploitation, and class structure. Alienation and exploitation go hand in hand, based on my understanding of the reading. Business owners are becoming richer because their factories are producing more, but yet not costing them so much. Factory workers are the poor class individuals. These individuals are exploited in labor, since they have to work many hours, but yet the pay is little. ThisRead MoreBlack Boys And Girls Holding Hands With Little Brown Vs. Board Of Education1663 Words   |  7 PagesAfter today, the education system in America will never be the same. Today marks May 17, 1954 and just moments ago the Supreme Court announced a mind-boggling court decision that has altered history forever. Little nine-year-old Linda Brown just won her case in the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruling. The Supreme Court just confirmed that segregation in schools is now unconstitutional under the law. Dr. King’s dream of â€Å"little black boys and girls holding hands with little whiteRead MorePoli tical Issues Facing America 791 Words   |  3 Pages The United States has strived to be the strongest and most free democracy in the world, even though the United States truly is a republic. As a nation the United States have faced many issues that has greatly divided the nation, but we as a nation have been able resolve the most pressing of them. Today we face new issues that seem to cut deeper and push us farther apart. There are many issues facing the United States. There true importance is widely debated, but some of the more prevalent are climateRead MoreSeven Years War Paper1331 Words   |  6 PagesShauna Donovan HIS 115 Many factors led up to the Seven Years’ War and in this paper I will describe the social and political backgrounds existent in eighteenth-century America, explain how the diverse backgrounds and views led to the Seven Years’ War and explain how the outcome of the Seven Years’ War affected me and America. All of this will be explained as you read along in this paper. In the seventeenth-century before I was born, â€Å"the colonies were becoming overrun by various, very differentRead MoreSocial Class From The Perspectives Of People Of Color, Women, And Gender Orientation977 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Class in America America is divided into groups based on many different characteristics. Some of those characteristics may include race and ethnicity, cultures, religions, age, sexual orientations and genders. No matter which group someone defines with based on those characteristics, an individual will be labeled one step further to fit into a social class. In America, the most basic structure of social classes is broken down into upper, middle, and lower class. However, the perspectives ofRead MoreIs America A Post Racial Society?1431 Words   |  6 Pages Many individuals have argued that America is a post-racial society. However, as a nation that as yet to be achieved. Even though, we have a biracial president does not mean that we have yet to achieve the status of all races being equal. We still live in a system that contains one superior group while other racial groups remain inferior. The United states have yet to understand why we have two nations in America. In addition, examining how to combat and prevent those issues that are place by barriersRead MoreSocial Stratification in Modern Capitalist Societies1447 Words   |  6 Pages1. What is social stratification? Why are class, caste, gender and ethnicity considered to be systems of stratification? Answer- Social stratification is the division of society into different groups in a pattern of ranking. In simple sentence, social stratification means inequalities between different groups of people. It is division of a large group of society and their unequal access to resources. Our society is divided into many groups by class, caste, gender, ethnicity. It classified the