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The Myth of Opportunity and Success
Almost all of us believe that the world is divided into different classes, and that most people look up to the upper class and hope to be one of them someday. People define success in a different way. Most of us feed off from what other people convince us to believe what being successful looks like. The world and media has a big influence on us, making us believe on the opportunity that we can all be successful, that being successful means being rich, being top of your field, having a career with higher earnings, and everything that the media or the people portray. Diana Kendall and Harlon Dalton are two authors that both have two different theories regarding class in America. Nevertheless both come together
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contributing to the myth of opportunity and success. In Diana Kendall’s essay, she infatuates on how media has a big influence on how the different classes are framed. “In a mass-mediated culture such as ours, the media do not simply mirror society; rather, they help to shape it and to create cultural perceptions” (p. 315). The media draws for us how each class looks like. It depicts each class in a different way, which gives people a twisted and biased opinion of each class. It doesn’t really show us what is real, which makes people “emulate the upper classes and shun the working class and the poor” (p. 315). It manipulates people to want to become part of the upper class and to look up to them in their lavish lifestyles. They have encouraged them to strive for what the media shows and depicts what being successful looks like. “Television shows, magazines, and newspapers sell the idea that the only way to get ahead is to identify with the rich and powerful and to live vicariously through them.” (p. 316). The media holds a lot of power when it comes to affecting our society and they persuade us in a very promising way. “From sitcoms to reality shows, the media encourage ordinary people to believe that they may rise to fame and fortune” (p. 316). It gives people the wrong idea. It portrays that anyone no matter what social class, can be the characters on TV, buy the things on TV, and achieve the same things that are portrayed on TV or any social media platform there is. They are creating this American Dream myth that people are trying to copy and follow, giving them false hope on opportunity and success. Speaking of false hope, another author that covers this topic is Harlon Dalton. In his essay, he points out how Horatio Alger puts out false hope to the poor and impoverished by perpetuating the myth that everyone has an equal opportunity in becoming successful. “The Horatio Alger myth conveys three basic messages: (1) each of us is judged solely on her or his own merits; (2) we each have a fair opportunity to develop those merits; and (3) ultimately, merit will out” (p. 261). What Dalton is trying to say is that in the real world people are going to be bias. Horatio Alger is giving his readers unrealistic ideas that everyone has a fair opportunity in being successful and living out their dreams, but in the real world it is not that easy. Not all people are going to be given fair chances in life; that is why there is a saying that life isn’t fair, and at times that can be very true. A lot of people are going to give you unfair judgment based on your race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, background, or social class. We are being convinced by this theory that anyone can accomplish anything, but sometimes there are things beyond our control that hinder our road to success. Sadly, we live in a prejudice world. “Stephen Carter has written movingly about what he calls “the best black syndrome,” the tendency of White folk to judge successful Black people only in relation to each other rather than against all comers. Thus, when Carter earned the second-highest score in his high school on the National Merit Scholarship qualifying test, he was readily recognized as “the best Black” around, but somehow not seen as one of the best students, period” (p.261). Not only does that happen to people of different race, but gender as well. Even until this day we hear people say “best female” instead of just saying best. People are often ranked alongside other people with the same culture or gender. A lot of the times our success or failure regardless of our merit, can be detoured by prejudice human beings. The difference between Diana Kendall’s essay and Harlon Dalton’s essay is that Kendall emphasizes that the media has a very powerful influence on the people, feeding them wrong ideas about each class and what people should be striving to be.
While in Harlon Dalton’s essay he points out false hope that another author is feeding people on how everyone has an equal unbiased opportunity. Kendall believes that media is distorting reality. It is telling us how to act, how to look like, and what to strive for. “According to the social critic bell hooks, we over identify with the wealthy, because the media socialize us to believe that people in the upper classes are better than we are. The media also suggest that we need have no allegiance to people in our own class or to those who are less fortunate” (p. 316). The lower class and working class are getting drawn into what the media is portraying and advertising in order to make people believe that they too can obtain what the more “privileged” people have. In Dalton’s essay, instead of the media giving false hope it’s another author giving the wrong idea to individuals. The Author Horatio Alger gives his readers the idea that everyone can succeed no matter what. “HORATIO ALGER, whose name more than any other is associated with the classic American hero. A writer of mediocre fiction, Alger had a formula for commercial success that was simple and straightforward: his lead characters, young boys born into poverty, invariably managed to transcend their station in life by dint of hard work, persistence, initiative, and daring.1 Nice story line. There is just one problem — it is a myth. Not just in the sense that it is fictional, but more fundamentally because the lesson Alger conveys is a false one” (p. 261). Dalton feels that what Alger is doing is not right, although it gives off a positive message; it also gives a lot of people the idea that the world is fair and unbiased which it isn’t. Most of the time our path to success
does not come easy, we are going to encounter a lot of judgment from people who are bias, in addition to obstacles to success, and it will not necessarily come easy for a lot of people. Though both Diana Kendall and Harlon Dalton’s essays talk about two completely different things, they have one thing in common which is the myth of opportunity and success. People and media determine our definition of success. “Equality does not exist in contemporary society, but media audiences are encouraged to view themselves as having an “equal right” (p. 316). Both authors agree that we are spoon-fed by this idea of an American dream, that in this land of opportunities, we can accomplish anything and succeed. However, it is just a myth that people and the media have made us believe.
Throughout the history of literature, a great deal of authors has tried to reveal a clear understanding of the American Dream. Whether it is possible to achieve lies all in the character the author portrays. The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye stand as prime examples of this. F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger, the authors of these titles, respectively, fashion flawed characters, Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield, with one vital desire: the longing to gain what they can’t have; acceptance and the feeling of belonging. Each retaining characteristics that shows their differences and similarities in opinion of the world around them.
How much in common do you think Lorraine Jenson and John Conlan have? How many differences do you think Lorraine Jenson and John Conlan have? Well you are about to find that out. In the book The Pigman, written by Paul Zindel, there are two characters, Lorraine and John in which i am comparing and contrasting. Even though Lorraine doesn't seem like as though she has alot in common with John they can be alike and different in the littlest things possible, such as in physical appearance, in thier behavior and personality, and in their strengths and weaknesses.Just see for your self.
The book Class matter shows the importance of how much people should value and appreciate the importance of a classroom education. How much you dedicate yourself to school can help you gain enough knowledge to be successful in the future. Having good quality education in America seems to be the closest thing to a ticket to class mobility. The book was very interesting in explaining what social class really is in America, and the way it affects people's lives on how they live day to day. The different types of social class is what shapes our society. But I think this book is more for those people who aren’t that aware of social class, or for the ones who feel that we live in a society that is classless rather then the actually people who have realized the consequence that class really has on someone’s life. Many people can relate to what stories are told in the book if not, they know of a person that can relate to these stories. As a person that grew up in the lower class, I can definitely relate to most of the stories told in this book. From experience, there is a big difference in this country between the rich, middle class, and who are the poorest that we see daily. Even those in the so called working class have to make continuous sacrifices and live very differently from those positioned firmly in the middle class. Some people may have decent jobs but the bills and other expenses people may have make it harder on people than those who are in the same class but don’t have to necessarily go through the same thing as others. The chapters that I read in this book broaden what I said to a better more clear understanding.
Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.
According to Gregory Mantsios many American people believed that the classes in the United States were irrelevant, that we equally reside(ed) in a middle class nation, that we were all getting richer, and that everyone has an opportunity to succeed in life. But what many believed, was far from the truth. In reality the middle class of the United States receives a very small amount of the nation's wealth, and sixty percent of America's population receives less than 6 percent of the nation's wealth, while the top 1 percent of the American population receives 34 percent of the total national wealth. In the article Class in America ( 2009), written by Gregory Mantsios informs us that there are some huge differences that exist between the classes of America, especially the wealthy and the poor. After
Horatio Alger was an author in the late nineteenth century; he wrote books to little boys on the American Dream. Alger’s books seemed to hark back to an older time when the American Dream was quite different than it was in his time. He subscribed to thoughts of morality, individualism and the competence; but keeps the contemporary idea of fruitfulness. Alger wrote many books to encourage young boys to be moral and work hard.
In his essay “Land of Opportunity” James W. Loewen details the ignorance that most American students have towards class structure. He bemoans the fact that most textbooks completely ignore the issue of class, and when it does it is usually only mentions middle class in order to make the point that America is a “middle class country. This is particularly grievous to Loewen because he believes, “Social class is probably the single most important variable in society. From womb to tomb, it correlates with almost all other social characteristics of people that we can measure.” Loewen simply believes that social class usually determine the paths that a person will take in life. (Loewen 203)
Nevertheless, our social structure isn’t a brick wall were individuals are trapped in there social class. We are still able with education and the opportunities to shape our lives and achieve our full potential. Harlon L. Dalton emulates the possibility within his story about Horatio Alger, “neither Alger nor the myth suggests that we start out equal. Nor does the myth necessarily require that we be given an equal opportunity to succeed. Rather, Alger’s point is that each of us has the power to create our own opportunities.”
Mantsios believes that Americans do not like to talk about the different classes, whether it is about the upper, middles or lower class. He outlines four myths that are widely held about class in the United States. Myth one the united states is fundamentally a classless society, myth two we are, essentially a middle class nation. Most Americans have achieved relative affluence in what is widely recognized as a consumer society. Myth three we are all getting richer. Each generation propels itself to greater economic well-being. And myth four, everyone has an equal chance to succeed. Requires no more than hard work sacrifice and perseverance (Mantsios).
With each class comes a certain level in financial standing, the lower class having the lowest income and the upper class having the highest income. According to Mantsios’ “Class in America” the wealthiest one percent of the American population hold thirty-four percent of the total national wealth and while this is going on nearly thirty-seven million Americans across the nation live in unrelenting poverty (Mantsios 284-6). There is a clear difference in the way that these two groups of people live, one is extreme poverty and the other extremely
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most recognizable poets from early American History; they were also both American Puritans, who changed the world with their poetry. We can see many similarities in their poetry when it comes to the importance of religion and also on having children and losing children. There are however differences in the audience of their poetry and their personal views on marriage. Bradstreet and Taylor both came over to America in the 17th century and settled in New England. Though Taylor came years later we can see the similarities through their poetry.
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
Paul Krugman, in his article “The Death of Horatio Alger” suggests that social mobility among classes in the United States is becoming more difficult by the day. Krugman explains that the idea of the American Dream and moving from class to class was once semi easily attainable; but is now seemingly impossible. Although America is thought of as a classless society, the country has a whole is moving into a caste society run by the rich.
Social and economic class is something we as Americans like to push into the back of our minds. Sometimes recognizing our class either socially or economically can almost be crippling. When individuals recognize class, limitations and judgment confront us. Instead, we should know it is important to recognize our class, but not let it define and limit us. In the essay, “Class in America”, Gregory Mantsios, founder and director of the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education at the School of Professional Studies, brings to light the fact that Americans don’t talk about class and class mobility. He describes the classes in extremes, mainly focusing on the very sharp divide between the extremely wealthy and extremely poor. In contrast, George