Reevaluating the American Dream: Class Mobility

The American Dream

Paul Fussell's naïve asserationation that the American Dream perpetuates social class mobility as an unlikely concept is both shortsighted and flawed. The comparison was made that social classes of today are akin to caste systems that infamously plagued past societies. His concept of a caste system means is that one's social class is determined almost solely by the social class of their parents. What should be mentioned is that in the modern first world, one has is susceptible to advance or regress into another social class now more than ever. What this doesn't imply is that 2016 is necessarily the year of opportunity, or that recent years were more opportunistic than say thirty or forty years ago.Rather that this day and age in particular is far more volatile in terms of class stability.
The issue that plagues society today is that people believe themselves to be inherently deserving of a grand sort of glorious life. And who could blame them? Is it not part of the

human condition to dream? To dream of greatness? But what of the American Dream exactly, and how does could it differ from one individual to another? To Paul Fussell, the American Dream seems to be the prospect of upwards class mobility. To another, the American Dream could mean simply securing a better future for ones next of kin. Regardless of how one may interpret the idiom, the basis is the same. The premise of the American Dream is that through hard work and dedication, one will be able to reap the fruits of their labour.
Part of the problem with Fussell's association of the American Dream with social class is that the American Dream wasn't intended to be definitive of social class advancement. The term was first coined in 1931 by historian James Truslow Adams, whose description of the American Dream reads "That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement." Not to discredit Fussell for his misinterpretation of the phrase. As the term is nearly a century old, and it shouldn't be a surprise to see that the original meaning was distorted. This being said, the American Dream in no way purports social class to be highly versatile at all. Rather it advocates the premise of the advancement of all society, over just the individual.
On the topic of upward class mobility, the American Dream is generally associated with ones movement from the lower classes to the upper or highest class echelon in society. Stories akin to John D. Rockefeller come to mind. Rockefeller, who was one of six kids being raised by a single mother, actually managed achieve the statistical uncertainty and come out to be one of the richest, most successful men this country has ever seen. Even ascending into Fussells mystical "Out of sight class." A class existing so far above the others, most of us simple folk are unaware of its existence. In our pseudo capitalist society some view social class as nothing more than income levels. So subsequently, when one makes more money, they move up through the social hierarchy.
While income is one of the factors that determine class, it is just one part of the equation.

The viewpoint of income being synonymous with class is perpetuated by the uninformed. As one approaches the highest echelons of society, there are two types of money, Old money and new money. Anyone who has read Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby should be aware of the distinction as it's made it out to be a prominent plot point throughout the novel. This would actually support Fussells assertion that there is a caste system in place our society, but only to an extent. Caste systems are defined as "a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity." What a caste would imply is that there exists almost zero chance of being able to advance. The American social class system would render this null in the sense that even new money would eventually age to become old money. But even that information is practically irrelevant as it only pertains to the highest echelons of

society.
We know that class is determined by occupation, income, and behavior. We also know that during the colonization of the western hemisphere, there didn’t really exist a clear middle class. For the most part it was the working class and the aristocrats. While today, we know that the aristocrats in essence, still exist and so too obviously does the working class. According to a piece by Localhistories the English middle class rose from 20% of the population in 1914, to 30 percent of the population in 1939. Then according to Dailymail, the size of the middle class is now up to 46%. It almost seems with the bulk of the population turning in blue collars near the turn of the century for white collar jobs that the lower classes are shrinking. And that people are rising into higher classes. Thereby refuting any sense of a caste system.
When examining the upper middle to the lower class, the preconceived notion that someone in the first world is inherently born into whichever class their parents currently occupy is banal. The idea of social stratification is becoming more archaic as time goes on. And despite the middle class beginning to dip as of late, does one really believe that the percentage of those who occupy the middle will decline back down to levels similar to the mid century? And even if they did, what would that mean for the individual? The quality of life improved so dramatically in the last century, what does it really mean to be low class? CNS reports that nearly 98% of Americans living in poverty have refrigerators. More than 83% have air conditioning, 80% have cell phones, and 96% have television. Compare that to any other poverty stricken country in the world, and the disenfranchised of the first world appear as gods and kings in the eyes of those far less fortunate.
"That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." Adams American dream does not purports class to be mobile. Instead the American Dream is the hope that all man will be treated equally, and will be respected regardless of birth or position in a society. In essence, the dream preaches equality. Rather than the promise of upwards class mobility.