Summary Of Class In America By Gregory Mantsios

Gregory Mantsios essay “Class in America”, explains what Americans believe the economy is like and it compares it to what it to what it actually is. He starts out with a list of the four myths that people believe are true when it comes to the opportunities everyone has. The first myth says that it does not matter whether you are poor or rich, everyone has access to basic needs when it comes to education and health care. Myth two says that the majority of Americans are middle class, myth three states that despite what everyone else thinks everyone is actually making more money, and myth four states that everyone has the same opportunity to succeed, it just comes down to how much work you put in. (
Mantsios then reveals the reality. He starts

out with explaining how, despite popular beliefs most people do not fall under middle class. In fact, only “sixty percent of the American population holds less than 4 percent of the nation’s wealth.” (285). The majority of the country’s wealth is obtained by the top one percent, even increasing over the past couple of years. Government taxes are also creating a bigger gap when it comes to equality between the middle class and the wealthy, which connects with his next point, were he specifies that the middle class holds a small percent of the nation’s wealth and is slowly diminishing. The quality of life is the next reality. It is pointed out that besides not having as many material items, people who are not as well off have trouble with their “physical and mental well-being.” (292)