Class in America
Mantsios Class in America
In Mantsios article “Class in America” he states that Americans hold beliefs that blind them to social classes, citizens in America have four myths they use to ensure talk about the classes never take place. America has the largest gap between rich and poor in the world, and the lower class has no means to an end they can’t afford health care or quality education. The upper class avoids talk about social class the most; wealthy people don’t want to admit that they are better off than others. While the lower class sees how much better off others are than them, but they still don’t like to label themselves. I agree with Mantsios that most Americans avoid talk about classes although I am not one of them. Also I would agree there are myths that this country was founded on that may have at one point been true, but not anymore. As for Mantsios’s opinion on health care and education I would have to disagree, although many lower class Americans do not get the education and health care they need to survive I was not one of them.
Mantsios States Americans avoid talk about classes. Americans avoid phrases like upper class, middle class and lower class because it’s an ugly truth about American society. Those terms are not in Americans vocabulary, unlike the rest of the world. Both the lower class and upper class avoid using class distinctions. When I was in high school I had a friend whose parents were very well off. I have tried to talk to my friend about the wealth of his parents. My friend won’t admit his parents are wealthy and he thinks that everyone is as well off as his family. His father owns a landscaping company where my friend works in the summers when he isn’t in college. I’ve worked for my friend’s father before for about six months and then I was laid off when the economy hit the peak of the recession. My friend, his brother and I were the only white people his father had working for him the rest were Mexican and barely spoke English.
In Mantsios article “Class in America” he states that Americans hold beliefs that blind them to social classes, citizens in America have four myths they use to ensure talk about the classes never take place. America has the largest gap between rich and poor in the world, and the lower class has no means to an end they can’t afford health care or quality education. The upper class avoids talk about social class the most; wealthy people don’t want to admit that they are better off than others. While the lower class sees how much better off others are than them, but they still don’t like to label themselves. I agree with Mantsios that most Americans avoid talk about classes although I am not one of them. Also I would agree there are myths that this country was founded on that may have at one point been true, but not anymore. As for Mantsios’s opinion on health care and education I would have to disagree, although many lower class Americans do not get the education and health care they need to survive I was not one of them.
Mantsios States Americans avoid talk about classes. Americans avoid phrases like upper class, middle class and lower class because it’s an ugly truth about American society. Those terms are not in Americans vocabulary, unlike the rest of the world. Both the lower class and upper class avoid using class distinctions. When I was in high school I had a friend whose parents were very well off. I have tried to talk to my friend about the wealth of his parents. My friend won’t admit his parents are wealthy and he thinks that everyone is as well off as his family. His father owns a landscaping company where my friend works in the summers when he isn’t in college. I’ve worked for my friend’s father before for about six months and then I was laid off when the economy hit the peak of the recession. My friend, his brother and I were the only white people his father had working for him the rest were Mexican and barely spoke English.