The Land Of Opportunity And Other Myths: Themes Analysis

Reflection Precis 4, The Land of Opportunity and Other Myths (March 6-8, 2018) 108788
Part I: During these two sessions, Dr. Jendian spoke about Faith in Progress. The professor explained that this ideology is when we trust that everything will get better with the time. Therefore, it leads individuals to ignore major problems such as racism and discrimination. Loewen (284) argues that, “…Americans could be persuaded to ignore the injustice of social class if they thought the economic pie kept getting bigger for all.” In addition, Dr. Jendian explained that Americans believe they are becoming more tolerant and that everything has gotten better, but that is not true. Instead, we take two steps forward and one step back when we try to improve. However, these “steps” depend on the people who are
Many of us were surprised by this expectation and others were ready to run. In class, we discussed about the activity and the extra credit opportunity. Some of the people who were on the front mentioned that they felt bad every time they had to take a step forward and the others one step back. People from the back also felt bad when they took steps back and others were advancing. Lastly, other students mentioned that the extra credit opportunity was unfair because people on the front had the advantage and because people who had disabilities also have a disadvantage. Therefore, Dr. Jendian concluded his lesson by explaining about the ideology of meritocracy, which is when people think that we get our things based on our merit and effort. However, factors such as prejudices, discrimination, and disabilities are not taken into consideration when people are not “successful.” Hence, Dr. Jendian explained that meritocracy not true is not true for everyone. Furthermore, the professor mentioned that we need to take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of