Myth vs. Reality

Although class distinction has been around for a very long time, people in the United States still have difficulty accepting it and opening their eyes to realize that they also belong to a social class. In the article Class in America, author Gregory Mantsios argues the realities behind the myths attributed to social classes in the Untied States. He uses statistical facts to support his realities and help America grasp a better understanding of how classes are distinguished and how it affects their everyday life.

Mantsios starts out his argument by stating four myths regarding social classes. The first myth dealt with the United States being a “classless society” (306). The belief is that class is not as prevalent today as it used to be. The second myth presented by Mantsios shared the idea that as a whole, America is a “middle-class nation” (306). Furthermore, the third myth attributed the idea that due to economic stability, “We are all getting richer” (306). Finally, the last myth discussed by Mantsios stated that with hard work, “Everyone has an equal chance to succeed” (307).

To show the reality behind these myths, Mantsios developed realities along with statistics to further illustrate his points. Mantsios explained how there are in fact classes, and unequal ones at that. He explained that the population is shifted towards opposite ends by statistically showing that “Sixty percent of the American population holds less than 6 percent of the nation’s wealth” (308). Essentially, this causes income distribution to become skewed and goes to show the big gaps between classes. Mantsios was able to prove that the middle class only holds a small portion of the nation’s wealth by presenting the different life-styles of Harold Browning, Bob Farrell, and Cheryl Mitchell. In their cases, the different class they were in had a deep impact on “where they live, who their friends are, how well they are educated, what they do for a living, and what they come to expect from life” (312). This was also connected with the idea that there is an association between one’s class and wellbeing, a relationship that alters chance of survival. Mantsios clearly showed this in his Carnegie Council study where he was able to prove that “the higher the student’s social status, the higher the probability that he or she will get higher grades” (315). Subsequently, Mantsios dug deeper to show that everyone’s class is determined as early as the day they are born. He explained that much of what American’s have is because of where they came from. In fact, studies showed that “fewer than one in five men surpass the economic status of their fathers” (316). Additionally, Mantsios was able to prove that