Response To Fussell's Through The Country Door

In The Merits of Meritocracy, by David Brooks, Brooks discusses the lives of middle-class children growing up in America. He opens up with an anecdote about his daughter, to lead into one of his main points: middle-class children have busy and protected childhood, filled with many opportunities supervised by adults (193). For instance, his daughter has four different helmets for biking, pogo sticking, skateboarding, and playing baseball (193). She is a prime example of how the middle-class is presented with opportunities and busy lives; because of this, Brooks claims the general middle-class parent fears their child is too spoiled by abundance, and will never have to commit to one thing (194). Another large fear Brooks states they have, is

Blinded by the self-destructive American dream of “Marie-Antoinette music-rooms and Restoration salons” and “toilet sets of pure dull gold” most murder their morals and harm others in the process (Fitzgerald 5.91). Whether rich or poor two things can be assured: the poor want to be rich and the rich do not want

In “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”, George Saunders makes an important statement about the role of materialism in the American Dream, and how this materialism may not be the key to happiness many believe it to be. Saunders tells of a middle class family that strives to meet the standards of their peers and find a happier life. The father, who acts as the narrator, believes that acquiring and spending money on material objects, specifically the Semplica Girls, will improve the family’s life by improving how the family’s financial situation appears to others. The father’s primary values are that wealth and social standing are crucial to attaining the good life, and he believes the purchase of the Semplica Girls will fulfill these values. However, it is clear from the family’s ultimate situation and the disapproval of the mother’s successful father, that the narrator’s beliefs are misguided and potentially damaging to the family.

In this argumentative essay, we will discuss the gradual dissipation of middle class America. We will explore the ideal of the middle class dream at its creation and the deteriration of the same dream throughout the decades in America.

    The American Dream is real; Americans are able to rise out of poverty and into leisurely lifestyles with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class both address issues of status and wealth that arise from peoples' pursuits of the American Dream. But the authors differ in their beliefs about the nature and motives of peoples' pursuits of wealth. To begin with, Fitzgerald disagrees with Veblen's notion of pecuniary emulation as being intrinsic behavior (a goal in and of itself). He does this by conveying that Gatsby's flamboyant lifestyle is

It is sad to say, but in our American Dream, the corrupted one that is, greenbacks are worth more than one’s honor. Other nations look upon the American devotion as sterile cupidity and insanity. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are an excellent example of the importance of being wealthy. Lapham expresses his opinion on Americans as Philistinism. Americans base their success on property and luxuries. Without that, they are not truly happy or satisfied with what they did in their life period. If the goal of becoming rich is achieved, everything might not be so great after all. The circle of people associated with you are just there for the luxury. Take the Gatsby as an example. No one went to his funeral, not even Daisy. She was to blame for his death, and

I wholeheartedly endorse what Cottom calls “The Logic of Stupid Poor People”, that poor people buy status symbols to survive in this world. She demonstrates that, as a middle class black girl, her family had a way of turning the tables in their favor in multiple aspects in order to supply their needs and wants. Poor people buy expensive items, sometimes depriving themselves of their other needs, just for the respect of others. These items are 21st-century status symbols, they can single-handedly determine the fate of your everyday encounters. The author uses personal experiences to support her argument, persuasively changing your entire perspective and broadening your mind to another individual’s lifestyle.

To achieve the American Dream, one must work hard and have the dedication to be successful. There are myths relating to this dream leaving lower class members to wonder if the dream exists for them. People in lower class are told if they want to be successful they must put in hard work and true effort. Once they do, they see that they are remaining in the same position they started in. In “Class of America-2012,” Gregory Mantsios states the ideas of class in the US and explains them. One myth addressed in this selection is, “Everyone has an equal chance to succeed. Success in the United States requires no more than hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance: ‘In America, anyone can become a billionaire; it’s just a matter of being in the right

This book consists of eight chapters which include hoarding the dream, a class apart, growing gains, inheriting class, market merit, opportunity hoarding, sharing the dram, and check our privilege. These chapter can be broken up into three main ideas. These are advantages of the upper class, opportunity, and realization. The book Dream Hoarders main point is that the upper middle class has become more of a villain than the wealthiest one percent. The author Richard Reeves points out that the upper-middle-class families are in a way hoarding the American dream. It is stated that the people of the upper-middle-class are pulling away from everyone else in terms of education, health, income, and family structure. With the advantages the upper

As Ewen wraps up the correlation between the American dream and social mobility he concludes that the middle class became increasingly more obsessed with their appearance.

Here, in the United States, the “American Dream,” is a popular belief. There is a strong relationship between hard work and success. In this perfect scenario, those who put in multiple hours are on the road to success and can move up the social ladder. Thus stating, one could be thrust into the lowest of the social status, and with some hard work, one can elevate into the world of the social elite. As a demonstration to this global view of the United States, immigrants from all over the globe have made the excursion to the “land of opportunity” in beliefs of better education, employment, government, communities, religious freedom, and lives for not only themselves but the generations that come pursuing behind them. All of this survives based on a game of social stratification – a diagram on how to successfully obtain the American dream. This observation of social class is based on many mechanisms, some of which is bestowed to people at birth, and not rewarded for hard work and dedication. The class system at play in the United States has become incredibly complex – it no longer has the fundamental class values of our forefathers. Those trying to move up in the social ladder of America are often caught replication the actions of the rich and famous, but this alone cannot make them part of the higher social class. Some think that there are simple rules to follow to climb higher into another social class ladder, but there is more to being upper class than just talking the talk or having the right identity.One way to look at class is the model developed by Janny Scott and David Leonhardt's article, “Shadowy Lines That Still Divide,” in The New York Times. They assert that “one way to think of a person’s position in society is to imagine a hand of cards. Everyone is dealt four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation and wealth, the four commonly used criteria for gauging class” (Scott and Leonhardt 27). While being sure on these four criteria, a basic understanding of a person’s predicted class can be made. While this model works fine for providing an elementary level of perception, it must be recognized that a person could rate well on this scale and still be in a different class than those

They don’t have any sympathy for the lower class, and this shows that they are of a higher class. When the grandmother speaks of painting “this picture” this also refers that they are of a higher social class because the grandmother is able to take up in art class.

During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives. In the novel entitled the great Gatsby, the ideals of the so called American dream became skewed, as a result

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

Of this group, about 1/3rd belongs to the upper-middle class. The annual income of person belonging to this group is $70-$75,000. The jobs that the typical upper-middle class person holds would have a prestige rating of 65 or higher. 2/3rd?s of the middle-class population is the lower-middle class. White-collared individuals make up the majority of this class, earning anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a year. Lower-middle class Americans have a set standard of priorities. They take pride in the fact that they are financially stable, and promote hard work, and press on education. Without education, the members feel that they would not be where they are economically, and preach the importance to their children so that they, too, can live a lifestyle very similar to that of theirs (Norton).