Analyzing the Rags-to-Riches Myth in Todays America - Essay Example

Module Analyzing the Rags-to-Riches Myth in Today's America Many Americans like to imagine that the United s is a country that provides numerous opportunities for all people who migrate there. Even the citizens of other nations around the world have believed this myth as a result of the way America is depicted in all elements of the mass media. In truth, there are various examples of American entrepreneurs who have achieved their dreams even though they had a poor background. However, the reality is that America does not provide equal opportunities for all people from all ethnic backgrounds. Most Americans who come from humble backgrounds and manage to succeed in society are usually boosted by the education and life achievements of their parents or other relatives. In actuality, poor people from various ethnic backgrounds have more chance of realizing financial independence in different European nations than in the United States. The myth of American opportunity has probably persisted due to the chances that existed for motivated immigrants in past centuries. In the 19th century, America was obviously a better option for slum dwellers in England and Continental Europe. The chances that individuals from these nations found in America were so different from those they were exposed to in their motherlands that they began to view America as a land akin to paradise. Horatio Alger’s book, ‘Ragged Dick’ mirrors this enthusiasm about the chances given by America to the disenfranchised. In ‘Ragged Dick’, the hero lives in New York City and starts out in a deprived and pitiable state, but, due to hard work and dedication, ends up being educated and respected by society. The latter part of the 19th century was a time of change and great progress in American History. Moreover, it was also a time of falsehood. The reality is that corruptive practices, at this time, were more accepted in today’s America. Alger could be accused of being naive in his depiction of Dick, the main character in the tale of ‘Ragged Dick’. If a character such as Dick was able to climb out of poverty in the late 1800s, it is more likely that he achieved this as a result of participating in illegal activities. American society, during that era, was more divided than is the case today. Gangs randomly attacked successful business men and forced them to pay ‘protection fees’ in order to keep operating. Politicians were corrupt and did not have the current organizations that check excesses to curtail their crooked activities. In Horatio Alger’s book, Dick is a dedicated and punctilious person who takes advantage of the opportunities that come his way (Alger 247). Alger shows how his main character gains an opportunity to improve his chances of overcoming poverty when he is rewarded for being of assistance to the child of a rich man. This, in itself, presents a contradiction in what Alger believed about the American society’s fairness. For instance, if Dick had been of African American ancestry, it is unlikely that he would have been given the chance to improve his life even if he had saved fifty sons of rich men. Dick was privileged in this particular circumstance, even though he was poor, because he was from the accepted race. In today’s world, people from all ethnic backgrounds do not have equal opportunity to improve their lives in spite of what is constantly asserted by the media. The fact that America has become more technologically advanced and is also experiencing a recession merely makes things harder for people or migrants who have little in the way of material goods to raise themselves economically. Not all Americans are well-educated. This means that there will be a lot of competition for the existing blue-collar jobs. In such cases, it is likely that ethnic minorities will be disadvantaged as those that are able to bribe for the jobs or belong to the predominant race are given the existing opportunities. Where white-collar jobs are concerned, sex, race, education and good resumes are the main factors that are used in allocating jobs to applicants. It must be remembered that, for people without influential and moneyed parents and relatives, or a famous family name and legacy, a good job is the main determinant of how far a person will be able to rise within society. In the past, people tried to assert that being wealthy was not necessarily important for people to be happy. However, the reality is that right from birth the class in which any person is born into greatly affects the person’s chances for survival. Class influences much more than the riches a person is able to gain or the life style he or she adopts. It has been established that being from the low income groups results in the higher incidence of physical disability, infant mortality, nutritional deficiency, mental disease, and other ailments that are less common among the middle class and wealthier groups in society. It has also been established that among developed nations, America has the highest level of disproportion between the wealthy and the poor. This is not consistent with claims that all stations of workers have equal access to amenities that improve their lifestyles in America. The clear trend shows that there is a concentration of wealth at the top, while there is increasing poverty among the lower classes or low income groups. The recent revelations of the discrepancies in corporate governance show that many individuals in corporate positions build their wealth through consolidating their positions above other workers. They use monopoly power and capitalize on deficits in corporate governance to get for themselves a larger share of corporate proceeds. Others people with influential families use their political connections to profit from the government largesse. The success of such persons is dependent on the maintenance of inequality in various planes of American society. There are even individuals in positions of power in American society who claims that low earning individuals and other disenfranchised groups such as migrants should not complain about inequality. They claim that the contributions of America’s superrich individuals through charities and other policies are responsible for the little that the poor get. This is a more subtle type of racism. America also has laws that openly promote inequality but which are not obvious to the man in the street that may not be conversant with financial and legal terms used to phrase such regulations. For instance, America has bankruptcy regulations that benefit derivatives. Moreover, the law does not permit the discharging of acquired student debt even if the student in question got a substandard education. Such laws only benefit the already financially engorged bankers while discriminating against and impoverishing the poor student who may have made real sacrifices to try and attain an education that will benefit him as well as the American economy in the long run. In supporting such laws, America is actually negatively affecting its own economy. Many low income workers are not able to realize their true potential, because the wealthy classes, who require few if any public services to maintain their lifestyles, and who fear that a strong government will be tempted to rearrange incomes, employ their political influence to reduce government spending. These results in underinvestment in the education sector, infrastructure, and technology and thus serves to hamper continued industrial growth. In Gregory Mantsios’ essay, "Class in America", the mechanism of the creation of America’s economical classes is discussed. Most Americans are uncomfortable about discussing the classes that exist in the mainstream society; and, for the most part, insist that class divisions are non-existent in America. Americas are actually more comfortable in addressing the divisions that exist between people from different ethnic groups than those between the rich and the poor. This may be due to the legacy that stretches back right to the founding fathers. America came to exist because the people of different nations in Europe were seeking for refuge from persecution. Many poor people from the European continent fled to America to make better lives for themselves. Dividing the society on the basis of those with the most and the least amount of money would seem to be a contradiction of the reasons for which America came into existence in the first place. Mantsios addresses the fact that Americans refuse to address the obvious class distinctions by asserting that the saying that all Americans are rich when compared to the poor in developing nations and that America’s poorer communities can improve their situation if they choose to work harder than they are currently doing. Mantsios shows the error of this statement by giving facts about American society at present. For instance, it is an established fact that in America, the rich control a third of the finances even though they only account for 1% of the population (Mantsios 335). He also stresses that though some have been able to improve their lifestyles through hard work, not all people have this chance because of the different ways that different classes are treated. It is a fact that getting out of a lower class is almost impossible. It becomes even harder for people who are from the lower classes and also belong to one of the minority ethnic groups. It is a recognized fact that low income or high income people from certain races are more likely to be successful in finding employment. This allows for unfair advantages for people from the predominant race while workers from the minority ethnic groups are discouraged from even trying to work harder in order to raise themselves to the middle class from the lower class. In America, a person’s sex and race has much to do with how much they will be able to reach the upper classes if they belong to the lower earning classes at present. This is mainly due to the difference in opportunities that people of different ethnic groups and both genders are given. Without equal opportunity for both men and women as well as for African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics, there can be no fair chance for all people in the lower classes to be to reach the upper classes in their lifetimes. Works Cited Alger, Horatio. Ragged Dick. New York: Akasha Classics, 2008. Print. Mantsios, Gregory. Class in America: Myths and Realities. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. Read More