Page 18 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 18
šolsko polje, letnik xxviii, številka 3–4
definition, of course, raises the problem most often posed today in stud-
ies of the American Dream: is the dream in danger because of the gap be-
tween aspirations for economic and social mobility and the realities of
limited opportunity and slowed economic growth?
The Problem of Class, Race and Gender Privilege
in a Promised Land of Equal Opportunity
The lure of Adams’ vision of the American Dream – a land of equal oppor-
tunity where each person may achieve his or her fullest development – is
endangered, and becomes dangerous, where economic privilege remains,
barriers to class mobility retain their force, and the ‘success ethic’ con-
tinues to dominate a people’s aspirations. In such a matrix of forces, two
social outcomes are often produced. First, the “have nots” feel marginal-
ized, face inordinate disadvantages that they often cannot overcome, and
– consequently – incur disabling envy, anger and class resentment. This is
the class divide that has been subjected to considerable analytic scrutiny
in recent years in the United States (Putnam, 2015). Second, however, even
those who benefit from the advantages of privilege can feel beleaguered
and betrayed and perceive, wrongly, that their way of life is threatened.
Reacting to their own misperception, the privileged can become further
isolated within their protected and segregated enclaves and fume with re-
sentment of their own (Hochschild, 2016). Arguably, this is the state in
which the United States finds itself in today with both the privileged and
the underprivileged embattled. The American Dream, which suggests
that the United States is a land of opportunity where all can prosper, rais-
es expectations that cannot be fulfilled since those expectations have no
limits. Rich and poor alike can become embittered when the reality fails
to meet each group’s imagined vision of what the American Dream prom-
ise has held out to them as their rightful reward
Campos (2017) is among the most recent analysts to provide data
that suggests economic inequality remains firmly entrenched in the con-
temporary United States, leading to the white working class resentment
that drove Donald Trump into the Presidency. However, what that eco-
nomic and related social survey data show is that while a substantial eco-
nomic gap separates working class Americans in the United States from
the professional classes and elites, white working class households still
earned substantially more than black working class households (Campos
3). Campos concludes that a “genuine working class movement” (Cam-
pos 3) would therefore unite white and black working class members
against their true class enemies. This form of idealistic analysis, however
well intentioned, simply disregards the nature of privilege which demands
16
definition, of course, raises the problem most often posed today in stud-
ies of the American Dream: is the dream in danger because of the gap be-
tween aspirations for economic and social mobility and the realities of
limited opportunity and slowed economic growth?
The Problem of Class, Race and Gender Privilege
in a Promised Land of Equal Opportunity
The lure of Adams’ vision of the American Dream – a land of equal oppor-
tunity where each person may achieve his or her fullest development – is
endangered, and becomes dangerous, where economic privilege remains,
barriers to class mobility retain their force, and the ‘success ethic’ con-
tinues to dominate a people’s aspirations. In such a matrix of forces, two
social outcomes are often produced. First, the “have nots” feel marginal-
ized, face inordinate disadvantages that they often cannot overcome, and
– consequently – incur disabling envy, anger and class resentment. This is
the class divide that has been subjected to considerable analytic scrutiny
in recent years in the United States (Putnam, 2015). Second, however, even
those who benefit from the advantages of privilege can feel beleaguered
and betrayed and perceive, wrongly, that their way of life is threatened.
Reacting to their own misperception, the privileged can become further
isolated within their protected and segregated enclaves and fume with re-
sentment of their own (Hochschild, 2016). Arguably, this is the state in
which the United States finds itself in today with both the privileged and
the underprivileged embattled. The American Dream, which suggests
that the United States is a land of opportunity where all can prosper, rais-
es expectations that cannot be fulfilled since those expectations have no
limits. Rich and poor alike can become embittered when the reality fails
to meet each group’s imagined vision of what the American Dream prom-
ise has held out to them as their rightful reward
Campos (2017) is among the most recent analysts to provide data
that suggests economic inequality remains firmly entrenched in the con-
temporary United States, leading to the white working class resentment
that drove Donald Trump into the Presidency. However, what that eco-
nomic and related social survey data show is that while a substantial eco-
nomic gap separates working class Americans in the United States from
the professional classes and elites, white working class households still
earned substantially more than black working class households (Campos
3). Campos concludes that a “genuine working class movement” (Cam-
pos 3) would therefore unite white and black working class members
against their true class enemies. This form of idealistic analysis, however
well intentioned, simply disregards the nature of privilege which demands
16
