Although
for many people the American Dream, and the idea of social mobility, may seem
nonexistent, I believe that it is still a thriving part of today’s society. In
order to argue for or against this notion, however, it is necessary to first
define what is meant by the American Dream. Contrary to what some people seem
to think, the American Dream is NOT that if you will become automatically
become rich if you work hard. In the words of Nicole Doñe, whose parents were
immigrants, “…this American dream is an interpretation of a white poor man’s
dream.” The American Dream is simply the following: the opportunity for anyone
to rise upward in social class through perseverance and hard work. The key word
in this sentence is opportunity. If that word is taken out, then the American
Dream’s identity becomes something very different. It becomes the idea that if
you work hard, you WILL become rich, but this is not correct. You simply must
have the chance to rise up in social class; just because you don’t does not mean
that the American Dream is fading. Having made this clarification, I deem the
American Dream alive based on the following facts—social mobility is prominent
and not at all diminishing, and rising gaps in class don’t impact the American
Dream.
Despite
a number of people pointing toward social mobility decreasing, I would argue
the exact opposite. After reading the arguments surrounding the notion, it is
clear to me that they have little pertinent evidence supporting them. For
example, in an article titled “Social Mobility in America: Repairing the
Rungs”, the author states, “Back in Horatio Alger days, America was more fluid
than Europe. Now it is not. Using one-generation measures of social
mobility-how much a father’s relative income influences that of his adult son-
America does half as well as Nordic Countries”. While at first this seems like
a strong point, the author provides no evidence to support his comment, nor
does he explain how he determined social mobility in the days of Horatio Alger.
Instead of showing the reader why his statement was valid, he quickly moves on
to the next part of his argument, talking about how the gap between test scores
of the rich and poor have increased. In doing so, he completely abandons his
argument that social mobility is decreasing, leaving its only support with the
aforementioned vague, meaningless statement.
Another
way people who think social mobility is decreasing argue their point is through
the use of specific examples. This strategy is shot down by Jonah Goldberg in
his article “Economic Mobility is Determined by Personal Choice”. In the
article, he shows how opponents of the American Dream warp facts so that they
seemingly support their opinion. In the article he cites one study that talked
about decreasing chances of upward mobility in the middle class—specifically
saying that 50% of people born in the middle class either stay where they are
or move down in income level. The study then uses the example of two women who
became history teachers and shows how their income had decreased a great deal
in comparison to their parents. Goldberg digs deeper into these examples,
however, and finds the following, “In both instances, Hartman (the author of
the study) profiles women whose fathers were doctors but the women themselves
opted to pursue PhDs in history with the aim of teaching…and we’re supposed to
be surprised they make less than their parents?” Later in the article Goldberg
highlights a major problem within the argument that social mobility is
decreasing—it doesn’t reflect personal choice. This is a point that can’t be
ignored, since choice, while a hidden and unmeasured statistic, is perhaps the
most important statistic to consider. How can we know how many people have
decreased incomes from their parents simply because they preferred teaching to
being a doctor? It could be that it is this “choice” statistic is actually the
one that is on the rise, not decreasing social mobility.
On
the other hand, there is actually a good deal of evidence supporting increased
social mobility. An example of this can be found in the Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations
report. In this report, two graphs are shown, which both support increasing
social mobility. In one graph, family incomes are compared between generations.
In this graph, ALL income groups are shown, on average, to exceed their
parent’s income. One fact that I found especially interesting was that 93% of
people in the bottom percentile had family incomes greater than their parents.
As for the second graph, it breaks down each economic quintile and shows where
people ended up in relation to where they began. For example, one statistic
that is shown is that 57% of people who were born into the bottom quintile
ended up in the second quintile or higher. In the second quintile, 51% of
people ended up in a higher quintile as an adult. These graphs clearly show
that the opportunities to increase in social class are present for a majority
of people. If this doesn’t support the notion that the American Dream is well
and alive I don’t know what does.
The
other central argument to my case is that rising gaps in class don’t have an
impact on the American Dream. This concept takes far less explanation and fact
than the argument of social mobility. As I have stated, the American Dream is
nothing more than the ability to increase one’s lifestyle/social class through
hard work and perseverance. It says absolutely nothing about how large the gaps
between the classes are. As long as social mobility is a tangible and present
force, then gaps in classes do not matter. As stated by Yasmina Shaush on National Public Radio,
“Regardless
of birthplace, 310 million Americans face the same expectation. To
be born in America is a gift, one that should never be wasted. Even through
today’s pessimistic climate, I find it easy to be optimistic, simply because
of where I live. While my mother grew up in the shadows of communism,
I was raised in the light of freedom and democracy. Anything is possible
in America, anything.”
This excerpt from Shaush sums up this argument perfectly.
She hits on the head the idea that the American Dream is alive because no
matter what, people can still become the best they can be. There is no
dictating government restricting them, nor an inherent set of boundaries that
contain them.
Keeping
both of these fundamental ideas in mind—that social mobility is prominent and
well, and gaps in class have no effect on the American Dream-- it is clear to
me that the American Dream is far from gone.
