American Dream and Individual Opportunity
American citizens believed in the American Dream, and they thought that they had equal chances to education and employment, which would lead to an ability to become financially stable or even wealthy. This idea prompted individuals to suppose that their endeavors would result in being capable to live better lives. However, this has not been the case as money and success have become two inseparable terms over time. Thus, persons tend to measure triumph with the amount of materialistic items one is in possession of and not with hard work and the way how contented one is with their standard of living. Looking at the term opportunity, it is a window that makes it suitable to do something or achieve a goal. In our day-to-day lives, not everyone has the same chances to reach their target or obtain a position, and some have got fewer conveniences while others big openings. So, the myth of individual opportunity does not act as a fair game to all people but rather discriminates certain groups of population.
Factors That Limit Opportunity
Every person is born with freedom in the world with legal entitlement to undertake some tasks, but when it comes to circumstances, they are determined by many factors like gender, race, and the status ranking. There exist the capacities that differ for men and women. When it comes to ethnicity, some people in the states are immigrants, and thus, their skin color would alienate them from the chances that are offered to the native Americans. In the past, the chances of acquiring schooling and obtaining a job were meager as compared to the Caucasians. For example, Jay-Z, an African American, a renown American rapper, did not just become a millionaire in a moment, he had to find a way to develop his music career. At some point, he used to sell drugs, which were illegal, in order to gain money. On seeing that no one noticed him, he launched his own label, which was tough, but with time, one of his records became a hit. Considering the time it took for Jay-Z to achieve his goal, it is amazing how he pulled through, bearing in mind his originality. But if he had been an American, this would not have been so tedious for him, and he would not have had to sell illegal substances as a hustle.
Social Class and Media Influence
Moreover, another aspect which plays the role of a boundary is the social class ranking as some people are born in well-off families, they dwell in wealth through inheritance, and their graph continues to rise with time because they have better resources of employment, education, and medical services. The gap between them and the middle and lower classes still enlarges, and individuals try to make ends meet but their opportunities to become of higher status are minimal to none with the rising economic crisis. Taking into account the elements above, not everyone has got an equal chance of wealth and success. The media is another institution that worsens the situation of class division in America because these platforms tend to air out materialistic stuff that people deemed as rich own. A poor person, with the aim of also being recognized, starts to make purchases of items they cannot afford in an attempt to be noticed, and this act will render them even poorer since they exploit the available funds in money-oriented commodities. Furthermore, the media blames not so rich people for their state without incorporating the issue of unequal chances (Mantsios 377).
Solutions to Wealth Inequality
One of the main aspects that have contributed to the wealth inequality in America is the denial to recognize the availability of diverse culture, races, and disparities in the social status among its citizens. In order to bring about equal opportunities among all inhabitants, immigrants, the poor, and other underprivileged people were left out because they could not access equal resources that the Americans can. Economic inequality is mainly experienced among the lower and middle-class layers of the society. Their financial condition continues to deteriorate with time due to stagnant wages, low salaries, and poor education as well as medical care. During the implementation of the minimum payment, the case of inflation was not incorporated, and as the time passes, it is decreasing rather than increasing. For one to meet their living standards, they have to buy certain things, but the prices of these items augment in contrast with the depreciating pay, thus, prompting individuals to remain in a low class. To solve this problem, the minimum wage needs to be raised so that earners can keep pace with the economy and people with higher salaries and better schooling.
Importance of Education and Racial Discrimination
One more aspect is expanding the welfare benefits because not all citizens have equal opportunities in the job market, and they should access the advantages during the time they have been hunting for their positions. If this move is enacted, most persons will not be stagnant in the search of the employment as the government would encourage managers to offer capabilities so that they would evade payments. Among all these features, education is the main issue that could curb inequality. The reason being, an enlightened person has got high chances of acquiring well-payed jobs, but with the rising of tuition fees, most lower-class individuals are left out, and that is why there is need to increase their wages. This will help them gather money for school expenses. The cycle of wealth inequality is mainly contributed by low income, leading to bad level or learning and, thus, bad positions, which destabilizes the economy (Smith).
Residential Segregation and Upward Mobility
The lack of upward mobility/class divide in America is mostly influenced by the race and social status of an individual. People born in poverty have a high likelihood of becoming poor in the adulthood than those from well-off families. This aspect has mostly been experienced by the African Americans who were originally immigrants and started from nothing. They are now trying to achieve something. Statistics reveal that 42% of blacks born poor stagnate in the same income level as compared to 17% of whites who maintain the same level. Most African Americans who manage to shift to the middle class face many provocations and have got high chances of going back to the lower layer because of the differences in the resources that they acquire as compared to the native Americans who can an access to good education, health facilities, employment opportunities, and home ownership. Thus, a person with black skin has to work twelve more weeks to get the same pay as that with white skin in a given period. This type of discrimination is what isolates the low-income class from attaining upward mobility in the sense that they either stuck or move to a lower rate. All this is influenced by the employment and wage segregation.
Solutions to Promote Equal Opportunities
The blacks also reside in neighborhoods that are poverty-stricken, with bad education and more female-headed households. In this way, African Americans who are more mobile attempt to help their relatives who are still indigent. This act seems to evoke financial strains, which diminishes the hopes of eliminating the gap of racial wealth. The inability to accumulate money makes it almost impossible for people to enable their children to achieve the middle-class level.
All these problems can be dealt with by providing more capabilities for the individuals from lower layer to acquire a stable income and support themselves. Another aspect is expanding the earned income tax, which helps to bring children out of poverty and assist the poor working class persons. The tax rates should also be modified to go in line with the income tax so that one is charged as per what they are earning. Ending residential segregation would play a great role in improving upward mobility, racial discrimination according to the residence should be eradicated, and wages should be distributed equally among all the ethnicities (Powell). In conclusion, if all these solutions are adhered to, then, the environment with equal opportunities would be created among the citizens.
Works Cited
Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America-2012.” Rereading America, edited by Gary Colombo et al., 10th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 377-98.
Powell, John. "Six Policies to Reduce Economic Inequality." HAAS Institute, n.d., https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/six-policies-reduce-economic-inequality. Accessed 18 Dec 2018.
Smith, Remy. "Some Solutions to Economic Inequality." Seven Pillars Institute, 2015, https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/some-solutions-to-economic-inequality/. Accessed 18 Dec 2018.
