¶ … evolution of the varying classes of America have deeply and profoundly affected the political and economic shifts of history.
This chapter begins with a simple story of how real life class struggles may differ from more romantic versions as portrayed in Hollywood. This sets the background of the argument that essentially all men are not created equal and that class structure has been created, artificially or not to be used as a social tool that can help society either come together in cooperation or diffuse into segregated masses, opposed and scared to the lifestyles of one another.
Inequality is discussed as a major premise to the issues of class. It is written that "most Americans have a keen sense of presence of inequality. We learn about it in many ways on a daily basis from our observations of people, homes, cars, neighborhoods and news accounts of the rich and famous, " (p.4). In this ranting tone, it becomes obvious that author sees wealth as a purely material idea where capital and cash count towards the striving towards a more equitable format of society.
This idea of poverty and wealth is further discussed as the principle goal of happiness. The author assumes that the great equalizer in establishing a cooperative society is through the redistribution of material wealth....
This theme is carried throughout the chapter as varying forms of capital are discussed and eventually applied to the struggles of class in America.
Social capital is addressed in this chapter as well to help balance the argument and introduce a more humanistic approach to the discussion. The author does suggest that social capital is ultimately reliant on the more material forms of capital discussed previously and dismissed its importance in the equation when she wrote " social capital must be viewed as a class linked resource that both protects and advances privilege and provides a barrier for those upstarts seeking to expand their generative capital, " (p.17).
The next theme introduced into the discussion of class is the corporate structure and how its inherent inequality is a driving force in the formation of the current class structure that exists in modern times. The workplace itself is also introduced as a way that class can manifest itself. The author used tables and charts to aid the reader in gaining a more three dimensional viewpoint of some of the finer distinctions between the arguments that are being discussed in this portion of the chapter.
The chapter concludes with an effort to redefine American class structure. The model is bleak and suggests a dire circumstance…
