The Disadvantaged Lower Classes, Essay Example

The disadvantaged lower classes suffer from endemic poverty and structural discrimination because of pejorative stereotypes that undergird their very existence and are reified by public attitudes towards them as well as fundamental inequities. Indeed, the question remains whether or not the disadvantaged lower classes can actually attain the American Dream. The three basic precepts of the strain theory are erroneous because they frame poverty and criminality as a a predisposition that certain individuals are born with. The American Dream is possible, although the journey to attain it is far more nebulous for the disadvantaged than for those who have access to resources. There is an ongoing dialogue within public discourses over whether or not the so-called American Dream exists. Manifested by the precepts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the American Dream promises that any person living in America regardless of gender, sexual orientation, circumstances of birth, and race has the opportunity to better their lives and live comfortably through hard work. Members of socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are compelled to turn to crime in order to subsist via illicit and underground activities. I believe that the American Dream is alive for all members of society, although it has changed according to epochal exigencies. Members of the baby boomer generation worked hard in order to provide millenials with financial security and material goods. As such, the notion of the American Dream today refers to having a stable and well-paying job while also retaining the freedom and capacity to balance family and work life. The American Dream has persisted in fomenting a diligent work ethic in the disadvantaged even though they struggle to subsist on a quotidian basis. In the aftermath of an economic downturn, impoverished Americans still put their faith in the American Dream, as Americans regardless of class, race, or gender have the individual autonomy to carve out a better future for themselves.