In order for one to answer why the wealthy are providing the poor with a lesser education to preserve their status, they must first understand the have and the have-nots theory. Famous
sociologist and philosopher Karl Marx states that there are two groups in a
capitalistic society, the haves (bourgeoisie) and the have-nots the
(proletariat). Marx may be a controversial philosopher in the eyes of the
Americans because of his pro communist views, but there is truth in his views
on capitalism. Marx saw capitalism
as a government system that defies the nature of society. Capitalists have the
intentions of creating a government that preserves individual rights, but with
this preservation of individual rights comes the true selfish nature of those
already in power. “The more capitalism creates wealth, the more it sows the
seeds of its own destruction (creating monopolies and high rates of
unemployment). Ultimately, the proletariat will realize that it has the
collective power to overthrow the few remaining capitalists and, with them, the
whole system.” The capitalistic government is not the problem; in fact a true
capitalistic government can be the salvation of our society and its education.
The selfish nature of the bourgeoisie is the problem. These radical views are
being implemented in our education system, worsening the quality of the
education given to the proletariats in order to maintain their high status. Our
society is blinded by several things that our government does not fail to make
known, like the low prices of our free market and rights given to us by the
amendments, but we hardly ever question the extent of our freedom to be equally
educated. The moment we grasp on to reality and fight for change is the moment
when the American Dream will become a reality, the gap in social classes will
close, and our education system will achieve its goal to prepare students to become part of civilization,
teach critical thinking, and create innovators who will advance society.
It is
heard over and over again that a child’s success is determined by the success
of their parents. This is caused by our failing public education system nation
wide. Through out the United States, rural and urban areas struggle to obtain a
thriving education system that is equal to the education given in the suburban
areas. It is evident that in this past presidential election the American
people had concerns for this major gap in social classes and they are questioning
to have the rich pay more taxes to help equalize this major gap, but the state
and national education system is making it impossible for change to occur. The
fact of the matter is that social class determines the rate of achievement. A
study conducted by professor Reardon from Stanford University shows that “the
gap in test scores between the higher income and low-income children has grown
by about 40 percent and is now nearly twice as large as the black-white
achievement gap”. The low-class school districts are lacking money to help
their students academically because they only obtain money through government
taxes, while the high-class school districts are drowning in money (through
donations of parents, fundraisers, and government taxes). The education system
is no longer an equalizer of social classes, it is now being used by the
wealthy people to maintain the current economic status. The wealthy people, who
have their children in private schools or public schools in a rich district,
are the lawmakers in our education system. They know that in order to have
equal academic opportunities between social classes that money distribution
should be equal in all areas. They can care less about mending our education
system in the United States, because they have the upper hand in society. Our education system is the key to
stabilizing the current gap between rich and poor
The United States, home of the American
dream, where people of all ethnicities can find hope and success, but is this
really true when immigrants are forced into a bad education system that is
feeding the economic wealth of the rich and the economic downfall of the poor? When
immigrants first come into America they are victims of poverty. They obtain
entry-level jobs in urban and rural areas because they need money to provide
for their family and they can’t afford to live in the suburbs. They enroll
their children into the public school system and hope that their children will
get an education that will help them achieve a profession that gains a paycheck
that will afford the cost of living and luxuries. The American Dream is
supposed to be obtained through our free public school education, but the
achievement gap between rich and poor is increasing leaving minorities in a
never-ending cycle of dropouts who will only obtain entry-level jobs. The Population
Reference Bureau analysis of the March 1998 Current Population survey shows
that 97,162 whites have a white collar (managerial and professional job), where
as 14,028 African Americans, 4,942 Asians, 892 American Indians, and 12,983
Hispanics have white collar jobs. Although the numbers of minorities obtaining
these high-end jobs are slim, they do excel at obtaining hard labor and blue
collared jobs, which do not require a college degree. Since 1998 the economic
gap between rich and poor has increased and these demographics have also
continued to validate these demographics. These demographics are proof of the
rich maintaining their wealthy status and making the American Dream a fallacy.
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