Arianna 1

Arianna Alvarez
09/21/2015
UWRIT 1103-009
Ingram
American Structure and Economic System
How would I start this essay? I could say that I'm passionate about my
dog, boyfriend, family, and friends... of course I won't because I believe I can
tell anyone that I'm passionate about these things in any given day. What
am I truly and wholeheartedly passionate about? I am passionate about
structure, different right? One might say there is a structured outline to
introduce ones purpose within a paper. One might agree with structure, one
might not. Structure is great and all, but what if it's just awful and
questionable? If there is an aspect in this universe that I am deeply
passionate about, it is the structure of American society.
In the time of Western civilization, sociologists have hypothesized,
researched, experimented, and theorized about the structure of society. The
number of sociologists studying the Western social world is incalculable;
renowned sociologists such as W.E Dubois, Karl Marx, and Max Weber delve
into the uncharted waters of inequalities within society. Moreover, the
number of subgenres in the social issue of "inequality" can be from race to
religion. In my case, I am most passionate about the world of economic
inequality and gender inequality in American Society. Why is the 1% gaining
the majority of America's revenue? Why is there a bigger influx of people
below the poverty line than ever before? Why do women experience

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hardships within the workforce and college campuses? These are the
questions that I am most passionate about. The questions where I can think
for hours and days but still cannot find the answer. The social world is a
complex web of different theories and branches, but I choose to go deeper
within the world of economic and gender struggles, what is your passion?
The economic world of American society can be seen through a lens,
what do we see? We may elitist Americans in Wall Street, Capitol Hill, and
the Upper East Side of New York City. The working class within dangerous
neighborhoods, the homeless near the streets of Capitol Hill, and what can
we draw from this snippet of America? We see a structured society based on
a capitalist society, the wealthy having the most capital and the rest of
society having little to no capital. How can we explain this structure of
almost every society in the Western world? Karl Marx, a classical sociologist,
theorized in Das Kapital (1867) that society is based on a capitalist ruled
society, only favoring the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the working class
(proletariat) to struggle in the rule of the higher class, which will result in a
central conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, with the
proletariat to rise and conduct a revolution to form a different economic
system. Marx's popular belief of the lower class serving and conflicting with
the "bourgeoisie" is very prominent in today's culture and society; it is seen
throughout the decades in American society dealing with the notion of class
struggle. I believe that Marx's theories are shown in the American capitalist

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economy, but there are holes within his theory, but we can't deny that his
theories brought validity with the argument of an unequal economic society.
In recent years we have seen patterns of the 1% gaining legislative,
tax code, and judicial rulings benefiting the capitalist class. For example, the
Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC (2009) stated that regulation
of campaign spending by organizations was a violation of corporation's First
Amendment right of Freedom of Speech. President Obama states "this
ruling strikes at our democracy itself [] I can't think of anything more
devastating to the public interest." In addition, Citizens United v. FEC is an
example of the American elitist political system that does not serve "the
people," but serves the people with sociopolitical ties with the drive to
benefit the well being of the capitalist system. Contrary to Marx's theory,
there is not a conspicuous class struggle in America, we see less people
rallying, protesting, or even getting angry within the economic realm of
American politics, the social issues are the most important right? Wrong, the
economic sphere is revolving around a class that rubs backs with
economically advantaged few. Thus, class structure is perpetually molded
into three classes: the bourgeoisie, middle class, and the proletariat. The
bourgeoisie to continue to be the bourgeoisie, middle class to strive to
become one of the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat to struggle to find a way
out of poverty due to the idea that everyone is entitled equal opportunity but
not equal outcome. One cannot feel the ultimate betrayal within American
politics and the economic system by the American people.

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In my life, I have been sheltered from the world that my parents didnt
want me to know about, for instance: the news of immigration policies during
the early 2000s and the economic restrain that is held amongst unfortunate
people. When I was young, wearing pigtails and jean overalls, I used to
watch the news with my parents and whenever there was a segment that
announced the disheartening world of immigration, my parents shut off the
TV. I ask why and their response is youre too young to know. I was just a
little girl, but even then I couldnt help but wonder why this was the reason I
was sheltered from such a dominant issue within my family. As I got older,
Ive been looking at headlines and hearing my Spanish parents talking of the
DREAM Act and the latest immigration legislation. I came to find out that my
parents didnt want to me to recognize that there were hardships for
Hispanic races, that there was equality of opportunity and to be optimistic
about the future. I felt as I was being robbed of knowledge, swimming in the
endless pool of ignorance, I thought America provided equal opportunity, a
utopia for people that had dreams and can make them come to reality. As
Ive grown up, that vision gradually crumbled, and I couldnt find the words
to describe my angst against America. I took extensive courses in high
school within the social science realm, courses such as: European History,
American History, Government and Politics, and Macroeconomics to inform
myself in the country that I thought I knew. I studied legislations, Supreme
Court rulings, and and state-by-state controversies. The ideology of Marx is
perceived to be one in the radical spectacle of social theory but one can see

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the class oppression without a microscope, it is in plain-sight. American
society has not been held true for a number of years and it is unlikely to
assume that it would be shortly.
In a recent study, the number of Americans trusting their Congress is
lower in record history, the lowest being in October of 2013 during a
government shutdown. In addition, the rate of public trust is seen to be
decreasing next to stagnate. The highest rate in the twenty-first century was
during the George W. Bush administration after the occurrence of 9/11, from
forty-nine percent to twenty-four percent today (Source A). Thus, this level
of low confidence demonstrates the need for reform to the people of the
United States to be proud and reliant on their own governmental system.
The rate of trust for the government have been dropping due to the number
of incidents and common opinions from culture. My trust in the American
government and economic system have been shrinking ever since the day
my parents told me that they sheltered me because they didn't want me to
lose hope in the country of opportunity and that I have equal opportunity.
In conclusion, people from other countries tell stories to their children
that America is the Promise Land, haven't looked at the bigger picture of
corporate America. The economic system is existing for the higher class and
brings the non-one percenters limitations that couldn't have been
experienced from the "boujourisie." Moreover, the nineteenth century social
theorist, Karl Marx predicted many of the short comings of the basic
American people and it holds true today. It proves that people today are

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sectionalized to a great extreme and is seen throughout history and should
be acknowledge within Americans and future Americans.

Bibliography

A. "Public Trust in Government: 1958-2014." Pew Research Center for the People and
the Press RSS. Pew Research Center, 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2015.