The Unreachable Goal “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” -Nelson Mandela Middletown: A Study In American Culture, by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, dives into the their 18 month series of studies focusing on a conventional small american city, based on Muncie, Indiana. The studies focused on the social structure, norms, and economic inequality within the city’s working and business class.
A common theme found within the book was that the citizens within Middletown were only able to be recognized and rewarded for their occupational and economic achievements, rather than being credited for the amount of work and effort put into their daily life and occupation. This …show more content…
It is a fair assumption that while a working class citizen may not be able to acquire a certain position at their job, acquiring material things such as houses, clothes, etc. could represent their work ethic and capability that they have not been recognized for. In light of this, a citizen of Middletown could utilize purchasing an aesthetically pleasing house, as a way of displaying that they are “getting ahead”. “The working man with more money leeway may go home through a tidy front yard; whether his home is of the two-floor variety, a bungalow, or a cottage, there are often geraniums in the front windows, neat with their tan, tasseled shades and coarse lace curtains” (100). “To some more prosperous members of the business group their homes are a source of pride as they walk up a neatly paved, tree-bordered street to homes which are “the last word in the up-to-date small houses” (101). While both examples show the contradiction regarding the houses of the typical working and business class citizens, both utilize the materiality of their possessions to represent their position, or their “desired” position in the economic world. This method is one utilized in today’s world as most working citizens strive to obtain “the perfect home”, and have high quality material things, as most believe that it will exemplify their wealth or accomplishments. If one’s job or position has not allowed them to “get ahead”, then “painting a picture” that they have by buying lavish houses or other material things, can be accepted as a successful coping
A common theme found within the book was that the citizens within Middletown were only able to be recognized and rewarded for their occupational and economic achievements, rather than being credited for the amount of work and effort put into their daily life and occupation. This …show more content…
It is a fair assumption that while a working class citizen may not be able to acquire a certain position at their job, acquiring material things such as houses, clothes, etc. could represent their work ethic and capability that they have not been recognized for. In light of this, a citizen of Middletown could utilize purchasing an aesthetically pleasing house, as a way of displaying that they are “getting ahead”. “The working man with more money leeway may go home through a tidy front yard; whether his home is of the two-floor variety, a bungalow, or a cottage, there are often geraniums in the front windows, neat with their tan, tasseled shades and coarse lace curtains” (100). “To some more prosperous members of the business group their homes are a source of pride as they walk up a neatly paved, tree-bordered street to homes which are “the last word in the up-to-date small houses” (101). While both examples show the contradiction regarding the houses of the typical working and business class citizens, both utilize the materiality of their possessions to represent their position, or their “desired” position in the economic world. This method is one utilized in today’s world as most working citizens strive to obtain “the perfect home”, and have high quality material things, as most believe that it will exemplify their wealth or accomplishments. If one’s job or position has not allowed them to “get ahead”, then “painting a picture” that they have by buying lavish houses or other material things, can be accepted as a successful coping