Horatio Alger Myth Of The American Dream

The American Dream is sought after by thousands of individuals from the United States and people pursuing a new life from other countries around the globe. This idea of upward social mobility, moving up the social ladder, works in thought, but when applied to present day situations, the theory can be put to rest for the majority of individuals. While the Horatio Alger myth of being able to achieve anything with the right amount of effort is nothing short of optimistic, it simply does not hold much accuracy in today’s society. Due to different agents of socialization, the likelihood of achieving infinite success is decreased when our family’s influence is taken into account. Expanding on this idea even further, our social status also plays into our success. Finally, the struggle of living in a particular social class, defined by Weber as a group of people who rank closely to one another in property, power, and prestige, creates a tension …show more content…
James Henslin, author of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth-Approach, highlights on our family as a major agent of socialization. According to Henslin, our family has the greatest impact on our social lives. Our families teach us our values and beliefs which largely affects how we carry ourselves in a social class. Parents of dissimilar social classes raise their children very differently. In a research conducted by sociologist Melvin Kohn designed to study how different social classes raise their children, he found that working-class parents’ biggest concern is to keep their children out of trouble. On the other hand, middle-class parents encourage their children to be more controlled and expressive. Each parent leads their child down the path they believe is morally correct. Furthermore, this difference sticks with children for the rest of their lives without them even knowing it will later impact the social class they will fall into in their older