What We Think About Class Zweig: Chapter Analysis

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In chapter two What We Think About When We Think About Class Zweig speaks about the four strands of thinking to promote the idea that were all middle class and that contributes to the disappearance of the working class identity. These four ideas are, upward mobility, promotion of consumerism, politics and ideology of the cold war and media coverage of class and economic issues. Upward mobility is a feature of the American Dream. The uprising of upward mobility between 1945 and 1968 of the spectacular military was the leading cause of the cold war boom. Upward mobility depends upon the class structure and as Zweig stated in chapter 1 the class structure has been remarkably stable. Everyone wants an opportunity for advancement and this is where…show more content…
Between 1945-1968 the occupational structure is different from that in 1968-2012. People don’t get ahead in their class structures so easily. This connects with the Utchille chapter on the Steady Job decrease, Zweig shows now it’s a decrease in downward mobility. All you have to do is work hard to come up (American Dream) is the myth behind upward mobility. However it doesn’t guarantee a jump in the upper social class. The capitalists class does not exist in isolation, the working class is needed which explains class relation. This is just the structure of the game. Even though in 1945 post boom , the standard of living went up for everyone it didn’t result in the working class moving up in social classes. In comparison to the Utchille book the myth of retraining and better education is revisited in this chapter. Zweig explains that education is not a key to advancement to upward mobility however it still holds important value for occupations. The class structure indeed has not change and the reason of Upward Mobility being it can’t be erased and people have limits to who they can become as…show more content…
Legislators attacked union organizers; people who held the idea that working class existed, conflicts with the capitalists, and believed that the working class should challenge the power of capitalists. The attacks began due to increase in living standards; the working class was able to buy homes, cars, and make more money. Upward mobility seemed natural in this time period since the working class earned more and had similar living standards to the middle class and capitalist. Unions had different perspectives on “class talk”. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) did not have interest in working class and focused on the prosperity of the members. On the other hand, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was considerate towards the class struggle. They broke away from the AFL to follow a more drastic course but faced failure. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the radical left became estranged from the unions. In 1970, construction workers beat up demonstrators at New York’s City Hall, who were protesting the war in Vietnam. The beating was telecasted all over the world and caused enmity between the workers and the radical left. The social movement of the 60’s and 70’s caused the identity of the working class to disappear by both race and gender. The perception of the working class was either white men or the “poor”, who were women and minorities. This perception caused a division in

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