Most people I've spoken to about social and economic class have claimed to be middle-class even though they spread across a broad spectrum, from poor, to financially stable, to wealthy. A few believe they are lower-class but no one I've spoken to thinks they are upper-class. I believe I fall into the lower-class category and have most of my life.

In Class In America - 2009 by Gregory Mantsios, he mentions that people commonly place themselves into the middle-class category and their is a common belief that this is a middle-class nation or a classless society altogether. Contrary to this belief, the gap between the wealthy and the poor grows wider everyday. Here are a few facts that contradict these myths:

• The wealthiest 1% of the American population holds 34% of total national wealth.
• Approximately 13% live below the official poverty line and an estimated 3.5 million people are homeless every year.
• Average after-tax income of top 1% increased by 20% between 2003 and 2004 which was the highest increase in 15 years.
• Average after-tax income of the bottom 80% only increased about 2.1%

Another misconception about personal economic growth in the U.S. is that anyone can achieve the American dream if they try hard enough. This is often refered to as the Horatio Alger myth. Horatio Alger was a former New England minister who wrote dime-novels popular in the 1920s. He often wrote about people who start at the bottom of society and rose to the top, usually with the help of a wealthy humanitarian.

This typical character started to appear in cinema. Harold Loyd often portrayed a middle-class American working hard to finally achieve success. One well known character that did not follow the Horatio Alger myth is Charlie Chaplin, who prefered the lower-class life. Although there are several films today about the lower-class struggle, many films today still hold strong to this myth.

In Persuit of Happyness (2006) is about a poor, single father, played by Will Smith, who goes from being a salesmen to eventually becoming a stock broker. In Pretty Woman (1990), Julia Roberts plays a prostitute who came from a poor back ground. She goes from rags to riches when she meets a wealthy man who falls in love with her and takes her to the top of society.

These entertaining examples of the American dream should be viewed as just that, a dream. This is not reality and it never will be. Social status and class is based primarily on who you know and what your parents fall into when you are born.