Elitist theorists views on social equality and mobility in the United States

According to "Who's Running America?" by Thomas R. Dye: "It is widely believed that great personal wealth in America today is inherited and that opportunities to acquire great personal fortunes dried up after the Industrial Revolution" (Dye, 2002, p. 50). From a historical point of view, I can see why the above statement was accepted as truth. For example: Anna (Richardson) Harkness, the widow of Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness and the mother of Edward Stephen Harkness (Edward was …

…Prentice-Hall, Inc., an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc. Mead, M. (2003, May). The Wealth Divide. The Growing Gap in the United States Between the Rich and the Rest. Retrieved June 7, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/ America/Wealth_Divide.html Shouter, D.C. (2004). A Classification of American Wealth. History and genealogy of the wealthy families of America. Retrieved June 7, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.raken.com/american_wealth /encyclopedia/comment_1918.asp