Learning Objectives

1. Discuss how economic inequality is impacted by the American Dream.
2. Describe the opportunity divide that exists in the United States.
3. Explain why some students succeed in school and others do not.
4. Recognize why poor people may be unmotivated to better their lives.
5. Discuss how the same social forces that enable some people’s successes contribute to others’ hardships.
6. Explain why Americans are often resistant to providing aid to those living in poverty.
7. Describe the shared societal costs of economic inequality.