“Working Class Growing Pains” is Silva’s article about the challenges young working Americans face day by day when they try to earn for living. It is not an easy thing to follow the American Dream according to which there is always a way to success and prosperity and believe in its worthiness.
Still, many young Americans have this dream as the main goal of their lives as they have nothing else to rely on. Silva’s article shows how the young Americans have to survive in this world in spite of all possible obstacles like the inability to find a well-paid job, get an education, or have a family and believe in the American Dream as the only chance to follow the sociological perspective that cannot be neglected due to its possibility to set the norms and duties in accordance with the possibilities.
Silva’s article proves that the life of young working Americans is not easy. They have to combine many things to survive and achieve the goals set. Some young people are not ready for the obstacles, which contort the idea of the American Dream. They cannot find a well-paid work.
The interviews of the article show that young people cannot even find any job because, for example, their education level is not already appropriate in regards to the technological progress achieved recently. Many young people cannot get an education because of poor financial support: the government does not take care of such people or parents cannot provide their children with such kind of help. Because of poor social conditions, many young Americans have to take care of their siblings or children and sacrifice their dreams.
Silva compares the living conditions of nowadays and of the 1950s. The past seems to be so easy and definite: people could study where they wanted, get married, have families, buy houses, and live an independent life at the early age. Nowadays, the conditions differ considerably; still, the desire to achieve the American Dream pushes young people taking various steps.
I know several young girls and boys, who leave everything at their native towns just to come to a big city and try to use their skills to become successful. Some of them have already succeeded as they prefer to work hard and focus on earning money for living instead of getting an education or having families, and some of them, in comparison to those experiences described in Silva’s work, are still cherishing the dream to meet the luck.
Silva’s article illustrates that in spite of all obstacles, the majority of young working Americans understands they should consider the sociological perspective as it sets the rules and norms to be followed and helps to see some general patterns in human behavior. Some people just cannot avoid challenges in their lives. Still, they should not lose a hope and get angry with the whole world. The article teaches how to become stronger and more confident in personal thoughts and actions.
In general, Silva’s work is a powerful source of information on how the young working Americans may live their lives and deal with various challenges, rises, and falls. It is a difficult task to start working at an early age. There are the situations, when nothing else can help. Young people have to sacrifice one thing to get another, and this order cannot be broken, but has to be understood and improved.