A permanent underclass is required for the United States' capitalist machine to function

Indeed, sophistry actually alludes to the basis of my argument. As the Sophos were accustomed to using any platform of argument to take advantage of less savvy audiences. To what end-why money of course. Education itself in the United States and abroad has been used as a means of promoting an elitist mindset. European women in the soon to be United States were not allowed to attend schools until the 19th century. Whereas, the first schools were developed in the 1600's for European males. At that time, the indigenous Americans were being brutally and savagely slaughtered by these supposedly 'civil' European invaders who deemed all native and indigenous peoples to be savages. These same 'discoverers' of a 'New World' that was already occupied went on to violate mostly every treaty that was ever formed between them an the original American inhabitants. The United States was admittedly founded for affluent landowners. Education itself, historically and to this day, is used as one method of validating and maintaining a hierarchal class structure. This is one of the reasons for the differences in the quality of education between public and private schools. This education is really training or brainwashing as it serves to install a subservient mindset into those forced to attend by compulsory statute. Currently, this hypocrisy can be seen most evidently in colleges and universities where the status of one's education is based on quantity of money spent to attain the degree rather than the quality of the education received or the ability of a student to illustrate their comprehension of knowledge. As for wages received by workers, I think it is disingenuous for one to suggest that a street sweeper and a banker labor equally. Wages are arbitrarily set by the elitist paradigm in accordance to what they deem valuable or amusing. They are also used as a way to give structure and credence to the hierarchy. Wage slavery, as it is called, has been called "a system of slavery as absolute if not as degrading as that which lately prevailed at the South" The true determinant of 'class' in the United States is one's pre existing wealth and their access to resources. In the United States, arbitrary constructs such as race and false factors such as gender are used to distract the mass' attention away from the agenda being used by the affluent minority to control wealth and regulate access to resources. These are used as buffer classes to keep the 'upper' class separated and keep the 'lower' classes arguing about trivial mattersand competing for what amounts to crumbs on the table. Class is also maintained by subtlety so as to publicly proclaim a system of justice while secretly practice nepotism, classism, etc. As for the American dream, it has always been achieved by creating a nightmare for some other group of people. It is now dangled like a carrot in front of the naive to keep them working hard without questioning the inherent flaws and injustices present in the system. An underclass is required by capitalism to allow the wealthy to maintain their standard of living. When is the last time you have seen a wealthy person sweeping streets or flipping burgers for wages? Quite simply the upper class creates a surplus of resources and overprice them to sell to those in need. Thus living off of the sweat of others. This is where the term sweatshop comes from...and why a pair of Nike's costs about $15 to make but can cost astronomical amounts to buy. As for night without day...even in Antarctica there is an eventual night. Beyond the bounds of the solar system there are still stars to provide definition to the darkness you are calling night.