Wright Mills' essay, The Sociological Imagination, Mills dedicates the essay to defining what the Sociological imagination is and examples of it in today's society. According the Mills, the sociological imagination is the ability to notice how people in society differ in terms of class, social, economic, and historical circumstances and how those social circumstances influence their lives and interactions. In order to understand why things are the way that they are, one needs to be able to know why those things were even put into place. For example, when Mills discusses the first fruit of the sociological imagination it is the is the idea that one can only understand one's own experience and realize his/her own fate by identifying himself/herself within that period, so that one would know the chances in life based on those who are in the same circumstances. Mills explains that one has to be able to remove themselves from their everyday lives and look at it from a new perspective. The sociological imagination not only shows the characteristics of society but it also shows what could become of society if we continue to live our lives according to these characteristics or societal standards. .
In John Bellamy Foster's essay, Aspects of Class in the United States: An Introduction, he discusses class inequality and. In financial terms Income is what is earned for completing a job or service and is given as a means to live. Wealth is the accumulation of income that was invested and come in the forms of assets and money often passed down from generation to generation.
