NYT Ch.2 Life at the Top of America Isn't Just Better, It's Longer

This article demostrates how different volumes and forms of capitals owned by individuals affect not only their lifestyles but also their longetivity. The article introduces three incidents of different indivduals, who all went through a heart attack. Miele, who was a memebr of upper middle class, was able to recovery quite well from his heart attack as he received immediate medical attention with necessary medications and surgical procedures and was able to maintain a healthy lifestyle recommended by his doctor. Wilson, who also experienced a heart attack, was from a middle class. Because he lacked great volumes of capitals that Miele possessed, Wilson could not get the best medical attention that he could have gotten with more money and social network of people that Miele had. However, Wilson's experience was modest compared to that of Gora's. She was a memebr of working class who worked as a housekeeper. Due to the lack of sufficient capitals that could have led her to a good-quality medical attention, Gora received minimal medical attention that she could get and was pretty much back to her old lifestyle that could threaten her health again.

Same incident of three different indivduals and different outcomes of their incident shows the impact that different volumes and forms of capitals, and thus class, could have on people. This article demonstrates the ways in which capitals develop individuals' differing lifestyles and serve to further widen the class gap between those who have sufficient capitals and those who do not. Capitals seem to not only distinguish class divisions but also solidify individuals' current class position as they make mobility hard to achieve for individuals who lack sufficient capitals to begin with.