Abstract
Some of the alienation of our young people results from the North American ethos of stationary or preferably upward social mobility. Society has a negative, hostile cultural attitude to individuals who do not meet this standard and become downwardly socially mobile. This ethos ignores human limitations. In a society whose demands and expectations exceed the capacities of many individuals, alienation and membership in the alienated subculture become preferable to the painful loss of self-esteem from conventional downward social mobility. W e need a re-evaluation of the whole social mobility ethos with its strong approval of upwardly socially mobile individuals and its strong disapproval of downwardly socially mobile individuals.
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